seriously romantic: the hideaway inn by philip william stover

there is a lot i enjoyed about the hideaway inn, but one thing i didn't like, and one that created this super visceral reaction from me, was the fact that no one in the freaking town of new hope called vince by the name he asked to be called. even people who had transitioned and had changed their identities called him vinny, when he expressly asked to be called vince.

did no one pick up on the absolute hypocrisy of that?? i have spent most of my life correcting people's pronunciation of my name. and i have never felt smaller when people just refuse to say it right. i understand the occasional mistake or slip. but there are people who i consistently have to correct and who consistently fail to make the correction and what that says about our dynamic to me is that they don't respect me. 

no one in this town respects vince. they think that whatever changes he's made in his big city life are wrong and they know better and he is really vinny and should reject vince. and that is such a load of bullshit. are some of his attitudes completely wrong. yes!! yes, they are. 

but also could people in this town be gentler and show him some basic respect and not be so freaking aggressive with this small town, we know best and the big city crap you have to bring to the table is all bad?? i just have such a problem with this. and maybe it's because all of this hits so close to home...the way people say my name, the fact that i live in a small town after living in a big city and guess what...unlike what the books will tell you, small towns suck!! i hate living in a small town. i want to live in the city every single day of my life. but i live here because i can afford it because i chose a career in publishing and i wanted a place to raise three kids. and as much as i hate this small town for me, it is a good place to raise kids. 

anyway, reading the hideaway inn made me all sorts of angry and defensive and upset, but it's definitely a me thing, i think. i haven't read other reviews so i'm not sure how others are reacting to it. i still liked the story of these two guys reconnecting years after a confusing high school experience. i just wish that some different choices had been made about how everyone in the stupid town of new hope acted. because oh man, i hate when everyone else but the main character knows best. it's the fucking worst.

yeah characters need to grow and whatever during the course of a book, but like this was basically everyone in town pushing vince to be who he was before and discounting everything he could bring to the table now. and like the time away had evolved them into some superior beings. that's just bullshit. they were wrong in the past, and there's no way they were suddenly this perfect queer paradise. i just, i like to see growth and understanding happen in a more balanced way. and i find it very difficult to be in the main pov and always feel like the character i'm supposed to be rooting for is always wrong. that isn't enjoyable for me. 

**the hideaway inn will publish on may 27, 2020. i received an advance reader copy courtesy of netgalley/carina press (carina adores) in exchange for my honest review.