A-Z Challenge Review: Drawing Closer by Jane Davitt

Why I bought the book: Again my memory is a little hazy about this, but I think it was after reading another couple of books by this author which I'd really enjoyed: Wild Raspberries and Wintergreen.

Plot: College professor Charles is an Englishman in the USA, having fled there after a relationship gone wrong among other things.  He runs a small community class which studies Shakespeare as a favour for a friend where he meets keen student, Gray.  After the 10 week course is over, Gray makes his feelings for Charles very plain, but Charles isn't willing to take a chance on Gray and not just because of the nine year age gap.

Characters: I found this to be a tightly written and emotional book.  The story focuses almost solely on the two men, with only Gray's friend, Carl and Charles' friend Drew as secondary characters (although Drew's wife does make an appearance towards the end).  As such the book had a strong emotional core as we are take through the thoughts of both characters and the reasons why they are so right for each other.  Charles' reluctance is understandable, but I also liked that he was strong enough to both guide Gray and also be led by Gray's own needs.  One thing I also enjoyed was the way that Charles' English voice shone through the narrative and dialogue.  You could tell his origins without having a vast amount of English slang, just because of the cadence if his voice.  I liked Gray a great deal.  He's an artist and as such has the temperament to go with it. In some ways he is painfully naive, but I liked that he was persistent and willing to stand up for himself when faced with the implacable Charles.  His youth and inexperience is a point of contention between the men, but it's also valid and believable.

Overall: Like many Jane Davitt books this does have a BDSM theme, but the scenes themselves are very tame with only spanking and D/s play as part of the on-page sex.  As a study of two men who are so right for each other and yet have past hurts to contend with it was spot on and I was strongly drawn into the story right through to the last page.  The story is quite quiet in that a lot of it is based around dialogue and internal thought and the action and complications come from the sometimes explosive way the heroes deal with all the pent up feelings, rather than external forces.  If I have any complaints about the book it's in Gray's dealings with his friend Carl.  I was disappointed in the way that the relationship between him and Gray turned out, as their close friendship added warmth and much needed humour to the story and felt that the solution at the end was a little too convenient for all concerned.

However, that was only a minor niggle in what was a well written and engrossing story of two men feeling their way into a relationship with each other.  For fans of the author this is a must read.  I enjoyed it a great deal and it gets a grade of 'Excellent' from me.

But this book HERE.