In The Closet

Title: In The Closet
Author: Clare London
Publisher: http://www.redrosepublishing.com
Genre: Contemporary GLBT (M/M)
Length: short story (46 pages)
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

THE BLURB

Simon Patterson expects professional, discreet behavior at his workplace—but that never seems to happen with Doug Harper. Doug is annoying and frustrating and the thorn in Simon’s side. And Doug dislikes Simon’s arrogance just as much in return—doesn’t he? When their friends lose patience with the two men feuding and lock them away in the janitor’s closet together, anything could happen. There may be homicide—or there may be hot secrets exposed!

THE REVIEW

Doug and Simon worked together and Doug liked Simon a lot but he and the other man didn’t quite hit it off. They seemed to get on each other’s nerves and didn’t agree on much…. until the day they were locked in a closet together as a prank by their co-workers.

Simon was strangely nervous about being in a confined space with Doug and although he still hurled his usual insults at him they were muted but it wasn’t as if he was revising his opinion! He had always been uneasy around Doug who he thought was a flippant underachiever who took delight in pissing him off, but there was something about the other man that called to his baser instincts.

Being locked in the janitor’s closet was a physical challenge for them as they tried not to step on each other, but the closet was a tight fit for two grown men. Most of the time they were almost sitting on top of one another getting aroused until eventually they did what came naturally, and Simon realized why he let Doug get to him and why it mattered.

In the Closet is a competent story but I just didn’t feel any passion for these two characters and although they were well drawn, somehow they didn’t jell with me. The plot was not one of my favourites either. It seemed to be a bit irrational for two colleagues to lock Simon and Doug in a janitor’s closet during working hours to teach them a lesson, even if they were fed up with their childish bickering, especially since Simon, who held a senior position with the firm and wasn’t known for having a sense of humour could presumably report the culprits.

Maybe it’s just me and I didn’t get the finer nuances of the story – I admit that sometimes I’m too pragmatic and expect characters to behave rationally. While this is after all fiction, I couldn’t see how Doug and Simon could have sex in a closet that was such a tight fit with all the cleaning equipment stabbing them and the mop handle so close to Doug’s family jewels. That part was amusing but most men would probably have lost their erection with brooms and mops jostling for space to kill them and people banging on the door of the closet to check on them. Maybe proximity is a great aphrodisiac!

This is the second book I’ve read by Clare London and there’s no doubt that she is an excellent writer with a great sense of humour. How else can I rationalize the contortions that our two lovers went through so that they could get into just the right positions for sex?

In The Closet is funny and would be of interest to readers who like the genre.