Hot Head by Damon Suede
New York Firefighter Griffin has a problem, and its his best friend Dante. It's been ten years since 9/11 and it was almost losing Dante on that day that made him realize he felt something more than friendship, but he's been afraid to say anything because of the realities of prejudice in their profession and because having a die-hard, hopeless crush for ten years isn't totally awful. Urgh. I can't even.
Anyway, it turns out that Dante is having money problems and might lose his house unless he makes some money fast. Could Griff possibly do him a solid and do gay porn with him for some quick cash? It would be rude to say no....The straight fetish thing is a bit much for me. Being comfortable naked in a locker room is one thing, but having sex with each other for the internet for not that much money is a bit hard to, uh, swallow. Eh, but straight guys having straight sex together with no women involved is totally a thing (must...not...scare quote) and fits into the porn vibe.
Despite the plot, this is probably the best-written romance yet. I appreciated the time taken to explain Griff's situation with Dante. Dante's family essentially adopted Griff after his mother passed away when they were in school and left him with an emotionally distant father. It made sense that Griff would be afraid to confess his feelings, he could be losing his friend, but also his chosen family. He gets points for legitimately trying to talk Dante out of the whole porn thing too, and felt guilty about getting involved with it and having so much fun. The writing was snappy, with plenty of humor, the supporting cast well-drawn and realistic, except for the porn-peddler with a heart of gold of course, and, finally, I liked how Suede totally just owned the ridiculousness of everything involved. The guys just go to town on each other and at the end of the day that's what we're all here for.
I think we all know how this ends, and if it was convenient, I didn't care.
Hot Head
Next: 'Hard Head'
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