Blind Items by Kate McMurray

Title: Blind Items

Author: Kate McMurray

Genre:  GLBT Contemporary

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (July 28, 2011)

ISBN: 978-1613720684

Length: Novella

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3 1/2Hearts

Reviewer: Artemis

From the Publisher:  Columnist Drew Walsh made his career by publicly criticizing conservative, anti-gay politician Richard Granger. So when a rumor surfaces that Granger’s son Jonathan might be gay, Drew finds himself in the middle of a potential scandal. Under the guise of an interview about Jonathan’s new job teaching in an inner-city school, Drew’s job is to find out if the rumors are true. Drew’s best friend Rey is also Jonathan’s cousin, and he arranges the meeting between Jonathan and Drew that changes everything.

After just one interview, it’s obvious to Drew that the rumors are true, but he carefully neglects to mention that in his article. It’s also obvious that he’s falling for him and he can’t stay away after the article is published. Still, Jonathan is too afraid to step out of the closet, and Drew thinks the smartest thing might be to let him go—until Jonathan shows up drunk one night at his apartment. The slow burn of their attraction doesn’t fade with Jonathan’s buzz, but navigating a relationship is never easy—especially in the shadow of right-wing politics.

About the Author:  Kate McMurray is a nonfiction editor by day. Among other things, Kate is crafty (mostly knitting and sewing, but she also wields power tools), she plays the violin, she has an English degree, and she loves baseball. She lives in Brooklyn, NY. Visit her web site at http://www.katemcmurray.com.

My Review:  Drew is an out and proud writer for a very liberal, left wing newspaper. He covers just about anything that might be of interest to the gay community, especially the anti-gay rantings of right wing politician Richard Granger. When rumors surface that Granger’s son Jonathan may actually be gay, Drew is assigned the story. Even though after the meeting Drew is sure that Jonathan is gay, he can’t bring himself to out the poor guy and instead finds himself falling head over heels in love with him. Problem is, Drew isn’t willing to climb back into the closet!

From the beginning of the book I found myself not liking Jonathan very much. I found his insistence on not standing up to his father quite irritating, although I am sure this was part of the author’s plan! The book is written in the first person (Drew’s point of view) so you don’t really get to understand much of what is going through Jonathon’s head for most of the story. I think I would really like to understand him a little bit more!

I thought the relationship between Drew and his best (straight) friend Rey played a bit too much of a role in the story. Rey is a really nice guy and he goes back quite a ways in Drew’s life. He is also Jonathon’s cousin, which I thought was a bit too much of a coincidence to accept.

Kate McMurray’s writing style is stellar. The story flows smoothly and there are a number of very humorous moments and plenty of angst. There are several fairly hot sex scenes but they are well written and work into the story quite nicely.

While I liked Jonathan’s coming out at the end (I thought it really was quite romantic), I don’t think the story should have stopped there. I really wanted to learn more about how Jonathan’s father handled the situation and see how the relationship between Drew and Jonathan progressed. This could have easily been expanded to a full length novel and I think I would have given it a higher rating! I just felt like I was left hanging a bit!