Introducing Jake Wells’ Debut Novel – “A White Coat Is My Closet”

“Nothing good comes from hiding in the shadows” ― David A. Broughton

BLURB: Zack Sheldon doesn’t have time to be lonely. He’s in his last year as a pediatric resident, almost married to the job, and busy with the joys and sorrows that come with providing medical care to children. Professionally, he’s confident, accomplished, and respected. But personally he’s too insecure to approach a sexy man like Sergio Quartulli, or even to imagine that Sergio might be attracted to him.

Zack spots Sergio from across the gym, and then a chance meeting poolside somehow turns into a date. Before Zack knows it, they’ve become a couple, but Zack’s white coat is his closet at the hospital, and committing to a relationship with Sergio makes it difficult for Zack to continue hiding behind it. On the other hand, he grew up in a small town where being gay was shameful, and he works in an environment that can sometimes be homophobic, so it’s hard for him to open up about who he really is. Before Zack can make a choice on his own terms, circumstances force him to make a decision. He can continue to hide, or he can step out from behind his white coat and risk everything for love.

REVIEW: I am sitting here at 3:30am having just finished reading this book, and I am stuck on the word WOW. If you read the blurb, you read about Zack and Sergio meeting and starting a relationship and that was a wonderful part of the story, but that was only part of the story.

Jake Wells has written a story that shows all the sides of a very complex man. Zack is a very dedicated doctor, son, friend, and eventually lover and partner. This story starts out with Zack spelling out everything he sees as being wrong with himself. He has believed that he is less than everyone else because he sees his sexuality as a failure in the bigger picture of his life. No matter how often his friends tell him he is worthy, he just doesn’t seem to get the memo.

Professionally, Zack turns out to be a phenomenal pediatrician. He connects with the kids on a level that you rarely see from a physician. Zack is the kind of doctor any parent would want to have treating their sick child, whether it be for terminal cancer or a minor injury. It just seems that no matter how successful he becomes, he can’t take that final step out of his self-imposed prison of a closet he has been living in.

When he meets Sergio Quartulli, his life starts to change in more ways then he ever thought possible. Sergio’s love and dedication slowly start to bring Zack out of his closet, but he has trouble making that final defining step out. Finally one night, a terrible tragedy puts Zack in a position where he has to choose between the safety of his closet or throwing the door wide open and being honest with everyone in his life.

Jake Wells managed to grab hold of my attention from the beginning of this story, and he held it right through to the end. I fell in love with Zack, and I wanted to hold him when he was down, and I wanted to shake him when he was being just plain dumb. There were some moments in the book that made me cry, and I mean UGLY crying. There were moments that made me so angry I could have chewed right through a handful of nails. The one and only downside I saw in this book was a lot of medical talk that went right over my head. Jake made sure to explain the really big doctory type words and that helped a ton, but sometimes I would lose the momentum of the story while trying to understand the medical jargon. Let me stress, though, these were MINOR issues and didn’t effect my love of this book. I highly recommend this book and if a great story isn’t enough to convince you to give this a read, maybe this will help you out: Jake Wells is donating 100% of the royalties for this book to The Youth Services-L.A. Gay & Lesbian Center. So not only do you get to read a phenomenal story, but you will be helping out LBGT youth at the same time.

Be sure to come back tomorrow, when Jake stops in to talk a bit about himself and this charitable project, as well as offers a chance to win an E-copy of the book!

You can buy A White Coat Is My Closet here: