Rusty American Dream

Title: Rusty American Dream
Author: Connie Bailey
Publisher: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com
Genre: Contemporary GLBT (M/M)
Length: short story
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

THE BLURB

The 1957 Cadillac El Dorado Brougham was a classic both Chris and Gaetano couldn’t bear to let die. She belonged on the open road, blowing the doors off everything she passed, making everybody stop and stare.

Pooling their resources to pay for her restoration, it wasn’t long before their passion for returning her to pristine condition spilled over into passion for each other – until a stupid mistake threatens to leach all the magic from their dreams. *Wet Dream*

THE REVIEW

Chris had been saving up for 3 months to buy his dream car, a rusted out ’57 Caddy, with the original 365 V8 engine. He even put down a deposit at the used car lot and when he had the asking price he shows up to collect his baby but there’s someone else leaving with the keys. Turns out Chris was just a few minutes too late and the car had just been sold. Chris was devastated until the new owner suggested that they share the car and the work needed to bring it back to its former glory.

For one month Chris and Gaetano, his new friend, divided the labour to restore the car while at the same time checking each other out, and every night after they finished working on the car they would sit in it, just enjoying their new possession. When all the work on the car was completed and she looked like a newly minted penny, Gaetano decided that a celebration was in order and kissed Chris who returned the favour with a great deal of enthusiasm. It wasn’t too long before they moved up to more than passionate kisses and found out how much they turned each other on. Everything was going great until Gaetano found out that Chris may not be as squeaky clean as he would like and they have their first fight, which leads to what could be a permanent breakup. Can Chris make it up to Gaetano?

The author, Connie Bailey, did a really good job on the characterizations and both Chris and Gaetano were realistic protagonists as car enthusiasts who gradually realize that they wanted more than the ’57 Caddy. This is a sweet romance between two young car buffs who originally only wanted the same car but end up with something much more valuable – each other.