Review: Speedbump by Charli Coty

Title: Speedbump

Author: Charli Coty

Length: 182 Pages

Category: Contemporary

At a Glance: In my opinion, Speedbump is a love story that transcends labels and allows for love to blossom in the wake of shared heartbreak and loneliness.

Reviewed By: Sammy

Blurb: Ezra Cook is sole caregiver to older brother Tray, who was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s in his forties. They live outside the small town of Drop, Oregon, on property Tray bought with his Microsoft settlement money. For years, Ezra has been going on and off low doses of testosterone to maintain a comfortable level of androgyny. Ezra spends most days juggling Tray’s needs and the work required to survive in rural Oregon on a small income, ignoring their own needs, especially companionship and sleep.

Ellred “Red” Long escaped Drop at seventeen but returns to his hometown in disgrace after his band dumped him on the streets of LA. Coming back doesn’t seem like such a dead end, though, after he sees a guy walking along the side of the road in the rain and gives him a lift.

Ezra and Red’s chance meeting begins an uncomfortable friendship neither had expected, and both allow fear to keep it from escalating into a hookup, or worse, a romance. Red never meant to return to Drop and doesn’t want to get stuck there again, while Ezra’s protective walls may be too strong to breach, from either side.

Review: Author Charli Coty tackles more than one sensitive subject in the release of the novel Speedbump. Having multiple bisexual characters, one of whom is transgender and non-binary as well, creates an interesting dynamic in a rather gritty novel about second chances. I could write paragraphs about the character of Ezra alone and still not fully realize the many layers of this fascinating person. While Ezra may physically appear as a female in transition, there is much more to their personality than just the gender dysphoria that has plagued them for years. Admittedly, Ezra does not always take the testosterone they need to smooth out the telltale feminine curves they choose to keep hidden away. However, this may have more to do with the fact that Ezra supports their brother, who has early onset of Alzheimer’s and requires round-the-clock care, making it difficult for Ezra to work anywhere near even a part time job and means that financially they live on the edge. When we first meet them, Ezra appears to be more male in appearance—at least to Red Richardson.

Red is home, disgraced and recovering from essentially destroying his rock band career by overindulging in drugs and alcohol. He is now a pariah in the once welcoming music community and has come back to the small town of Drop to lick his wounds and decide what to do next. He has cleaned himself up—but he is a man with a past, one that haunts him and dredges up more guilt than he can handle. When he spies Ezra walking alongside the road, he stops to offer them a ride—and that is the beginning of something that will eventually consume both Ezra and Red and break their carefully controlled lives apart. Theirs will be a dance that seemingly never ends, with Ezra unwilling to risk the rejection they have experienced before, and with Red unable to give up the dream of returning to music again.

Lost in a series of misconceptions and inability to communicate their needs, Ezra and Red will circle each other over and over, each time coming just that little bit closer to acknowledging their desires. Red will have to battle the mistrust and loyalties of not one but two ex’s of Ezra’s, who both seem to still harbor something more than just friendly love toward them. Ezra will finally be forced to expose not only their physical secrets but also the deeper emotional scars that have made them wary of trusting another with their heart. In the end, the emotional fallout will either see these two finally together and accepting of each other’s issues, or torn apart and unable to bridge the chasm that threatens to swallow them whole.

The beauty and sensitivity that is employed to relate the story of Ezra’s and Red’s lives leaves one breathless at times. This is no easy romance nor is it a usual one. Author Charli Coty exposes the idea of bisexuality with a less than politically correct lens, allowing her characters to stumble over the proper terms—a key example being Red grappling with whether to call Ezra he, she or they. The author doesn’t shy away from depicting Ezra physically or fade to black when it comes to describing their sexual activity. Instead, the scenes are done with compassion, directness and a frankness that is refreshing and even poignant at times. When Ezra physically reveals their body to Red, risking his rejection or disgust, it is perhaps the most courageous scene in the entire novel and the most intimate. But the real triumph here is how two lives, so wounded, so fragile find in each other a sense of home—a connection that supersedes any physical attraction even though that remains a healthy part of their relationship.

I daresay this novel may make some a bit uncomfortable. Transgender characters are few and far between in today’s m/m genre—an oversight that is slowly being rectified. Bisexual characters are often watered down or made to fit the strict m/m molds we have thus far been used to reading about in most novels. In Speedbump, we see an author who allows the characters to be unashamedly bi, trans, non-binary or straight. There are no qualifiers, no excuses, no trying to make the reader comfy by making Red and Ezra’s relationship something easy and unquestioned. Instead, all kinds of questions and emotions arise, and the author allows the people in this novel to address them with unflinching honesty. I would venture to say that some readers may not like the way in which Red essentially blurts out whatever comes into his mind in regards to Ezra’s sexuality, particularly when he remarks that loving Ezra fulfills his personal love for both men and women. However, it is just that honesty that makes this character more of a real person than any politically correct stance he could have been given by the author.

In my opinion, Speedbump is a love story that transcends labels and allows for love to blossom in the wake of shared heartbreak and loneliness. It appreciates the intentions of the heart and seeks to allow for mistakes to be overcome when communication is used to correct misconceptions. I value what I think this author was trying to say, and I recommend you read this novel with an open mind and heart.

You can buy Speedbump here:
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