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Out of Position #1
Out of Position
Dev is a football player at Forester University, a small liberal arts college where he and his teammates get to strut around and have their pick of the girls on Friday nights. That's as good as it gets—until he meets Lee, a fox with a quick wit and an attractive body.
Problem is, Lee's not a girl. He's a gay fox, an activist who never dreamed he'd fall for a football player. As their attraction deepens into romance, it's hard enough for them to handle each other, let alone their inquisitive friends, family, and co-workers. And if school is bad, the hyper- masculine world of professional sports that awaits Dev after graduation will be a hundred times worse.
Going it alone would make everything easier. If only they could stop fighting long enough to break up.
Problem is, Lee's not a girl. He's a gay fox, an activist who never dreamed he'd fall for a football player. As their attraction deepens into romance, it's hard enough for them to handle each other, let alone their inquisitive friends, family, and co-workers. And if school is bad, the hyper- masculine world of professional sports that awaits Dev after graduation will be a hundred times worse.
Going it alone would make everything easier. If only they could stop fighting long enough to break up.
324 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2009
163 people are currently reading
1738 people want to read
About the author
Kyell Gold
64 books619 followersHi there! I am a writer of gay furry fiction--but you probably know that if you've seen my book listing here. I live in California with my husband Kit, and when I'm not writing, we like to go out to eat and watch movies. We travel a lot, too, mostly around the West Coast, but occasionally to the midwest and east.
I blog at http://www.kyellgold.com/wpblog about upcoming travel plans, upcoming books and news, general writing principles, gay rights, and whatever else seems interesting. And I co-host a podcast, called "Unsheathed," where we talk about the craft of writing and the furry fandom, sometimes at the same time.
If you have a question about any of the books, check the FAQ on my website and then ask away! :)
I blog at http://www.kyellgold.com/wpblog about upcoming travel plans, upcoming books and news, general writing principles, gay rights, and whatever else seems interesting. And I co-host a podcast, called "Unsheathed," where we talk about the craft of writing and the furry fandom, sometimes at the same time.
If you have a question about any of the books, check the FAQ on my website and then ask away! :)
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 133 reviews
October 11, 2010
I entered a challenge called “October pick-it-for-me” . The challenge was that someone you didn’t know had to pick a book for you to read. They had to go through the list of books you’ve read and try and come up with a title you haven’t read. Something just outside your normal genre, though it had to be a m/m title.
“Out of position” by Kyell Gold was chosen for me. I accepted the challenge with reservations.
First I don’t like football. Secondly I have never read a book about animal characters with human thoughts. Sure I’ve read the occasional shape shifter book and have enjoyed many of them. But this “Fuzzy Animal” thing reminded me of the island scene from Bedknobs and Broomsticks. You know the one….Where Miss Price and the children come to rest on an island and Professor Brown has to referee a soccer game. Elephants, rhinos, horses ect. I’m thinking oh great a kids book…
I do however remind myself before starting the book that I have to be objective. It would not be fair to write a review and say give one star simply because I don’t like football, or because it’s not my normal genre. Completely unfair to the author and the fans of this style of writing to try and compare to those types of books that I seek out to read.
As the book begins, I’m thinking “NO WAY can I be fair.” I don’t want to learn the game of football. Don’t care what the positions are, who snaps, who punts, who tackles. By the first sex scene I’m totally freaked out because now I’m thinking “Jesus, a kids book with really explicit sex is just wrong.” I grudgingly keep reading. I’m so going to blast the person who recommended this book and no way in hell will I ever read anything they recommend in the future. In their defense though, they did say that it was recommend to them. They haven’t read it yet. Fine I won’t read anything that is recommended to them in the future by the crazy wack job that recommended this book. I keep reading….
Half way through the book, I’m no longer thinking children book. I understand a little bit about the game of football. More importantly I’m falling in love with the two main characters. Their strength and their love for each other wins me over. Dev is the sweetest jock. Lee, though a cunning fox, has a heart of gold.
I’m not going to spoil this book for future readers by outlining the entire book and what happens between the characters. But what I will say is. Don’t be afraid to read out side of your usual genre. Don’t stick to familiar authors. Open your mind and try something new. You may be surprised what you might find.
I give “Out of Position” a full 5 stars. (Only because I can’t give it more. Which I surely would do.) This book is now on my “would read again” book shelf. I can’t wait to read more by Kyell Gold. He made me laugh, cry and rejoice in the discoveries his characters made along through the book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves character driven books. The plot, the world in which the characters live and the message in this story, are perfection. Kyell Gold is a talented writer that I will has be greedily seeking out everything he’s ever written and adding them to my collection
“Out of position” by Kyell Gold was chosen for me. I accepted the challenge with reservations.
First I don’t like football. Secondly I have never read a book about animal characters with human thoughts. Sure I’ve read the occasional shape shifter book and have enjoyed many of them. But this “Fuzzy Animal” thing reminded me of the island scene from Bedknobs and Broomsticks. You know the one….Where Miss Price and the children come to rest on an island and Professor Brown has to referee a soccer game. Elephants, rhinos, horses ect. I’m thinking oh great a kids book…
I do however remind myself before starting the book that I have to be objective. It would not be fair to write a review and say give one star simply because I don’t like football, or because it’s not my normal genre. Completely unfair to the author and the fans of this style of writing to try and compare to those types of books that I seek out to read.
As the book begins, I’m thinking “NO WAY can I be fair.” I don’t want to learn the game of football. Don’t care what the positions are, who snaps, who punts, who tackles. By the first sex scene I’m totally freaked out because now I’m thinking “Jesus, a kids book with really explicit sex is just wrong.” I grudgingly keep reading. I’m so going to blast the person who recommended this book and no way in hell will I ever read anything they recommend in the future. In their defense though, they did say that it was recommend to them. They haven’t read it yet. Fine I won’t read anything that is recommended to them in the future by the crazy wack job that recommended this book. I keep reading….
