Simple Men

Ah, a college football coach, young, straight, hot, and the chaplain. Wait. What? Yep. Eric Arvin has taken the two most unlikely people to even be friends, and has made a romantic connection out of them. I wasn't so sure about this, but I know that I enjoy this author's writing, so I figured I had to give it a try. If nothing else, I thought I might get some laughs. *grins*
I was fairly sure I had a handle on Chip from the get-go. I mean, he's a football coach and his name is Chip. Tell you anything? I guessed he'd be cocky and arrogant, especially about his abilities with the ladies. To a certain degree, I was correct. What came as quite a shock was how self-aware Chip is, and that, remarkably, he didn't have an issue with gay men, mainly because he has a gay uncle. I had assumed that since Chip grew up in a small, conservative town, he might've been raised in some bigotry. It was nice to see that I was completely wrong about that.
Foster is the new chaplain at this small, private college and he's very happy to be there away from the city and the memories of his last break up. Foster was hurt badly by that relationship and had vowed to never get into another one. So it was quite a surprise to him when he's attracted to the coach and even more that the coach seems to reciprocate. Now Foster and Chip just need to find their place in the world.
At the same time that Foster and Chip are beginning a relationship, there's a second story arc involving best friends and roommates, Jason and Brad, who are also exploring possible love between them. It's very sweet to watch them struggle with what to do, what to say, and, most importantly, can they be what the other needs?
This was an interesting story. The romance between Chip and Foster was good, with the inevitable break-up and getting back together. The title is very accurate. Chip and Foster, and even Jason and Brad, are simple men. They didn't like to talk about their feelings too much and were happiest when life didn't give them too many hiccups in the road. I enjoyed the simplicity and, I'll admit to enjoying a few laughs along the way.
NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews