I'm Your Man

Rating:
Summary: Another great story
Review: In this excellent third novel, Beck revisits many of the unforgettable characters from his previous works, "It Had to Be You" and "He's the One". For me, reading this book felt a little like going back home for the holidays and catching up with family and old friends.
This story has all the charm, wit, and memorably well-written characters of the previous novels, but also treads into some new territory for Beck. We get to see many familiar faces through a different set of eyes. The main character of Blaine, first introduced to us in "It Had to Be You", is now going through a darker, more serious time of his life, having recently become single again. From his point of view, we see many of Beck's earlier characters, and many new characters, as Blaine comes to terms with his new status, and debates making a life-altering decision with his friend Gretchen.
Without becoming too serious or weighed down, this story takes a realistic and slightly less lighthearted look at relationships...a subject with which Beck seems to have a keen understanding. I found it very interesting to see how he has grown as an author, and how his characters and their interaction with the world have grown with him.
Absolutely worth reading, for T.J.B. fans and new readers alike.

Rating:
Summary: I've read it, I loved it!
Review: I'm actually friends with one of the writers, which is what got me started reading the TJB series. I've never been a big fiction reader, because the stories and characters don't seem REAL, but I found myself hooked on the characters in the first book, It Had to Be You, and have been glued to the books since then! You feel like you really know these people, and are affected by the outcome of the story. This is a great continuation of the story of Daniel and Blaine and friends, with heartache, longing, love, and all the intensity that keeps you rooting for these people, and I can't wait to see what they'll do next!

Rating:
Summary: A Wonderful Joyride of a Novel
Review: I'M YOUR MAN is the third book published by that talented foursome known as Timothy James Beck. The three novels detail the lives of several friends, most of whom live in New York City, but are originally from Eau Claire Wisconsin. IT HAD TO BE YOU concentrates on the budding relationship between Daniel, a recently retired female impersonator, and Blaine, an up and coming advertising executive. HE'S THE ONE focuses on Adam, a hunky computer wiz, and Jeremy, a struggling actor and a former lover of Daniel's. In I'M YOUR MAN, Daniel, and Blaine, are once again the primary protagonists.

The story, this time around, is told from Blaine's point of view. Blaine and Daniel have broken up and the split was anything but amicable. Each said horrible things to the other, and both are terribly bitter. Of course they still love each other madly, so moving on for both is proving extremely difficult. Daniel, currently the most hated/loved villain on daytime's popular Secret Splendor, is filming a TV movie in Hollywood, while Blaine continues on in New York. Blaine is a mass of battling emotions. He really misses his ex-boyfriend, but he remains angry over a deception he feels Daniel perpetrated on him. He wants desperately to get on with his life but his feelings for Daniel just won't go away. When a mutual lesbian friend, Gretchen, suggests Blaine have a child with her, Blaine struggles with his decision. He and Daniel wanted to raise children one day and he feels guilty about going ahead with the plan on his own.

With humor and compassion, I'M YOUR MAN, deals with many issues facing the 21st century gay community. Family relationships, gay families, child rearing, transgender acceptance, public outing, and personal honesty and forgiveness are all tackled with equal sincerity. While slightly more idealistic in nature, I found I'M YOUR MAN to be reminiscent of the best of William J Mann, a personal favorite. There is an underlying honesty here that is rare in popular gay fiction.

In each subsequent installment the characters have evolved and grown, as have the writing chops of the authors. I'M YOUR MAN maintains the romantic warm tone of its predecessors, but it's definitely a deeper and more involving read. I heartily recommend all of Timothy James Beck's novels, but especially this emotionally fulfilling joyride.

Rating:
Summary: Timothy James Beck, I'M YOUR FAN!
Review: I've been waiting for a year with something akin to baited breath for the release of I'M YOUR MAN, even though the preview I read in the paperback version of HE'S THE ONE made me a little nervous (more about that later). I'm happy to say that I'M YOUR MAN was definitely worth the wait.

I'M YOUR MAN is the third novel by Timothy James Beck (actually four authors: two named Timothy, one named James and one named Becky) that focuses on a group of gay men, most of whom have migrated from Eau Claire, WI to Manhattan. The central characters in this third volume are Daniel and Blaine, who were also at the heart of the first novel, IT HAD TO BE YOU, but with two major differences. Unlike the first book, which was narrated by Daniel, we see everything from the perspective of Blaine. And unlike the rollercoaster experience of budding love Daniel had in the first book, Blaine is dealing with a bad break-up with Daniel. (This is where my nervousness came in, because I loved Daniel and Blaine as a couple.)

I would liken TJB's three novels with another favorite series of mine, Armistead Maupin's TALES OF THE CITY series. While twists and turns in the plot are not as frequent as with Maupin's books, you have witty dialogue and richly drawn characters, full of both grace and flaws. And in this third volume, the characters have grown and filled out to the point that one wishes they were flesh-and-blood people that you could make part of one's circle of friends. In fact, when I have gone back and reread IT HAD TO BE YOU and HE'S THE ONE, it has felt something like revisiting old friends.

Also like Maupin did with San Francisco, TJB has made Manhattan a character rather than just a setting for the stories. As a New York City resident, I feel like I'm part of the story when Blaine bumps into Daniel at Whole Foods for the first time since their break up, or Blaine walks through Central Park, visiting his and Daniel's old haunts. Just as Daniel's subway experiences in IT HAD TO BE YOU and Adam and Jeremy's first meeting at The Big Cup in HE'S THE ONE lent a sense of realism to this frothy fiction, the attention to detail, I think, really brings this world to life. I also enjoy the pop culture references throughout the series, whether it's Daniel accidentally going into a Star Trek: The Next Generation-themed bar, Adam and Jeremy's "Evita" riff when they meet an Eva Perón look-alike (hopefully the Patti LuPone "Evita" and not the Madonna version!), or Blaine's tendency to be reminded of commercials in certain situations.

