Tell Me It's Real #HAHAT

Hop Against Homophobia and Transphobia

Ladies and gentlemen - readers of all ages....Guilty Indulgence Book Club is pleased to participate once again in the annual Hop Against Homophobia And Transphobia (#HAHAT for those social media savvy) Last year we reviewed some great books and paid tribute to a beautiful author who left us too soon.  This year we look forward to bringing more great authors, stories and romances to our Indulgent readers.  

While our book club has that modern mix of women and men, straight and gay, our focus has always been on romance and Love in all its forms.  One of the most important aspects of Love has to be it's connection to Hope. For those who have Love, who love and are, in turn, loved, Hope resides in the heart and mind.  Hope allows one to celebrate the good times and weather the bad ones. Hope allows one to succeed and to fight and to give others Hope.   For many GLBTQ youth, Hope is hard to find.   It is our greatest wish that all who read these reviews this week take the time to spread the message of Hope at all times.  Be the message to our diverse youth population that fear, hatred and intolerance are not acceptable.  Help us spread the message that it does get better, there will be equality, they are accepted and give them Hope!  

Please feel free to click on the following links for other ways to get involved:

Day Against Homophobia     The Trevor Project      NOH8      GLBT National Help Center

 It Gets Better Project      Human Rights Campaign       Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation

PFLAG    

And by all means, stick around for the next ten days during the Hop Against Homophobia - make a comment on the Guilty Indulgence blog site daily for chances to win great reads and find new and fabulous authors!  And then, jump back on the Hop main page to visit each and every site for more chances at prizes, hear stories, read reviews and much, much more!

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And now for the good stuff:

Tell Me It's Real, TJ Klune, Dreamspinner Press
Paul Auster doesn't. Paul doesn't believe in much at all. He’s thirty, slightly overweight, and his best features are his acerbic wit and the color commentary he provides as life passes him by. His closest friends are a two-legged dog named Wheels and a quasibipolar drag queen named Helena Handbasket. He works a dead-end job in a soul-sucking cubicle, and if his grandmother's homophobic parrot insults him one more time, Paul is going to wring its stupid neck.

Enter Vince Taylor.

Vince is everything Paul isn’t: sexy, confident, and dumber than the proverbial box of rocks. And for some reason, Vince pursues Paul relentlessly. Vince must be messing with him, because there is no way Vince could want someone like Paul.

But when Paul hits Vince with his car—in a completely unintentional if-he-died-it'd-only-be-manslaughter kind of way—he's forced to see Vince in a whole new light. The only thing stopping Paul from believing in Vince is himself—and that is one obstacle Paul can’t quite seem to overcome. But when tragedy strikes Vince's family, Paul must put aside any notions he has about himself and stand next to the man who thinks he's perfect the way he is.

Review

The main character is Paul Auster.  He is socially ackward, thinks he’s overweight and has zero self confidence.  His best friend is Sandy aka the drag queen Helena Handbasket.  On Pauls 30^th birthday he is sitting in the balcony at Helenas show when he sees Vince. Vince is the most gorgeous man Paul has seen and immediately dismisses him as being out of his league.  Vince notices Paul as well and much to Pauls disbelief pursues him.  Paul resists at first, worried that Vince is messing with him, but Paul can’t hold out with Sandy and his family pushing him to believe in himself.  Even Gigi’s homophobic parrot and Pauls 2 legged dog, Wheels like Vince.
This book will make you LOL but what I really loved is the message that even if you don’t fit in the “mold” that society has deemed acceptable you are valued and loved for who you are.   And although it takes an intervention from the Auster family and Sandy, Paul finally chooses to believe he deserves love and happiness with Vince.

 I loved this book.  I laughed so hard I was crying.  This definitely gets 5 chocolate dipped strawberries!

Buy Links
Dreamspinner
Amazon