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Acquisitions and Mergers: The Four of Wands
Bob and Trip are best friends and business partners who are negotiating the sale of their company when Bob decides to come out of mourning for his dead wife, Melinda. Since Melinda was his cousin, Trip understands what Bob is going through, and while he figures Bob is as straight as they come, he has broken down and offered comfort at the risk of ruining their friendship.
When Bob finally does decide to turn his attention to love again, though, it's Trip he finds himself caring about. Trip isn't sure he can believe it, and he doesn't want to lose what they do have together by rushing into things. Can Bob convince Trip that it's not just a whim, and that they can find more together than a company merger?
When Bob finally does decide to turn his attention to love again, though, it's Trip he finds himself caring about. Trip isn't sure he can believe it, and he doesn't want to lose what they do have together by rushing into things. Can Bob convince Trip that it's not just a whim, and that they can find more together than a company merger?
55 pages, ebook
First published September 13, 2008
About the author
Lucius Parhelion
32 books22 followersLucius Parhelion writes both free and published works. His free original work is found here:
http://www.e-fic.com/sundog/original....
and his fan fiction is on Archive of Our Own here:
http://archiveofourown.org/users/Parh...
He is also listed on Goodreads as Parhelion:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
This author is very private - he does not use social media or include an "about the author" blurb on his books.
http://www.e-fic.com/sundog/original....
and his fan fiction is on Archive of Our Own here:
http://archiveofourown.org/users/Parh...
He is also listed on Goodreads as Parhelion:
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show...
This author is very private - he does not use social media or include an "about the author" blurb on his books.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
September 2, 2024
As is normal for this author's work, the historical details were incredible and I was immediately transported to 1960, when this story took place. Unfortunately, the story was much closer to being historical gay fiction than historical gay romance.
The setup had details that were both promising and worrying. Trip and Bob have been close friends for years after Bob had married Trip's cousin Melinda. Melinda had passed away a year and a half before the story starts and throughout the story, it's clear that Bob is still grieving. There's additional stress because the boys are in the middle of selling their company to a large corporation, which is where the name of the story comes from. In the middle of all this, Bob suddenly decides that he's in love with Trip and wants to be in a romantic relationship with him. No, Bob isn't a homosexual (as per Bob's own declarations) and it's unclear if he's even romantically attracted to Trip. To me and to Trip, it was obvious that Bob is lonely after having gotten accustomed to being with a partner for many years. The effort involved in dating a new woman in order to find himself another long term partner would have been exhausting and Bob was already stretched thin due to all the other stresses he was dealing with. It would be so much easier for Trip to become Bob's new partner, since there would be little courtship involved and Trip's already gay so he'd be willing to regularly give Bob blowjobs. It sounds worse than it is and Trip and I both agreed that Bob had no bad intentions behind this dumb idea but the pain from losing his wife was so intense that Bob was considering whatever crazy idea popped into his head to make himself feel better. I never believed that Bob truly loved Trip or that he wouldn't drop Trip as soon as an interested and easy-to-marry woman appeared next to him.
In addition, I never felt that Trip was in love with Bob either or that he was particularly enthusiastic about their suggested partnership. Trip was very involved in the New York gay scene (regularly attending gay parties, being friends with most of the popular gay men etc) and he never acted like he wanted to settle down. He enjoyed the parties and the anonymous hook ups while focusing on his science duties at work. It felt like Trip was humoring Bob regarding this whole 'let's be a gay couple' thing because Trip cares deeply about Bob and knows how badly Bob is hurting.
Overall, this was yet another amazing bit of historical fiction but it fell flat as a romance due to neither character appearing to be invested in their future romance and that meant key ingredients were missing for this to be a romance that I would have enjoyed.
The setup had details that were both promising and worrying. Trip and Bob have been close friends for years after Bob had married Trip's cousin Melinda. Melinda had passed away a year and a half before the story starts and throughout the story, it's clear that Bob is still grieving. There's additional stress because the boys are in the middle of selling their company to a large corporation, which is where the name of the story comes from. In the middle of all this, Bob suddenly decides that he's in love with Trip and wants to be in a romantic relationship with him. No, Bob isn't a homosexual (as per Bob's own declarations) and it's unclear if he's even romantically attracted to Trip. To me and to Trip, it was obvious that Bob is lonely after having gotten accustomed to being with a partner for many years. The effort involved in dating a new woman in order to find himself another long term partner would have been exhausting and Bob was already stretched thin due to all the other stresses he was dealing with. It would be so much easier for Trip to become Bob's new partner, since there would be little courtship involved and Trip's already gay so he'd be willing to regularly give Bob blowjobs. It sounds worse than it is and Trip and I both agreed that Bob had no bad intentions behind this dumb idea but the pain from losing his wife was so intense that Bob was considering whatever crazy idea popped into his head to make himself feel better. I never believed that Bob truly loved Trip or that he wouldn't drop Trip as soon as an interested and easy-to-marry woman appeared next to him.
In addition, I never felt that Trip was in love with Bob either or that he was particularly enthusiastic about their suggested partnership. Trip was very involved in the New York gay scene (regularly attending gay parties, being friends with most of the popular gay men etc) and he never acted like he wanted to settle down. He enjoyed the parties and the anonymous hook ups while focusing on his science duties at work. It felt like Trip was humoring Bob regarding this whole 'let's be a gay couple' thing because Trip cares deeply about Bob and knows how badly Bob is hurting.
Overall, this was yet another amazing bit of historical fiction but it fell flat as a romance due to neither character appearing to be invested in their future romance and that meant key ingredients were missing for this to be a romance that I would have enjoyed.
April 2, 2014
A fast-reading historical story about two men, one gay, the other a widower, in the 1950s. The issues of the era inform this story, where being rumored to be gay was limiting, and being proven to be so was potentially disastrous. Trip has been friends with Bob since before Bob married his cousin Melinda, and has supported Bob through his mourning after her death. Bob has known for a long time that Trip was gay, without wanting to know the details. But one drunken night after Melinda's death, comforting Bob somehow turned into a blow job. And now Bob's re-evaluating how he feels about Trip. Trip, who is turning 40, has been in The Life for two decades, and he's firmly convinced that Bob has no clue what being gay really means.
This was short and sweet. There is an oddly breezy tone to Trip's POV narrative, and yet I felt the conviction of deeper currents. The little details of being gay in what is probably the late 1950's give this story its flavor, and the reality of the risks add poignancy. I finished it with a sigh for these two men, and a moment of gratitude that time has moved on.
This was short and sweet. There is an oddly breezy tone to Trip's POV narrative, and yet I felt the conviction of deeper currents. The little details of being gay in what is probably the late 1950's give this story its flavor, and the reality of the risks add poignancy. I finished it with a sigh for these two men, and a moment of gratitude that time has moved on.
June 27, 2010
Ok m/m romance that I think was set in the 1950s (although I'm not sure it was ever stated). Anyway, it's about two friends, one gay, one straight (and a widower), who own a company that's in the process of being acquired. The story was fine, but for some reason the style kept me distanced from the whole thing.
May 30, 2011
Really liked this
March 5, 2013
There is something really exciting about a story that does characters that have know each other for a long time well.
January 28, 2016
A very small glimpse into "The Life" in 1960.
I liked the writing style very much.
I liked the writing style very much.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews