Lonely Diner Review #GayBookPromotions

AUDIOBOOK RELEASE

Book Title: Lonely Diner

Author and Narrator: Dann Hazel

 Release Date: February 9, 2024

Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance

Tropes: Military Romance, Coming Out, Overcoming Adversity, Second Chances

Themes: Dealing with Trauma, Gay in a New City, Forgiveness

Heat Rating:  4 flames   

Length:  11 hours and 5 minutes

It is part of a series, but each novel can be read as a standalone. 

It does not end on a cliffhanger.

Goodreads

 Buy Links 

Audible US  |  Audible UK

Amazon US  |   Amazon UK 

Two conflicted military men. A longing for happiness. One Lonely Diner, where people often search for a recipe for love. (The food is good there, too.)

Blurb

Two conflicted military men. A longing for happiness. One Lonely Diner, where people often search for a recipe for love. (The food is good there, too.)

One man plays it straight. Another grieves over a lost best friend with benefits.

Everyone thought they were meant for each other. Lance, an Air Force computer engineer, and Ryan, a former submariner in the Navy and now a military college professor, are gay men blinded by the painful wounds of their past decisions. Both men are ready for love. But because of their pasts, they’ve slammed the brakes on their desires.

Now thirty years old, a younger Ryan Ball decides he can be happy only by conforming to social expectations. So what does he do? He decides he must have a wife and kids. Though he acknowledges that he can never be straight, he is convinced that with effort, determination, alcohol and erectile dysfunction meds, he can play the necessary roles.

Vikki, Ryan’s girlfriend in high school and now his wife, begs to differ.

At thirty-one, Lance Dingle falls for his best friend and roommate, Randy, a stunt pilot who agrees to a friends-with-benefits arrangement. From Lance’s perspective, there’s a spark in their arrangement that Randy denies. Then, tragedy strikes. Lance finds himself alone and lonely, living with memories of Randy and an ever-expanding list of “what-might-have-beens.” Finally forcing himself into the dating scene, Lance discovers that Mr. Right is more elusive than he ever imagined.

Then, Callie Yenti, transwoman, drag performer extraordinaire and entrepreneur, enters the picture. She owns the popular Lonely Diner and possesses an uncanny insight into the workings of the heart.

Even the complicated hearts of her two hard-headed friends, Lance and Ryan.

An HEA gay romance.

Trigger Warning: This novel includes scenes from a sexual assault and a PTSD episode.

Excerpt 

It was at this point—this question—that Ryan slammed both hands flat against the table. He heard Diamond’s short scream and grimaced. He lowered his voice. “Okay. Fine. The two of you want the truth? The whole truth? You’ll have it, then.” 

​He could imagine what Vikki would say. She would never have advised handling his parents the way he intended now. ​

Ryan inhaled deeply. “For years now, I have denied a big part of who I am. In my denial, I asked Vikki to make a sacrifice—a sacrifice of which she was unaware for years—while I sorted my shit out. A fool’s way of avoiding the truth. It took a stint in the Navy but finally, I did. I sorted everything out and realized I am gay. There. I said it. And I said it without fear or shame.” ​

“Oh, dear God!” Mr. Ball’s voice boomed, echoing against the walls of the dining room. “What kind of farce do you have in store for us next? That you’ve fallen in love with a sailor, and with him, you intend to live happily ever after?” A pause. Then: “Gay!” He spat out the word. “Another fad. Another trend. It’s not real. I’ve known men who thought they were homosexuals, then after years of lying to themselves passed, I discovered they were happily married with children.” 

​“How many people have you told?” Mrs. Ball demanded. “To what degree have you brought shame to this family?” And then, after a thought: “And what about Vikki? Can you say with certainty that you’re really Diamond’s father? After all, you’ve been at sea for months at a time.”

 ​“Wait just a minute!” Ryan’s voice exploded. “First, I must say that your assertion is offensive—both to me and, I’m sure, to Vikki. Just because I’m gay doesn’t mean I can’t perform sexually with a woman.” He turned to his father. “Which probably is part of the reason why your gay acquaintances were able to pull the wool over your eyes so successfully. Being gay is more than just sex, you know.” 

​Mr. Ball glared at his son. “I am so fearful of what will happen to this country when your generation takes the reins.” 

​“Just—stop it! Just shut the fuck up! Both of you. I’m tired of it. Tired of the bullshit.” 

​The expression on both parents’ faces confirmed the fact that their son had never spoken to them using this tone, these words. ​

Ryan lowered his voice to a subtle whisper. “What Vikki and I are dealing with? Well, it’s our concern. No one else’s.” 

​Then, a voice. Vikki’s voice. Coming from the doorway. Diamond, still absorbed in her coloring activity in the family room. 

