Femme

Cute contemporary romance with a message (“be yourself, everyone else is taken”) and a gentle but sincere criticism of bias within the gay community. Lionel is fabulous (even when he tries not to be) and Dog/Doug is earnest (and master of the Grand Gesture). Thornton wisely doesn't wrap up the book with a flowery HEA, just a hopeful HFN that sees the two very different men working together on a genuine, promising relationship. I was confused and bothered by the book's “punchline,” (the masc guy likes to bottom) which seems to counteract the author's warning not to get caught up in stereotypes, but maybe I'm reading too much into it.There is a sequel ([b:Masc 39717722 Masc (Femme, #2) Marshall Thornton https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1522859181s/39717722.jpg 61387128]) but I don't think I'll check it out. I'd prefer to leave the two MCs as they are at the end of Femme, without creating new drama to keep them apart.