Making It Up

Title: Making it Up
Author: T.C. Blue
Publisher: Torquere Books
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Length: 138 pages
Rating: 4.5 stars out of 5

A guest review by Jenre

THE BLURB

When Dr. Thomas Paulson receives a cryptic phone message from his very first boyfriend’s mother after ten years, he leaps to the conclusion that JJ–Johnny Boudreaux– is dead. His current lover, Alan, makes the same assumption. So imagine Thomas’s surprise when returns to his home town to grieve and discovers that not only is JJ alive and well, but is getting ready to marry Thomas’s old girlfriend.

Life can be funny sometimes, and in the course of Thomas’ visit he discovers a lot of things that force him to examine his own actions, past and in the present. He’s made mistakes, but so has Alan who has flown to Oak Grove, Arkansas to try to help his lover and best friend. But Alan’s interference makes things even worse, leading Thomas to believe that he’s blown every chance at happiness he ever had.

THE REVIEW

This is book is a slight departure from other books I’ve read by TC Blue, which have been lighthearted and quite fun. Making It Up, on the other hand, is quite an angsty and dramatic read which focuses on relationships within a small town in Arkansas.

The book begins with one of our heroes Thomas (or Tommy) receiving some bad news – or so he thinks. He gets a phonecall from the mother of his first boyfriend and only love, J.J., and assumes that she has called to tell him that J.J. has died. Tommy’s boyfriend, Alan, knows the truth – that J.J. is actually about to marry one of Tommy and J.J.’s old female school friends, but decides to allow Tommy to return to his home town as Alan is convinced that Tommy is still in love with J.J., even after 8 years apart.

The most unusual thing about this book is that the viewpoints are shared between a large number of people, so that not only do we get, Tommy, J.J. and Alan’s view, we also get a number of other views from the various townsfolk, including even quite minor characters. This gave the book a real feeling of community spirit as each character reflected on Tommy and J.J. and their relationship, along with J.J.’s misguided wedding to Molly and her relationship with disabled Iraq veteran and former boyfriend Bobby. It also meant that I got a greater understanding of why some of the townsfolk acted as they did, and as a result they always came across as well meaning rather than interfering which is what may have happened had we not had their viewpoint.

The main characters in the book do get most of the page time, especially Tommy and Alan. Tommy has made a dreadful error of judgement in the past in his relationship with J.J. which caused their split. This was due mainly to Tommy’s naivety after being away from home for the first time, in trusting someone who took advantage of him, but also in his fear of his strong feelings for J.J.. I didn’t condone his behaviour towards J.J. but I could understand it. The fact that the two men never discussed their problem also allowed me to understand why Tommy had never been able to move on from that mistake, allowing himself to be buried in his studies. J.J. was slightly less well drawn and is very much cast as ‘the victim’ of the piece. Tommy treated him badly and he is still hurting as a result. In fact J.J. embodies one of the themes of the book which is taking control of your life and how one single action can lead to difficult repercussions. I did feel that J.J. is rather a victim of circumstance and has allowed himself to be pulled along by that rather than take charge of his life. The fact that all the townsfolk were merrily plotting behind his back is an example of how passive J.J. is.

Far and away my favourite character in the book is Alan. He’s sensible in that he realises that Tommy’s feelings for J.J. surpass those for him and yet shows no jealousy over this fact. He’s also very human in his struggles to overcome his own attraction to J.J.. He has a witty internal dialogue which counterbalanced some of the extreme navel gazing done by Tommy and is able to remain a friend to Tommy even once they have moved on in their relationship. In fact, I’m really hoping that Alan gets a book of his own.

Along with the theme of coping with life’s repercussions and that of lost love and opportunity is the theme of community. I loved how the townsfolk grew closer together through the reappearance in town of Tommy, joined by their common purpose of getting the two men back together. I especially liked Tommy’s new friendship with Bobby as he uses a mix of caring and insults to drag him out of the pit of alcoholism and depression and makes him see himself as someone worthy once more. The book is a real celebration of small town life as can be seen through Alan’s viewpoint as he sets aside all his previous prejudices about small town America and looks at the heart and soul of the community.

Overall, Making It Up was a delightful story about love, loss, commitment and relationships. TC Blue has created a story which is heartwarming without becoming mawkish and which looks at serious issues such as infidelity, wounded war veterans and the value of close relationships over city anonymity. I was engrossed in the lives of all the people of this small town and I would highly recommend this book.