​“Please understand. Both of you. I was able to handle your son’s honesty. Was I deeply hurt when I discovered the truth? Yes. Of course. And I’m sure you bear some hurt of your own. But you should not weaponize that hurt into anger against your son. It’s important that you try to do what Ryan and I did. It took some effort, but it was worth it. With open communication and a willingness to be accessible to one another, we began to work things out. I know there are still challenges ahead of us, especially with our little girl. That’s uncharted territory, to be sure. But Diamond is loved. By both of us. We will still be a family, even when Ryan is in Florida and I’m here, in Virginia. We want both of you to be a part of our family. But that’s not going to happen if the two of you can‘t see your way forward to cultivate a little understanding.” 

​To avoid escalating the situation even more, what Vikki and Ryan did not say was that Mr. and Mrs. Ball would never see their grandchild again if they could not surmount their anger, doubt and resentment.

About the Author

Dann Hazel has been writing both fiction and nonfiction for more than twenty years. 

Besides writing romance, he has taught high school English and journalism, college psychology and human sexuality, directed federal grants and worked as a therapist in a psychiatric hospital. His fiction genre interests include thrillers, horror, literary and gay romance. He has published the Some Like It Haute Gay Romance Series, including Room for Dessert, My Own Private Biscuit and Lonely Diner.

Nonfiction works include Witness: Gay and Lesbian Clergy Report from the Front and Moving On: The Gay Man’s Guide for Coping When a Relationship Ends.

Dann’s personal interests include reading and writing, cinema, jogging, Broadway, keeping abreast of current events and travel.

Currently, Dann lives in Central Florida with his husband, Josh, and their American Eskimo canine, Flurry.

Social Media Links

Blog/Website  |  Facebook  |  Instagram

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Ornery Owl's Review

Rating:

Four out of Five Stars

A coming-out story with mature characters rather than fresh young college students sounded like the sort of audiobook I'd enjoy listening to while on long drives from my rural home to appointments. Overall, I was right to take a chance on this book. The characters are well-developed and compelling. Some readers might be put off by the in-depth backstory of each of the major characters, but I say nuts to that. I'm the sort of reader who enjoys the backstory. Bring it on!

Ryan, a college professor and Navy veteran, has a daughter from his marriage to Vikki, his best friend from high school. Although Vikki was hurt when the marriage collapsed, she was supportive of Ryan when he came out to his homophobic parents. Ryan and Vikki's daughter Diamond lives with Vikki in Virginia, while Ryan moves to Florida to pursue his education and then to North Carolina when he obtains a job as a professor.

Lance is still active in the Air Force. He is grieving the loss of Randy, a fellow Air Force member with whom he had a friends-with-benefits relationship. Lance witnessed Randy's plane crash during an air show.

The third major player in this story is Callie Yenti, the transgender drag performer who owns the Lonely Diner. Callie has a knack for matchmaking and is a compelling, colorful character. Callie is the spice in the mix. The story would lack its special flair without this unique personality who gets things cooking, both literally and metaphorically.

While I enjoyed the drama of both Lance and Ryan's own storylines and liked watching their paths converge, I could have done without the massive injections of political correctness. One of these took up an entire chapter when Lance goes to a meeting and the police chief goes off on a tangent, which remains in my memory as "blah blah blah, the queer community, blah blah queer blah blah queer blah." I wish I could report the venue where this meeting was held to the fire marshall because the exits were not clearly marked for me to make my escape. 

Actually, I was driving and needed to keep my eyes on the road and my hands on the wheel rather than trying to fast-forward through the chapter. I was relieved when it was finally over. As an info-dumper myself, I've been asked by more than one critique partner to cut out paragraphs where I provide way too much information, and it has the effect of stagnating the story rather than moving it along. The thoughts presented in this chapter would have been better set aside for a nonfiction essay.

On the other hand, the chapter where Ryan is assaulted by his department head in a hotel room at a conference and berates himself afterward for not fighting back is powerful, hard-hitting, and, unfortunately, a reality many people can relate to. It took me forty years before I was finally able to realize that an incident that happened to me at fifteen years old was sexual assault and I needed to stop lambasting myself for freezing and allowing it to happen rather than making a scene. I really appreciated this narrative.

Likewise, the chapter where Callie is beaten up while jogging by two thugs who are members of a subversive online community illustrates the very real problem of unhinged people targeting certain individuals or groups who don't conform to their belief systems. This chapter was well-written, although I didn't see the need for the couple who came to Callie's rescue to toot their own horns about being ever so woke. If I see someone being assaulted and manage to scare off their attacker, I'm not going to say, "By the way, I've always supported same-sex marriage" if I notice they're a gay man. I'm going to say, "Hang on, Bud, the ambulance is on its way."

I also had issues with the chapter where a teenage Diamond talks about needing to "burn off calories" from the meal she enjoyed with Ryan and Lance. As someone who became bulimic at twelve and has fought with disordered eating for most of my life, I don't enjoy it when fictional stories lecture about "healthy" eating or encourage calorie counting, excessive exercise, or obsession with weight. A story is much more palatable without the addition of food moralizing.

Despite the issues I've pointed out, I did enjoy the story overall. With apologies to Lance and Ryan, Callie was the book's shining star.