Title: Six Degrees of Lust (By Degrees #1) 1st Edition
Author: Taylor V. Donovan
Cover artist: Deana C. Jamroz
Publisher: MLR Press
Buy link: Amazon.com
Length: Novel/393 PDF pages/118,000 words
Genre: M/M Romance/Mystery
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5
A guest review by LadyM
Review summary: Ambitious novel that goes in all directions and never quite makes it to any destination.
Blurb: New York City FBI team leader Samuel Shaughnessy lives for his immediate family and his job. After a marriage gone wrong he has stuck to a firm rule when it comes to relationships: he doesn’t have them. Sexually active and emotionally unavailable keeps him satisfied, especially now that he is in hot pursuit of a serial killer targeting gay men.
Former firefighter Machlan O’Bannon now manages a successful sports bar in Houston and after years of waiting he’s ready to stand up and be the man he always wanted to be: out, proud and drama-free. His politically-aligned family wants to keep him locked in the closet, but Mac just wants to meet the man of his dreams.
One man is as high strung as the other is laid back. A chance meeting brings the two men together, and one night of passion ignites a fire neither can fight. Their lives are not only miles apart, but as different as day and night.
By Degrees Series
Review:
After reading Heatstroke from the Hot Summer Days anthology several months ago, I jumped to the opportunity to read and review Taylor V. Donovan’s first longer work. A romance with a dash of mystery? It should have been perfect for me. Unfortunately, Six Degrees of Lust doesn’t quite live up to the expectations amazing Heatstroke awoke. Also, the very short Southern Winterland precedes this novel, but it is not necessary for you to read it. It is a snippet about two secondary characters from this novel and it may clarify a few things for you, but the events of this story are recounted in the novel. Personally, that short only added to my frustration.
Let’s start with the things that didn’t work. The author starts many story lines and subplots without actually ending any one of them. There is a romance between Sam and Mac, then the mystery of the serial killer who preys on gay men, Sam’s situation with his abused sister and nephew who may or may not be gay and his ex-wife, Mac’s family situation, numerous potential and not so potential couples (like Remy and Chris), etc. None of these plots and subplots are resolved and if you want to know how they end you have to read (and pay for) the next installments. I understand that this is the first book in the series, the set up piece (the author introduces us to numerous secondary characters who will play bigger roles in the future books), but not to resolve anything made for a very frustrating experience. Although the book concentrates on the two men, it is actually an “ensemble” novel, following the group of people who are friends, family, friends of friends, acquaintances – separated by six degrees from the title. It is not bad by any stretch of imagination and I enjoyed parts of it quite a lot, but, like I said, reading it was a frustrating experience and, in my opinion, this was the biggest flaw of this book.
The second biggest flaw of the novel is representation of women. While they are, naturally, secondary characters, they are, frankly, all bitches (I can’t come up with the term that is less offensive and encompasses everything these women are). Gabi (Sam’s ex), Sandy (his sister), Amy (Mac’s former childhood friend), and Mac’s mother are bigoted, unreasonable, uncaring and I hated them all. Gabi still has some chance of redeeming herself, but the rest of them… no. There is no decent female character with any significant page time in the book and, I must say, I am getting tired of this in M/M books. There is no reason strong, three-dimensional gay characters cannot coexist with three-dimensional female characters.
As a mystery/police procedural fan, I enjoyed the beginning of the novel very much. The prologue about the conflicted, young murderer-in-the-making, the introduction of Sam’s team, their collective work on the Lev (Leviticus) case were intriguing and, although only Sam and Logan got more detailed treatment, their interaction was entertaining, often amusing, because they know each other so well. Amusing detail: when faced with bigotry, all members of the team – including the straight ones – ramp up their inner queens. Let’s just say, I would have loved to see this. 😀 In the team, the characters are more types than anything else: fierce leader and his right hand man, a profiler, a computer wiz, etc. That is not a bad thing; on the contrary, I was reminded of some very popular and loved TV shows. Additionally, I appreciated that, connected to the mystery, people didn’t behave like morons – they took precaution, they protected themselves the best they could and didn’t run towards the danger.
