The Night We Met
-
- $5.99
-
- $5.99
Publisher Description
In the tradition of Married to the Mob and The Wedding Banquet, Rob Byrnes' wickedly funny debut novel serves up the most deliciously wacky love story in ages--a screwball romantic comedy where boy gets gorgeous Mafia boyfriend, boy loses Mafia boyfriend and nearly gets whacked by most of New York, boy gets Mafia boyfriend and more than he bargained for. . .
"We Are Family" Just Took On A Whole New Meaning. . .
Andrew Westlake's life is boring him into a coma. After fifteen years in New York, he has not met up with the gay equivalent of the Rat Pack. He has not realized his dream of becoming the literary voice of his generation. And he most definitely has not met a Mr. Right to share a fabulous penthouse with a view of something other than an air shaft. In fact, the love of his life has just left their cramped, Upper West Side apartment to move in with an apprentice window designer with bleached hair, and Andrew's two novels have tanked, ending up in bookstore bargain bins.
Stuck in a dead-end publishing job and still nursing his broken heart and tepid reviews, Andrew is resigned to a life of anti-fabulousness. . .until the night he meets dark, hunky Frank DiBenedetto. With his confident way of taking care of things and his shy demeanor in the bedroom, Frank wins Andrew over. Who cares that Andrew's friends, the flamboyantly out-there David and wry Denise, suspect that there's more to Frank than he's letting on? A little mystery is good. . .right? Wrong! Not if the mystery is that your lover turns out to be the son of the Mafia's top boss, and he's engaged to Anna Franco--daughter of "Crazy Tommy" Franco--a woman who does not take kindly to catching her fiancé in the act of becoming "a made man."
Suddenly, Andrew's once-boring life is heating up with enough action to fuel ten novels. . .if only he can keep his very cute butt intact and his man from ending up on a Most Wanted poster. From a couple of "sensitivity-trained" cops to a persistent FBI agent. . .from guys with nicknames that all have to do with pain to a Mafia princess whose hair is nearly as big as her mouth. . .from ex-lovers, drag queens, and suspicious doormen to a cast of other characters as zany as New York, itself, The Night We Met is a frantic, nonstop, madcap romp through a wild romance no reader will be able to refuse.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
After 30-something author/editorial assistant Andrew Westlake, a self-proclaimed romantic, gets dumped by his boyfriend, Ted, a well-deserved wild night on the town throws him headlong into treacherous terrain in Byrnes's clever, compulsively readable first novel. Dismissing a broken heart and the bleak sales of his debut novel, Andrew attends a trendy gay nightclub opening on Halloween night in drag (as "Belle Bacall") and accidentally meets (and falls for) owner Frank DiBenedetto, a sexy, closeted gay man who is not only engaged to be married, but is an "underboss" in the Stendardi organized crime family. Despite warnings from friends, Andrew can't seem to tear himself away from Frank, even when Ted is mysteriously beaten up and Andrew becomes the prime suspect. Bad turns to worse when fianc e Anna Franco catches her husband-to-be and Andrew in a hot postcoital embrace. Paranoia clouds the relationship as mob henchmen (and police detectives) stake out Andrew's apartment and keep watch over Frank's nightclub. A few close calls force Andrew to flee New York on a rather dramatic West Coast book tour, and upon his return he reconsiders his relationship with Frank. A rousing conclusion powered by mistaken identity, car chases, guns and narrow escapes sets the icing on this confection. The supporting cast spicy best friend Denise; cocky, flamboyant co-worker David; and a host of murky mafiosi is strong and the breezy dialogue exchanges are as authentic as they are hilarious. Byrnes adroitly combines a twist-filled plot, solid characterization, humor and steamy sex to create a nicely crafted, delightful debut that readers of any orientation will enjoy.