Family Unit by ZA Maxfield

Family Unit by Z.A. Maxfield
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This story works very well for me, because it hits a lot of my buttons...even some that I didn't know I had. :)

The first button it hits is that of family. This is a story about two men finding love, and one of them has a kid to care for...in this case, his grandson. I love seeing a gay story with a developing family, because it paints a picture that many people in today's society don't see, or care to see...that of gay men as regular people, living regular lives, and building regular families. These characters really love each other, and they build a successful (IMO) family unit, both including and around the kid. Some stories with children seem to slap them in, and they feel very artificial and secondhand. This one isn't built around the kid, per se, but it is a primary focus of the story, and you get a real sense of how the kid would struggle to see his grandfather/primary caregiver in a different light...and how it would affect his life, both in school and with other people.

In a related vein, Richard struggles with the change in his relationship status. I think most of the people in his life, including his neighbors and Nick's worthless mother and other grandparents...but I get the feeling that most of them chose to ignore that fact, and just see him as a single man. When Logan comes onto the scene, though, he forces them to see who Richard really is...and I think Logan challenges their image of a gay man. Richard, for all that he is a good guy, is a little more stereotypical...he's a photographer, thus "arty." Logan, on the other hand, is a retired soldier, a "man's man," strong and very capable of defending himself and his family.

Along those lines, though, I don't like how the dynamic and background of these two characters sometimes forces them into "husband/wife" roles. It doesn't happen often, and the author tries to mitigate it as much as possible by showing Richard as strong in certain situations, and even topping Logan, but it still happens. Richard is more emotional, more motherly, at times, and it sort of bothers me that it comes out that way.

It was also hard for me to see their age in the story. I often forgot that they were over 50 years old...they didn't act that way most of the time, and felt more like 30ish. Some of that you can explain away with the excitement of their new relationship, and their new situations...and I certainly didn't want them depicted as old men, because 50 is certainly not "old and decrepit" or anything...they just didn't feel as old as they were shown. I'm not sure if that is my own perception (or fault, really), or if it really was an aspect of the story, and the author's voice through the characters, but it was something I struggled with on occasion.

The drama throughout the story was rather good, though, and believable. The final section, dealing with Nick's abduction and rescue, was the hardest to swallow, though that didn't mean it was unbelievable...just slightly less believable than the troubles at school, and the tensions with the neighbors. Honestly, I would have liked to see more interaction with the neighbors, watching them come around more toward the 3 characters as a real family, and Logan as part of the community.

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