The Complications of T

The Actor's Circle, Book 1

By: Bey Deckard

Narrated by: Nick J. Russo

Length: 1 hr and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

Stuart Leandro knows he's washed up, both on the big screen and in his marriage. Then, when things take an even bigger turn for the worse one night, he winds up blind drunk and lost in a foreign city.

Thankfully, someone's there to rescue him before his face ends up plastered all over the tabloids.

Wary of the motives of the reclusive stranger who brings the fading star into the quiet shelter of a hip but isolated loft, Stuart nonetheless can't deny his curiosity...or his attraction. Tim is unlike anyone the actor has ever met, but underneath the mystery and quiet attempts at invisibility, Stuart discovers someone whose life has been intertwined with his own for years.

Neither could have predicted that Tim's act of kindness would lead to one of the most intense encounters of their lives - but, are they willing to weather the media storm their extraordinary relationship will cause?

©2015 Bey Deckard (P)2017 Bey Deckard

Beggers can't be choosers?

Because this book is written by and presumably for the queer community, because many of its readers are probably queer youth in their 20s- the age many GSM cut their teeth with dating and relationships, and because many of those young readers are probably trans folks started their journey and grappling with dysphoria.... Im judging the story more harshly than i usually would.

I guess beggers cant be choosers? If you want a gay ftm romance, this is one. If you are struggling with Very Bad dysphoria, it Might be one to skip. But characters are not intentionally disrespectful to trans people.

First some very SJW-y warnings about the content:
- a fair amount of misgendering as honest mistake, not intentional harm
- A sex worker term used as a slander.
- One reference to female anatomy on a transman
- Tim's reasons for not taking T should be taken with a grain of salt. (Appropriate dose of T does not cause rage problems.)
- Brief reference to 'Indian summer'
- Brief list of trans slanders as Stuart worries about public reactions to Tim

.... Some references are treated as common and acceptable- not character flaws, mistakes, or in the case of the anatomy reference, explicitly stated by Tim as a preferred term.

Obviously this is a fantasy story and demanding it be a totally healthy example of any kind of relationship is a little unreasonable and maybe even boring... Buuuuuut for readers looking for relationship red flags, I'd be concious about the expedited dating timeline. Even with the waiting time, what the characters do at the end is still arguably an impulse decision.

Pros:
Stuart using alone time to get himself into 'good working order' is a good character development, and his divorce was a good if brief example of a healthy-ish divorce.

Stuart is a good example of a masc cis man actually having feelings and being willing to explore and confront them.

Its nice that the queer character Tim is successful and happy in his own right, not dysfunctional or conficted about himself at the point the story begins.

Con unrelated to critique above:
The voice actor's accent for Suart was terrible and actually the only reason I almost stopped listening. At first I thought it was a bad Australian accent but I guess the character is British?

Glorious - NJR at his best!

That was gorgeous, why was it sooo short! Since this author usually writes such lovely, long stories I am standing up and demanding another 400 pages asap... These characters are so interesting and I would love to read about their relationship, please Bey?

21 March 2017, I'm listening to the audio version with Nick J. Russo narrating and he is absolutely fantastic! His accent for Stuart is incredible.