Love Ahead: Expect Delays by Astrid Amara
Loose Id
Gay Contemporary
ISBN: 978-1-60737-897-6
Reviewed by Cassie




Austin and Zach have different views on driving more than a thousand miles to Zach’s family home in a 1989 Geo Spectrum.  Mechanic Austin thinks it’s a terrible idea.  He only agrees to come along for Zach’s sake.  A road trip in a crappy car to see Zach’s family for Hanukkah will prove to Zach that Austin is serious about their relationship.  Zach, on the other hand, is looking on the bright side.  Staying in cheap motels with Austin sounds like fun, and Austin can meet his parents.

The trip proves to have hazards neither of them could have predicted, from terrible weather to car problems and criminals.  If they ever manage to make it to Zach’s parents’ place, will they still be together?

Love Ahead: Expect Delays proves, yet again, that you can’t go wrong with one of Astrid Amara’s Hanukkah stories.  This is the third one I’ve read, and while it’s vastly different than the other two, it retains the same great characterization and lovely hopefulness that seem to be common to Ms. Amara’s stories.  Austin and Zach are very different men, but both likeable in their own way.  Optimistic Zach hides secret fears that keep him from fully committing to Austin.  He’s thin and bookish and funny, and not a fighter in any sense of the word.  Austin, on the other hand, is big and tough.  He’s more pessimistic.  He’s also got a temper, yet he is careful never to take it out on Zach.

Just putting two guys that different on a long road trip in a crappy car would be enough to cause a bit of tension here and there, but of course that’s not the only problem they face.  Ms. Amara did a good job of making the problems they face realistic.  Even when they snowballed, I never thought the story seemed unbelievable.  I couldn’t stop reading because I had to see how they would resolve their problems and make it to Zach’s parents’.  If you’re in the mood for a holiday read with interesting characters, the road trip from hell, and a sweet ending, then I recommend Love Ahead: Expect Delays.