The Backlot Gay Book Forum discussion

Melting (Otter Bay 1)
By Sean Ashcroft
Published by the author, 2020
Four stars

Sean Ashcroft’s “Melting,” the first book in his Otter Bay series, is sweet, mostly uncomplicated, and very appealing—just like the ice cream that Hayden invents for his fancy shop in New York, called “Pleasure.”

Wes is a hook-ups-only kind of bi-guy who works for the widowed Mr. Lewis, who is 62 and whose first name might be Phil. He’s pretty happy working as Mr. Lewis’s personal assistant and general “major domo,” a term that doesn’t get used nearly enough these days. Wes is comforted by the fact that his boss is bi like he is, not to mention kind of a replacement father figure.

Then Wes learns that his boss’s son, Hayden, is coming home for an extended summer visit, having not seen his dad in years. Oh, nothing’s wrong between them, just that Hayden is hyper-focused on his demanding chef’s job, and New York City is 3000 miles from Otter Bay, Oregon. Also, Hayden’s apparently suffering from the painful breakup of his five-year relationship with an older man—the first and only relationship he’s ever had.

Because Wes really likes his boss, he agrees to show Hayden a good time—to try to get him to loosen up and relax after his personal ordeal back east.

Imagine his surprise when Hayden turns out not only to be model-beautiful, but not nearly as intimidating and unfriendly as rumor has suggested.

When you try to describe it, the story line seems so obvious as to be uninteresting, but the fact is that’s not the case. Ashcroft’s gentle touch with dialogue, description, and the translation of personal emotion into words makes the narrative flow effortlessly, with warm humor, and a completely believable spark between the “I’m going to die alone” Wes and “I’ll never love again” Hayden.

Part of what makes this work so well is that Ashcroft takes care to differentiate between love and lust; between the relentless yearning for physical satisfaction that is apparently present in all gay men under 30 and the equivalent yearning for something stable, solid, and “forever.”

I must say, now that my husband and I have been together over forty-five years, and our children are in their mid-twenties (i.e. only a bit younger than Wes and Hayden), I find it amusing to think that today’s hip crop of young gay men are supposedly far more into the top/bottom role thing than my generation was. Part of being liberated was, for us, not letting anyone tell you what to do, even your best friends. On the other hand, Wes and his friends seem to do this in a sort of pro-forma way. Being true to themselves seems more important than sticking to type.

Ashcroft has made all these young men—and the “elderly” Mr. Lewis—pretty comfortable with who they are. Only Wes seems a little unsure of himself, and the lovely boys of Otter Bay are there to make it all better. As I said, it’s sweet and simple, but it works.