Today, I enjoyed watching a marathon from Season 1 of Perry Mason. Being a child during the days when cars had fins, I loved Perry’s 1957 Cadillac convertible, all gleaming chrome and polish. The other thing I loved was where my imagination went. It was quite easy for me to picture rewriting Erle Stanley Gardner’s novels, featuring Perry Mason and Paul Drake as a couple. In the era of the 1950’s, they did make a good-looking couple on TV.
But, I digress. I also finished reading Wounded Pride, by Remmy Duchene and B.L. Morticia. Since I am African-American and Native-American, this was a M/M romance I could not pass up. Brian Daystar is a twenty-something Lakota man who spent his life in Montana, a victim of physical and emotional abuse. Renford Kline is a self-made, African-American billionaire living in New York, struggling to come to terms with the fact that he’s gay at age 38. Of course, Brian is a major factor in this discovery.
After reading this novel, I later discovered that Wounded Pride is a sequel to Wounded Hearts, which featured the characters of Zane Ashford and Cyrus Abrams (now you know I must buy that book). As the story unfolds, it seems as though Brian and Renford couldn’t be further apart, geographically or otherwise. Brian has a good heart in wanting to help other LGBT youth. Renford has enjoyed the hard-won trappings of success. Ultimately, the story comes down to the most important question. What is more important–the fears, insecurities and denial we hold onto, or the power of love (for ourselves and another) that is waiting for us to reach out and embrace it?
Not only did I enjoy this story (I finished it in three hours), but I also had a hearty appreciation for the authors’ incorporation of MCs of color and cultural diversity. In the world of romance, there is still plenty of room for stories such as these, and they need to be told.
To Remmy and B.L., here’s some peace and love–keep writing. To those M/M romance readers out there, this is one to check out from your Amazon or Barnes & Noble library.
W.D. Foster-Graham, Author 