3.5 stars. ( )

Whistle Pass is set in the 50s, 10 years after the end of WWII, in a US small town, not exactly the time to be out and proud. But hotel manager Gabe has found a way to live, he is the eccentric of the town from Monday to Friday, and since he is one of them, born and raised there, his fellow smalltowners accept him, but then he is an high-maintenance male prostitute on the weekends, in Chicago, where no one really knows him. Up until then it was a good life, but then Charlie Harris enters his life. Rough and troubled, Charlie is the perfect mourning hero, a veteran of the WWII with still a fiery post traumatic stress disorder and some unsolved issues right there in Whistle Pass. Considering that Gabe had plenty of chances to meet other gay men in Chicago, it’s not a case of limited choices, Gabe’s interest in Charlie is sincere, and maybe Charlie is awakening Gabe’s desires of settling down and having a family, or at least what they can consider such taking in account the time. On the other hand Charlie needs to have a closure with his past, but he is not one to deny his feelings; he can appear cold and aloof, but indeed Charlie is someone who will risk everything, even his life, in the name of love.

I liked practically everything of this novel, the small town setting, the supporting characters, especially the women (plurals, there is more than one good female supporting characters), Charlie and Gabe, especially Gabe, in his almost naiveté, an oddity considering his side career as male prostitute. But apparently Gabe is doing that more for the need of company, and the feeling of being accepted than for money, when he is Anthony, he is handsome, desired, coveted, and welcomed. Gabe needs only to understand the same can be in his hometown, if he is able to open his heart to who is around him.

The romance was good as it was the little mystery, starting from a simple question of not letting the skeleton out of the closet, ending in the uprising of a whole city against the villains. I hope Charlie and Gabe will understand that, while the small town can have its faults, no chance to maintain a secret, it’s also the only place where they can live together as a couple.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1613723768/?tag=elimyrevandra-20