But, romance fans, do not despair! Once Sam meets Mac, the mystery falls in the background and, while it never quite disappears, it never quite makes it to the surface either. The romance holds the reader’s attention and the lust between the men burns the pages. Mac is more likable character of the two – the Texan who decided to stop playing the closet game for the sake of his family and fully embrace his identity, the man who is caring and wants more from the relationship than a roll in the bed, who challenges Sam and is not willing to take much of his crap. Sam is emotionally stunted, high-strung and often, yes, a jerk. You are almost ready to give up on him, when he does something that makes you change opinion of him – like taking care of his nephew or going to his daughter’s grave to talk to her (the way he refrained from cursing in front of her grave was especially touching). There is a healthy dose of humor in this part of the story, especially when Sam is forced to renege on some of his strict relationship rules (but, of course, they are not in a relationship!). Some of the e-mail and text message exchanges between Sam and Mac are hilarious. People enjoying a good snark will love it. Sam also changes more by opening slooooowly to Mac. The happy-for-now ending was appropriate for these two, especially since they are also separated by the entire country, but, combined with unresolved mystery, it was dissatisfying.
Like I said, there are numerous characters in the book and some of them were very engaging, like Logan, Sam’s best friend, who likes anime (Yu Yu Hakusho!), is openly gay and has a mean sexy streak (not to mention the painful past), flamboyant Chris or mysterious Sasha, surly, arrogant, androgynous 15-year-old boy who befriends Sam’s nephew and whose family situation is obviously very difficult.
Ms. Donovan has a clean, engaging writing style which makes the reader want to stick to the book, regardless of its flaws. I was never bored, although the book is almost 400 pages long. I found some small editing errors (“you’re” instead of “your”, for example), but, really, not many. So, in the end, is this a good book? Well, yes and no. Yes, because I liked the characters and I cared for them (except the bitches, of course), the mystery was good until it was left dangling (and, I hope the murderer is not the one all the clues lead to, because that would be way too obvious) and, like I said, the writing was good. Should you read it? Yes. It’s ambitious and complex and, it seems, it will get even more so. However, all the book’s values aside, if you haven’t already read it, I advise you to wait until the next book is published. I will save you a lot of frustration and, I believe, it will significantly increase the enjoyment in Ms. Donovan’s writing and characters. So… recommended with some reservations.
LadyM
Your review highlighted everything I loved (and didn’t) about this book. As you said, it’s an ambitious piece of work, and I don’t very often read books that are almost 400 PDF pages but I did here because I had enjoyed the previous books you mentioned. Like you, a lot of Six Degrees frustrated me because of all the loose ends. Sure there definitely was a lot of lust, but I need a plot that makes me want to continue reading the other books in the series.
I really love Taylor’s writing and I know that this is the first book of a new series and her first novel, but I was hoping that at least ONE issue would have been resolved before THE END. However I will have to wait until book no. 2 before I decide whether to read the other books.
Great review Lady M.
I didn’t mind the lust, on the contrary. Mac and Sam were hot together and I actually think Mac is a perfect antidote for all Sam’s rules. But, yeah, all the loose ends made me crazy.
Thanks for reading, Wave. 🙂
I loved the lust too because it humanised Sam. 🙂
Excellent review – you articulated everything that bothered me about this novel! I was so frustrated by the ending (“Really?! NOTHING is resolved?!? ARGH!!!”) that if I’d been reading a paper book, I would have thrown it across the room.
And reading Southern Winterland first only made things worse, as its ending was basically negated by this book. *sigh*
Chris
And reading Southern Winterland first only made things worse, as its ending was basically negated by this book. *sigh*
I hear you. I muttered What.The.Hell?? when I read Six Degrees and realized that Chris’s and Remy’s situation was not resolved as I thought. 😮
Oh, I was the same. I came to the final page and just stared at my screen. It’s the end?! If it was badly written, it wouldn’t be so frustrating, but it’s somehow worse because the author does know how to write.
