A review by kaje_harper
Best Gay Romance 2012 by Jamie Freeman, Aaron Chan, Richard Labonté

4.0

*3.5 stars. This collection of 13 short stories about gay couples finding each other was a pleasant but not stellar read. The stories ranged from good to very good, with a certain repetitiveness. Most seemed to be either about young men (teens or early twenties) coming together, or childhood/teen friends who were separated and years later found each other again. Many were sexually explicit and the erotic component was generally well-written. The most original was Steve Berman's lead-off story, done in the style of a classic musical, with little moments of the characters breaking into song. My favorite was probably "The Curtain Store" by Anthony McDonald, one of those reunion-of-teen-lovers stories, but with a sweetness and charm all its own. All of these stories were written by men, which had to be a conscious decision on the part of the editor, given the preponderance of women in the field. It's up to the reader to decide if this adds authenticity in their mind.