Customer Reviews

The Name of the Game

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

If you're looking for a realistic examination of modern gay life, THE NAME OF THE GAME is likely to disappoint you. But, if a contemporary romantic gay fairy tale is what you had in mind, you'd be hard pressed to find a better book.

Clay is a good looking if slightly disheveled radio DJ totally infatuated with his roommate Seth, a hot undercover cop. Of course Clay, gentleman that he is, can never let his feelings be known to Seth, because while Clay is gay, Seth is straight. They're best friends and they care a great deal for each other, but Seth could never be interested in Clay the way Clay wants, or could he?

Seth has a totally domineering and homophobic girlfriend, Sophie, that he's anxious to be rid of, but he doesn't know how to go about it. Seth's a nice honorable man, and Sophie has her hooks deeply embedded in him. On the spur of the moment, Seth decides to tell Sophie that he's gay and in love with Clay, and he convinces Clay to go along with the deception.

Things get interesting as Seth realizes his plan may be more than he bargained for. While pretending to be Clay's boyfriend may seem like a good way to handle his problem, it also confuses him, as emotions and feelings he never knew he had start to bubble to the surface.

Clay too is becoming ever more uncertain. He would do anything for Seth, but this little game they're playing is having a devastating effect on his heart.

What gay man hasn't dreamed about a straight man falling in love with him? It's common, and Willa Okati has done an excellent job tapping into those dreams. She hasn't painted a slice of life portrait of the real world. Instead she's created a beautiful romantic fantasy with a simply message. "It's not about being gay. It's about caring for the person you're with."

I thought I couldn't never find a Willa Okati's novel I can love much than In the Strangest Places... and now I have found The Name of the Game. It's an hard fight.

Clay is an old type guy who believe in love and forever. He is a very good guy, maybe average type: so at thirty years old he is still alone... and maybe he is still alone because he is in love with his roommate, Seth, unfotunately a straight guy.

But then Seth asks Clay to help him to break with his girlfriend, and what better than let her believe Seth is gay and Clay is his new lover? But Seth start wondering how it will be stay with Clay for real...

I love M/M romance and I love the sex scenes: this is one of the reasons I find In the Strangest Places so beautiful. In this last book instead we have less sex and more feeling. It is the story of the journey of Clay to searching the true love and of Seth to discover what true love is. Seth first fall in love with Clay and then want to make sex with him: what romantic!

This is a very refreshng reading that will awaken your romantic side. And I hope that Willa will deliver to us also the stories of Anthony, Michael (wow! a collar?), Adam, Jefferson and Taylor: Willa, you make me reconsider the speed dating thing...

Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 7/10

PROS:
- Good portrayal of a relationship on the line between friendly and romantic. The guys are comfortable with each other, yet there's always an undercurrent of sexual tension.
- The speed dating scenes are interesting and amusing (at times in a horrifying, can't-look-away, train wreck sort of way).
- Loved the scene when Clay gets drunk and Seth takes him home. The portrayal of Clay's drunkenness is funny, and Seth's actions are sweet and smack of devotion.
- I like the character of Anthony: he's supportive yet a little lonely and sad. There's a perfect setup here for him to have a book of his own.

CONS:
- The sudden way that Seth realizes he's attracted to Clay--especially since he's never been attracted to another man--struck me as forced. But it IS sweet, and besides, I never find "straight"-guy-turned-gay stories very believable.
- The sex scenes are tender and emotional and hot, but all they include is oral sex. This is not a problem in and of itself; some couples never have anal sex at all. But I'm halfway through this book's sequel, It's How You Play the Game, and that book makes passing references to Seth and Clay having sex...and to the fact that the one I didn't expect to be the bottom IS the bottom. So I'm disappointed now, particularly because I like reading sex scenes in which one guy is a virgin and experiences sex with a man for the first time with the guy he's in love with (or WILL be in love with), and I didn't get to see that with Seth.

Overall comments: A pleasant little read...fairly light, not very deep emotionally, but with a sweet romance. Not a lot of sex, and not very graphic, at that.

This book actually has a good bit to offer: worth more than three stars, but less than four. It is mostly a gay romance, though there are several rather good sex scenes late in the book and they add to the romance. The two main characters (Seth and Clay) are likeable enough and you'll want them to succeed in their romance. Seth's girlfriend is a selfish, two-dimensional bitch and it's hard to see what Seth was attracted to in her (a negative comment, as it shows his judgment isn't solid). Clay's friend Anthony is cool, but he shares the problem that characterizes both Clay and Seth: too stereotypical and too two-dimensional. That's the problem with this book. It could have been longer and used more time to fully develop the characters, or Okati could have kept it short, added more hot sex scenes and made this book gay erotica instead of gay romance. So, it doesn't quite work as either one, though it has good elements of each genre in it. Pleasant and a quick read, but not earth-shaking.

If it was possible to give three-and-a-half stars, I would. This is a sweet story, and a gentle introduction to some aspects of the gay world. The main gay characters, Clay and Anthony, are very patient and understanding as the "straight" character, Seth, realizes he might not be so straight after all. Clay, Seth, and Anthony are all likeable characters.

However, I found it hard to believe that Seth, a policeman, and one who works undercover, at that, would be so blissfully ignorant of any aspect of gay life. So much so as to not recognize that one supporting character is in drag. Seth also fails to recognize when he's being cruised, until Clay explains the concept to him. This occurs when Seth goes to a gay bar wearing short shorts. How can a reasonably bright man like Seth, with that kind of job, be so completely oblivious?

The way the main characters -- well, all the characters except the antagonist -- enjoy sitting around talking about their relationships seemed more like how women would discuss relationships to me. It's one thing to dish, but these discussions went considerably beyond dishing.

There's a scene early on where Anthony sees several sex toys Clay owns that would seem to indicate that Clay likes to bottom. However, this suggestion of Clay's preferences is never brought up again -- why not?

I also wondered how Seth could have not admitted, up until that point in his life, that he feels some attraction towards other men. At least he could have admitted it to himself. It took me until I was twenty to start to realize that I don't have a sexual orientation one way or the other, but I think I came to that realization rather late.

Overall, I liked the story, but I suppose I expected the romance to be a little more realistic. It might well be a good book to introduce women to gay romance, but I can think of other gay romance books that would be more likely to have greater cross-over appeal to gay men.

Edited to add: This review was from when I'd first started reading m/m romances, and I had no idea how popular "Gay for You" plots were. I've since learned that many women love them. I don't happen to think things work that way, so they're not for me. But for women who enjoy that particular fantasy, this is an excellently-written book. Ms. Okati's technical skill as a writer is far above most in the genre, as I have also come to learn. Many of the books in the m/m romance genre aren't particularly realistic, so perhaps it was unfair for me to rate it lower than I otherwise would have for that reason. However, I have learned far more about the genre in the last three years since this review, when I was a newbie to it.

I found this to be a very good read,I really enjoyed the characters, Clay and Seth. The story moved along quite well, the sex was kept to a minimum. Clay is a gay man, Seth is a straight man, a policeman. Seth needs a roommate and he picks Clay. Clay is in love with Seth, but Seth is dating Sophie. Clay keeps his love for Seth to himself but lets his friend Anthony know that he admires Seth. Then circumtances have Seth pretending he is gay and that his pretend lover is Clay. It is a cute love story, there is some man on man sex, but no violance. I give this book five stars. I am proud to have this novel in my Library.