TJB's dialogue is witty and edgy at times, like Maupin's or Christian McGlaughlin's, but the sentimental and romantic passages or also well written. The dialogue rarely feels contrived; in fact, TBJ has a way of writing naturalistic conversation that still impart to the reader the exposition and plot points we need to know.

But I think what I like best about I'M YOUR MAN (as I did with the previous two novels) is seeing the arc of the narrator's development. Blaine, who has been somewhat closeted in the first two books, is only a little more open at the beginning of this story, but he grows to accept and embrace his own sexuality and the diversity of his community. Yet TJB makes this growth realistic. Blaine has to overcome his own internalized homophobia and has trouble doing so at times. His reactions when his ex, Daniel, dawns drag hark back to his hostility and discomfort with drag and the men who dawn it. Yet at least now he knows it is HIS problem, not the drag queens' and certainly not Daniel's. But Blaine is a changed man by the end this story, and his story is both engaging and authentic. (SPOILER: I was also thrilled that Blaine and Daniel reunite at the end!!)

I understand that TJB is at work on a fourth novel, but that this novel will not center on any of the characters I have come to know and love. While I welcome a "new universe" from these authors, I do hope they return to these marvelous characters again. After all, we haven't had a story from Jeremy's point of view, and I have a feeling that there could be an interesting story there (as long as it doesn't involve breaking up with Adam-I don't think I could take the heartache again!) And, hey, if it turns out that Jeremy shares my obsession with "Angel" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer," that'd be another reason for me to love TJB's world. Until then, I'll have to keep satisfied by re-reading IT HAD TO BE YOU, HE'S THE ONE, and now, I'M YOUR MAN.

Rating:
Summary: the wait paid off!
Review: it's been a year since i had the second installment, he's the one. i couldn't wait. i emailed timothy james beck and told me to wait for last quarter of 2004 for the 3rd installment. and the wait paid off...

the 3rd book gave us the definition of love, hate, break up, guilt in the eyes of blaine dunhill. the alpha male who's an over achiever and always get his way. in this book, he and the love of his life, daniel, broke up. i was so shocked after reading the first chapter. i would never imagine them apart.

i highly recomend this book to all people, from all walks of life who believe that love can conquer all, that love can move mountains. because it did, it moved me. :)

Rating:
Summary: Like bringing home characters you already love...
Review: Okay, before I begin, I'd like to point you towards my reviews of 'It Had to Be You,' and 'He's the One,' and to say, simply, "Go; Buy; Enjoy." It's not that you'd be totally lost reading these out of order (I came at the series ass-backwards with the ass book first, so to speak), but I would have to say that the third book won't have the same gut-punching beginning if you've not read the other two.

Namely, the position of Blaine and Daniel as ex-boyfriends.

It's not just that I've become something of a romantic since I actually manage to land one of those ephemeral 1% of sane gay men to date (no really, they exist!) - I read the other two when I was hip deep in single status, and they were quite an uplifting read. They had candy content, don't get me wrong (I mean, hello, everyone is described deliciously), but there were a few scenes that made me stop and think, which one doesn't often expect in fun reading. Most specifically, the "two saddest words" component of one of the tales ground me to a halt, until I finally found my own personal answer, and it has become a standard question I ask of people by the by.

Geez - am I still talking about the other two books? Right. On topic.

"I'm Your Man," starts with Blaine being single, Daniel being his ex, and the reader absolutely stunned that Timothy James Beck could be so heartless as to make us suffer through the notion of these two without each other. Sadists. But, like any good romantic, that horrible shred of hope kept me going past those awful first pages (they-broke-up/they-broke-up/they-broke-up hammering in my head all the while) and I found - as usual - that Timothy James Beck delivered a solid bit of work.

Blaine and his best pal Gretchen (also single, though in her case more repetitively and steadfastly so) decide that little swimmy Blaines and little ovulating Gretchens might be a nifty way to have child. The fallout in Blaine's life is a joy to read, as Blaine navigates a lot of what family is supposed to mean (and often doesn't). Blaine's a character you can slip into fairly well - his mental processes, though sometimes leaving you fit to smack his mythical head around for a few hours, make sense internally, and you can see why he is the way he is. It's also refreshing to read a gay character who isn't all that stereotypically gay conscious - the poor guy hasn't got a clue how to handle transgendered issues, has more than a little bit to learn about fashion, and can be more than a little bit ignorant. Even my usual slight friction with the perfectly sculpted super-hot muscle stud image didn't seem to rub the wrong way in this novel, which says a bit about how well he was written. Blaine goes to the gym a lot, so it's not like an Andy Schell novel where the hero fella suddenly has gym payoff when we've been with him every hour of almost every day and he's never even seen the inside of the gym.

The long and the short of it (and more long than short, I admit, as I fear I'm gushing at this point), Timothy James Beck gave me what I really wanted most: characters. Daniel is still Daniel - but an evolving Daniel. Ditto Blaine, and Adam, and Shiela, and all the other host of characters that make up the Beck world.

Personally, I'm ready for book four. I might even manage to read that one in more than a single day, to draw it out a little bit...

'Nathan