I think I had a bad feeling about Southern Winterland the moment Chris asked Remy if he now knew that he wasn’t straight or something to that effect. 😥
Oh 😮
Thinking twice about starting this. It worries me that there is still at least four books more in the series 😯
Thank you for your review 😎
Well, I hope at least some things will be resolved in the next installment, so, maybe, you should wait for the next book. According to the progress from author’s blog, it well underway. 🙂
I haven’t picked this one up yet even though it is right up my alley, but based on your review, LadyM, I will wait for a few more installments (maybe the entire series?) to be published before taking them on. The frustrations you list would be there for me as well, regardless of how well it was done otherwise. Thanks for a thorough, thoughtful review.
The parts that are “right up you alley” are mystery parts and they are good, but they fall in the background the moment romance starts. As I said to Helena, the author wrote a good part of the next book, so, yes, you should wait until at least that book is done. You are welcome, Lynn! 🙂
It does sound ambitious and complex! I’d think a series like this wouldn’t be easy to do. Thanks for the review, LadyM. It sounds like there are a lot of good things here, but the characterization of the women holds me back. I’ll think about it. 🙂
It’s definitely ambitious and not easy to write – just keeping track of all the characters would be difficult. And, yes, there are a lot of good things here so I hope the women will evolve too as the series progresses. As I said to everyone else, maybe you should wait for sequel(s). 🙂
Oh, I did like the dual meaning of the title.
Taylor will be profiled this month on the site so there will be a great opportunity for you guys to ask her questions about Six Degrees of Lust. 😮
I think I’ll wait for the series to finish and then see what all you lovely reviewers say 🙂
Thanks for this
Hey, Majken! I think that is the safest bet – the writing is good, but if you wait, you’ll enjoy in the complete story. 🙂
Great review. You touched upon all the problems I had with this book.
I’m wondering if Mac and Sam will stay in the forefront of the series, or will we see one of the friends highlighted. Hoping it’s the former since Mac and Sam by the end of this book are not really a couple yet.
Had to scratch my head about the ink scene. That sure is some good alcohol they are serving in Miami Beach if neither of them can recall getting a big tatoo on their forearm.
I do like Taylor’s writing style, and I will check out the next part in this series.
I think, maybe, other characters will take over the spotlight, but Mac and Sam will still be there. (This is just my speculation.) I hope Logan will get his man… whoever that is. 😀
Oh sigh I also bought this one because I enjoyed Heatstroke so much but I cannot tell you how very much I am sick and tires of this portrayal of women in mm romances. I second you that there is no reason why three dimensional gay men characters cannot coexist with three dimensional female characters. I just finished a review where main character’s attitude made me pretty much not like him at all. Anyway, my other question is whether it ends in obvious cliffhanger – if so I will wait till next installment myself. Thanks for the review.
It’s not a cliffhanger, it’s just that they DON’T END – neither romance nor mystery nor many other subplots. If you really, really want, you can imagine that romance between Mac and Sam is HFN, but it’s more work in progress. Nothing spectacular happens at the end to deserve “cliffhanger” title, there simple isn’t any conclusion to any story line. So, either way, I will recommend waiting. Unless the curiosity kills the cat. 😀
Heatstroke was lovely, so romantic. This is more, well, hot book (there is lust in the title after all), but, yes, women are terrible.
Oh. Thank you. Curiosity may kill the cat indeed, but somehow I am not sure, we shall see. And I hear Southern Winterland gets not to be resolved? Oy, decisions, decisions.
The story ends on a positive note, but then, in the novel, we see that things didn’t go exactly as planned. And that situation is still unresolved. :wallbash:
I usually don’t like reading reviews before reading the book, but I saw this was a serialized book decided to see what’s up… and since reading Southern Winterland I wanted to read what happens to those two characters.
Thanks for making my decision about whether to wait or not easier 🙂 I really love her writing, but after doing one serial last year, I’ve learned to wait until they’re all released to buy and read 🙂
Heatstroke was really fantastic, so I’ll definitely be reading more of this author.
You are welcome, Mariana! I hope you wouldn’t have to wait long for the sequels.
Yes, Heatstroke was lovely. 🙂
Thats the thing about a series with clifhangers. You gotta wait till the next book. Kind of rare in the M/M genre. Everythings just packed into a neat package. Gets old fast.
I often wonder why there are sequels when the next book is just another “episode”.
Nobody leaves you hangin nomore. Always making sure we get off, and go on.
Nobody wants to b left… hanging anymore;)