Customer Reviews

Not really worth the time - By: iamza, 21 Oct 2008
David Windsor, successful businessman & (cough) cousin to royalty, is the 2012 Democratic presidential candidate. With just six weeks to go before the election, Windsor is aheadin the polls & looks set to take his place at the helm of the first Democratic governmentin twelve years. But the Republicans know that Windsor is gay, &in the closing statements of the final debate, Windsor finds himself outed on national television.

Secret Service agent, Shane Thompson, is charged with David Windsor's personal safety. With news of Windsor's sexuality making waves, Shane finds himself working more closely than ever before with a man who might one day be the first openly gay US president.

I think the worst part of reading this book is that there is so clearly the potential for a great story. The challenges facing Windsor are enormous, but unfortunately they are largely swept aside & ignoredin a book which essentially comes to epitomize the Mary Sue (Super Mario!)phenomenon. Windsor is perfect, & handsome, & charming, & powerful. And Thompson is Brad Pitt-like perfect, & charming, & young, & has the greatest ass ever. Happy days, because they can snuggle up together at night by means of a handy secret passage, & reinforce their perfection!

To me, it felt like the book wasn't quite sure whether it was intended to be a political thriller or a m/m romance. It fails at both, with the Republicans essentially all tarred with the same broad "EVIL, BAD, AWFUL!" brush (the Democrats, of course, are all just mischievious li'l angels). The Big Badsin the book are predictable & boring, making the end reveal less of a bang & more of a whimper. On the love story side, the romance between Thompson & Windsor feels far too convenient & rushed, & the sex scenes uninspired.

I also had issues with POV changes. Most of the book is writtenin first person POV, with Windsor as the POV character. Every oncein a while that POV was massaged to addin scenes featuring mysterious bad guysin dark corners having nasty conversations that I suspect were supposed to add suspense to the story. But Windsor wasn't privy to those conversations...so how can he pass along that information to the reader? It felt clumsy & awkward, & I think the book could have done with another editorial pass or three.

Probably, some of my disappointment with this novel stems from the fact that I was really looking forward to reading it. I was intrigued by the story premise, & I do think that there were parts of the book that actually read quite well. I just wish the rest of the book had lived up to its potential.