Robert Bocking, $0.99, ISBN 978-0463697818
Historical Romance, 2018

Robert Bocking’s Raceway of Love takes place in 1957. 

Since the other bloke is described as having dark hair, I’d assume the blond guy on the cover art is Jason Moor. He’s a mechanic that loves cars. He also likes blokes, but with the time being what it is, it’s not like he can discreetly load up an app to look for hookups. It’s not that easy, and poor Jason is understandably rather… pent up, let’s just say.

One fine day, he is driving when he spots the dashing Franki Malone of the thick James Dean lips waving him down. Franki has a flat tire, but he’s definitely has the bumps when it counts.

It’s clearly love at flat tire, but how will the author pad this already short story with some semblance of conflict?

Honestly, I don’t know why the author would inject some drama late in the story involving a meanie from Franki’s past. I’d rather that the romance between Jason and Franki is given more space and opportunity to bloom into something more than just instant lust, but hey, I guess the author prefers to end this thing with some melodramatic encounter with a baddie.

Melodrama is also an apt description for the romance. Jason morphs into a stammering, blushing bumbleball as if he’s auditioning to for the heroine role in a Barbara Cartland novel and his and Franki’s florid declarations of love and passion can be as cringe-inducing as they can be occasionally and unexpectedly endearing.

In the end, though, this story leaves me feeling tad flummoxed.

On paper, it shouldn’t work for me: the whole thing is too sentimental and overwrought, and Jason can be precious to be the point of being unbearable. Also, Franki is as greasy and sleazy as they come, so I’m not surprised that he has some shady past that will soon catch up with them.

However, in reality I find myself liking this story quite a bit. There is an unabashed kind of earnestness in the narrative, and even the florid sentimental overflow in the story has its charms. Reading this story is like watching an ugly-cute puppy being annoying yet at the same time being cute and adorable. I can’t explain what the author has done here, but despite how much I cringe and grimace while turning the pages, in the end I can’t help liking this thing anyway.

I feel like the author has somehow cheated or something, but hey, good for him as I can’t be too mad about reading a story that I end up being quite fond of!