Product Description

Seth's a gorgeous hunk of a cop, but off-limits to his roommate Clay, who's desperately trying to find a way to stop thinking about a man who's straight. Seth's also dating Sophie, the bitchy, possessive, girlfriend from hell, so it's a moot point as far as Clay is concerned. Seth is a good guy, a clean cop and a good friend. But when it comes to the girlfriend, he's not sure how to get her out of the picture. When Seth decides to dump Sophie by pretending to be gay, it's Clay he turns to for help in his game of deception. He's seen the way Clay looks at him, even though they've never made a big deal out if it. Surely Clay will help. Clay's been alone a good while, but with his friend Anthony pushing him into playing the dating game and helping Seth, Clay's relationship options suddenly go from zero to a full hand. There's still only one man for Clay, and as Seth begins to discover just what it's like walking the other side of the line, the two men start to break all the rules.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #554322 in Books
• Published on: 2008-08-11
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Customer Reviews

A COMMON BUT BEAUTIFUL FANTASY
If you're looking for a realistic examination of modern gay life, THE NAME OF THE GAME is likely to disappoint you. But, if a contemporary romantic gay fairy tale is what you had in mind, you'd be hard pressed to find a better book.

Clay is a good looking if slightly disheveled radio DJ totally infatuated with his roommate Seth, a hot undercover cop. Of course Clay, gentleman that he is, can never let his feelings be known to Seth, because while Clay is gay, Seth is straight. They're best friends and they care a great deal for each other, but Seth could never be interested in Clay the way Clay wants, or could he?

Seth has a totally domineering and homophobic girlfriend, Sophie, that he's anxious to be rid of, but he doesn't know how to go about it. Seth's a nice honorable man, and Sophie has her hooks deeply embedded in him. On the spur of the moment, Seth decides to tell Sophie that he's gay and in love with Clay, and he convinces Clay to go along with the deception.

Things get interesting as Seth realizes his plan may be more than he bargained for. While pretending to be Clay's boyfriend may seem like a good way to handle his problem, it also confuses him, as emotions and feelings he never knew he had start to bubble to the surface.

Clay too is becoming ever more uncertain. He would do anything for Seth, but this little game they're playing is having a devastating effect on his heart.

What gay man hasn't dreamed about a straight man falling in love with him? It's common, and Willa Okati has done an excellent job tapping into those dreams. She hasn't painted a slice of life portrait of the real world. Instead she's created a beautiful romantic fantasy with a simply message. "It's not about being gay. It's about caring for the person you're with."

The Name of the Game by Willa Okati
I thought I couldn't never find a Willa Okati's novel I can love much than In the Strangest Places... and now I have found The Name of the Game. It's an hard fight.

Clay is an old type guy who believe in love and forever. He is a very good guy, maybe average type: so at thirty years old he is still alone... and maybe he is still alone because he is in love with his roommate, Seth, unfotunately a straight guy.

But then Seth asks Clay to help him to break with his girlfriend, and what better than let her believe Seth is gay and Clay is his new lover? But Seth start wondering how it will be stay with Clay for real...

I love M/M romance and I love the sex scenes: this is one of the reasons I find In the Strangest Places so beautiful. In this last book instead we have less sex and more feeling. It is the story of the journey of Clay to searching the true love and of Seth to discover what true love is. Seth first fall in love with Clay and then want to make sex with him: what romantic!

This is a very refreshng reading that will awaken your romantic side. And I hope that Willa will deliver to us also the stories of Anthony, Michael (wow! a collar?), Adam, Jefferson and Taylor: Willa, you make me reconsider the speed dating thing...

Heavy on the angst and secret longing, light on the sex
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.

Rating: 7/10

PROS:
- Good portrayal of a relationship on the line between friendly and romantic. The guys are comfortable with each other, yet there's always an undercurrent of sexual tension.
- The speed dating scenes are interesting and amusing (at times in a horrifying, can't-look-away, train wreck sort of way).
- Loved the scene when Clay gets drunk and Seth takes him home. The portrayal of Clay's drunkenness is funny, and Seth's actions are sweet and smack of devotion.
- I like the character of Anthony: he's supportive yet a little lonely and sad. There's a perfect setup here for him to have a book of his own.

CONS:
- The sudden way that Seth realizes he's attracted to Clay--especially since he's never been attracted to another man--struck me as forced. But it IS sweet, and besides, I never find "straight"-guy-turned-gay stories very believable.
- The sex scenes are tender and emotional and hot, but all they include is oral sex. This is not a problem in and of itself; some couples never have anal sex at all. But I'm halfway through this book's sequel, It's How You Play the Game, and that book makes passing references to Seth and Clay having sex...and to the fact that the one I didn't expect to be the bottom IS the bottom. So I'm disappointed now, particularly because I like reading sex scenes in which one guy is a virgin and experiences sex with a man for the first time with the guy he's in love with (or WILL be in love with), and I didn't get to see that with Seth.

Overall comments: A pleasant little read...fairly light, not very deep emotionally, but with a sweet romance. Not a lot of sex, and not very graphic, at that.