Ian Baines seems to have it all—a career as a hotshot software programmer in Silicon Valley, a beautiful wife and family, a nice house in an upscale San Francisco neighborhood, and a past that he’s mostly managed to forget. Life takes an unexpected turn for Ian when he finds himself in Paris for a three-month work project where he meets former fashion photographer Luca Sparks. The unlikely friendship grows and Ian sees a new side to life as Luca takes him on a journey through the glamorous and lustrous Paris nightlife. But something strange starts to happen during their adventures in Paris—the two start to fall in love. Both battle their own demons on the road to self-discovery, ultimately learning how to come to peace with their feelings and their pasts.
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If you enjoy a strong narrative voice, writing that's almost poetic without being precious, and a story that despite it's specificity can be pretty universal, read this book. At 43 Ian is suddenly confronted with a part of himself he'd hidden away, not because he was ashamed but because it was easier to follow the path of least resistance. That path has had it's rewards, however Ian is just coasting, not really present in his own life, and he doesn't even know it. He exists in a sort of permanent low-key. All of that changes when he goes to Paris for a work assignment and meets Luca Sparks. Each flips a switch in the other and afterward neither will be the same.I don't want to give much away, though this is no murder mystery, but I dove in pretty blind, just trusting Jan's review and I'm glad I did. I will say that for those looking for the usual MM tropes & beats this isn't that, because this isn't an MM romance, more like gay fiction. It's Ian's inner voyage of discovery, about who he is as a person, and as a man. Being in his head is a treat because of and not despite all his foibles, dithering, and failings. He's a fully realized character who's company I enjoyed immensely, precisely because of his sometimes glaring flaws and at times astounding obliviousness. I really liked how [a:Ralph Josiah Bardsley 14439629 Ralph Josiah Bardsley https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1444191301p2/14439629.jpg] used photography and different photographers to illustrate how we see the world and ourselves in it and all you need to know about this story is there in black & white in Robert Mapplethorpe's Couple Dancing. It's like a précis for this story as a whole and each part is suitably encapsulated by the work of another photographer. I'm pretty certain this isn't a perfect book, there were things I wanted more of, and things I could've done without but ultimately this quote captured my mood trying to extend a relatively short read because I wanted to remain as long as possible in that world:“Each step I took that morning felt like a step towards the wrong end of a story I didn't want to finish reading.”
