You wonderful readers of Kings River Life know me as the author of the eighteen Nicky and Noah mystery novels, two Player Piano mystery novels, and five Jana Lane mystery novels. What you don’t know is that in 2015 I wrote my first book (of thirty-four), An Infatuation, a novella based on my one-act play of the same name. The play was produced Off-Broadway, and the novella won the Divine Magazine Readers’ Choice Award 2nd Place for Best MM Romance, and I won 2nd Place for Best MM Author of the Year! The largest publisher of MM fiction, Dreamspinner Press, published it, and the response was phenomenal! Reviewers and readers loved it! I received so many messages from readers telling me that little story made them laugh, cry, feel romantic, and changed their lives in a monumental way. It was on numerous Best MM Book of the Year lists.
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| Image Source Dreamspinner Press |
How did An Infatuation come about? I was thinking back to my high school days, and how difficult it was back then for a gay teen before GLSEN, PFLAG, and Will and Grace. Lab partners, gym locker rooms, and club meetings were super important. At my high school reunion, I realized that all the troublemakers had become police officers, and all the homophobes had come out as gay. A story was born.
As a professional actor, I knew storytelling was storytelling whether someone was acting, writing, directing, or designing. That gave me the courage to write the one-act play followed by the novella. While the situation is fictitious, Harold is based on me, and some things I went through in high school. I really admire Harold’s resilience, honesty, intelligence, wit, and ability to keep going in trying situations. His heart may be broken, but his spirit always stays intact. Harold’s devotion to his spouse is admirable, as is his honesty about his teenage infatuation with Mario. Stuart, Harold’s devoted spouse, is very much like my devoted spouse. Mario is a combination of many supposedly straight, perfect guys who gay guys so easily become infatuated with every day. I love that the story spans twenty years, so we see Harold (and Mario) develop and mature in their special relationship. I also love that Harold and Mario come full circle at their high school reunion.
I know this story will tickle your funny bone and touch your heart, because it is all of our stories. We’ve all had an infatuation, and this novella is a testament to that. Now the novella can also be experienced as an audio book performed perfectly by Brian Cheney. Please give it a listen. And let me know what you think via my website. Prop your feet up and enjoy!
An Infatuation by Joe Cosentino, the first In My Heart novella published by Dreamspinner Press
dreamspinnerpress.com/books/an-infatuation-by-joe-cosentino-4804-b
Audiobook performed by Brian Cheney can be found here.
With his ten-year high school reunion approaching, Harold wonders whether Mario will be as muscular, sexy, and tantalizing as he remembers. As a teenager, it was love at first sight for Harold while tutoring football star Mario, until homophobia and bullying drove Mario deep into the closet. Now they’re both married men. Mario, a model, is miserable with his producer wife, while Harold, a teacher, is perfectly content with his businessman husband, Stuart. When the two meet again, will the old flame reignite, setting Harold’s comfortable life ablaze? How can Harold be happy with Stuart when he is still infatuated with his Adonis, his first love, Mario? Harold faces this seemingly impossible situation with inimitable wit, tenderness, and humor as he attempts to reconcile the past and the future.
Genre: MM romance, humor, lost love
ASIN: B00SZ9618S
Length: 106 pages,
Released date: February 6, 2015
Cover Artist: Christy Caughie
Heat Level: 2
“Author Joe Cosentino brought just the right amount of humor, angst and honesty to make this short but sweet coming of age story a success.” MM Good Book Reviews
“Joe Cosentino proves there’s more than one way to a happy ending in An Infatuation, a story of first love and heartbreak delivered in a fresh and funny voice.” The Novel Approach
Joe Cosentino was voted Favorite MM Mystery, Humorous, and Contemporary Author of the Year by the readers of Divine Magazine for Drama Queen, the first Nicky and Noah mystery novel. He is also the author of the remaining Nicky and Noah mysteries: Drama Muscle, Drama Cruise, Drama Luau, Drama Detective, Drama Fraternity, Drama Castle, Drama Dance, Drama Faerie, Drama Runway, Drama Christmas, Drama Pan, Drama TV, Drama Oz, Drama Prince, Drama Merry, Drama Daddy, Drama King; the Player Piano Mysteries: The Player and The Player’s Encore; the Jana Lane Mysteries: Paper Doll, Porcelain Doll, Satin Doll, China Doll, Rag Doll; the Cozzi Cove series: Cozzi Cove: Bouncing Back, Moving Forward, Stepping Out, New Beginnings, Happy Endings; the In My Heart Anthology: An Infatuation & A Shooting Star; the Tales from Fairyland Anthology: The Naked Prince and Other Tales from Fairyland and Holiday Tales from Fairyland; the Bobby and Paolo Holiday Stories Anthology: A Home for the Holidays, The Perfect Gift, The First Noel; and the Found At Last Anthology: Finding Giorgio and Finding Armando. His books have won numerous Book of the Month awards and Rainbow Award Honorable Mentions. As an actor, Joe appeared in principal roles in film, television, and theatre, opposite stars such as Bruce Willis, Rosie O’Donnell, Nathan Lane, Jason Robards, and Holland Taylor. He received his Master of Fine Arts degree from Goddard College, Master’s degree from SUNY New Paltz, and is a happily married emeritus theatre professor residing in New York State.
Website: joecosentino.weebly.com
Facebook: facebook.com/JoeCosentinoauthor
Twitter: twitter.com/JoeCosen
Goodreads: goodreads.com/author/show/4071647.Joe_Cosentino
Amazon: Author.to/JoeCosentino
Instagram: instagram.com/joecosentinoauthor
Brian Cheney, hailed by KUSC Los Angeles as the “next great tenor”, protégé of legendary tenor Jerry Hadley, has gained international acclaim for his portrayal of characters such as Radamés in Aida, Don José in Carmen, Mario Cavaradossi in Tosca, Rodolfo in La bohème, the Duke in Rigoletto, and Canio in Pagliacci. “It is tenor Brian Cheney as the brave painter Cavaradossi who really blew me away. Cheney has that terrific tenor sound: the power, richness, and vocal color of a high baritone combined with ringing, awe-inspiring high notes” (Stage and Cinema.) Highlights from last season include Mr. Cheney’s creation of the role of Victor Frankenstein in the world premiere performance of Gregg Kallor’s Frankenstein in New York to critical acclaim and his National Philharmonic debut as the tenor soloist in Leonard Bernstein’s Mass and West Side Story. “Cheney’s ringing tenor voice carried well in the stone catacombs, conveying the fear that the deep bass sound of the monster summoned. And as the section of the sketches went on, Cheney’s voice bloomed to match the action and threats of the creature.” (Operawire) Recent engagements include Radamés in Aida with Virginia Opera, Antonin Scalia in Derrick Wang’s Scalia/Ginsburg with Toledo Opera, and Salute to Vienna performances in Miami, West Palm Beach, Nashville, and New York City (Lincoln Center). In audio books, Mr. Cheney performed several Nicky and Noah Mystery novels, All the King’s Men by Scott Leddy, Swarm by Guy Morris, The Last Ark by Guy Morris, and Pressure by Barry Napier. briancheneytenor.com
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