Half way through the book, I’m no longer thinking children book. I understand a little bit about the game of football. More importantly I’m falling in love with the two main characters. Their strength and their love for each other wins me over. Dev is the sweetest jock. Lee, though a cunning fox, has a heart of gold.
I’m not going to spoil this book for future readers by outlining the entire book and what happens between the characters. But what I will say is. Don’t be afraid to read out side of your usual genre. Don’t stick to familiar authors. Open your mind and try something new. You may be surprised what you might find.
I give “Out of Position” a full 5 stars. (Only because I can’t give it more. Which I surely would do.) This book is now on my “would read again” book shelf. I can’t wait to read more by Kyell Gold. He made me laugh, cry and rejoice in the discoveries his characters made along through the book. I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves character driven books. The plot, the world in which the characters live and the message in this story, are perfection. Kyell Gold is a talented writer that I will has be greedily seeking out everything he’s ever written and adding them to my collection
May 5, 2014
Let’s face it. Any guy who’s a member of the goodreads.com male/male romance discussion group has NEVER scored a touchdown. I defy anyone to contradict me.
There’s a definite “guy-ness” to this book. Everything about it reeks of the masculine; monosyllabic all-purpose grunts, incomplete sentences, high-school/frat-boy colloquialisms, rank-smelling locker rooms, jockstraps and testosterone. Not only is the author himself male, it’s also refreshingly evident that he’s also intimately familiar with the world of male athletes and hyper-competitive team sports, a province that is often beyond the reach of the vast majority of gay men.
This book was my entree into the puzzling, baffling and ultimately endearing world of “furry erotica”. I had no idea there was even a name for it.
To the end, I don’t think I ever really got my mind around the idea of animals-behaving-like-humans, especially when it came to getting together and falling in love. The idea was particularly startling for me in the sex scenes where I would find msyelf alternately distracted, annoyed or making a conscious mental effort to accommodate descriptions of various states of undress, animal body parts and cross-species gay copulation. To say this genre stretched me would be a colossal understatement.
As the song goes, “Love moves in Mysterious Ways”, and in this instance, triumphs. Well, almost. In any case, by the time the story is halfway over, the protagonists, in all their “humanity”, have so endeared themselves to you that quite unexpectedly you find yourself rooting for them all the way. You really, really want these guys to make it.
Because of the author’s extensive knowledge of football, and his success in capturing the alpha-male, jock mindset, there’s an unforced, dank authenticity to the story-telling that I sometimes find lacking in the slicker, slightly-over-produced offerings of the many m/m romance novels I’ve read. The jaggedness in the dialogue, the general lack of self-reflection, the unwillingness to broach difficult subjects are all typically male attributes. Not once did I find myself saying, “oh, a guy would never say that”, or “a real guy would never do that”. All these guys, as the author has written them, are “Guy-Guys”. They think, act, walk and talk like typical, real guys, albeit of a limited subset; aspiring competitive team sports athlete, with all the appeal, connotations and limitations that that type of proto-typical American Male would imply.
It took a little doing, and some measure of assiduousness on my part, but I’m glad I stuck it out beyond the first few pages of this book. By the first third of it, the two boys had excited my interest, by the end, they had captured my heart.
There’s a definite “guy-ness” to this book. Everything about it reeks of the masculine; monosyllabic all-purpose grunts, incomplete sentences, high-school/frat-boy colloquialisms, rank-smelling locker rooms, jockstraps and testosterone. Not only is the author himself male, it’s also refreshingly evident that he’s also intimately familiar with the world of male athletes and hyper-competitive team sports, a province that is often beyond the reach of the vast majority of gay men.
This book was my entree into the puzzling, baffling and ultimately endearing world of “furry erotica”. I had no idea there was even a name for it.
To the end, I don’t think I ever really got my mind around the idea of animals-behaving-like-humans, especially when it came to getting together and falling in love. The idea was particularly startling for me in the sex scenes where I would find msyelf alternately distracted, annoyed or making a conscious mental effort to accommodate descriptions of various states of undress, animal body parts and cross-species gay copulation. To say this genre stretched me would be a colossal understatement.
As the song goes, “Love moves in Mysterious Ways”, and in this instance, triumphs. Well, almost. In any case, by the time the story is halfway over, the protagonists, in all their “humanity”, have so endeared themselves to you that quite unexpectedly you find yourself rooting for them all the way. You really, really want these guys to make it.
Because of the author’s extensive knowledge of football, and his success in capturing the alpha-male, jock mindset, there’s an unforced, dank authenticity to the story-telling that I sometimes find lacking in the slicker, slightly-over-produced offerings of the many m/m romance novels I’ve read. The jaggedness in the dialogue, the general lack of self-reflection, the unwillingness to broach difficult subjects are all typically male attributes. Not once did I find myself saying, “oh, a guy would never say that”, or “a real guy would never do that”. All these guys, as the author has written them, are “Guy-Guys”. They think, act, walk and talk like typical, real guys, albeit of a limited subset; aspiring competitive team sports athlete, with all the appeal, connotations and limitations that that type of proto-typical American Male would imply.
It took a little doing, and some measure of assiduousness on my part, but I’m glad I stuck it out beyond the first few pages of this book. By the first third of it, the two boys had excited my interest, by the end, they had captured my heart.
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December 1, 2015Furries MM?
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I'm so down.
Say what?
I'm so down.
August 30, 2013
I enjoyed this book way more than I thought I would. While in the beginning I was a bit weirded out by the “furry” aspect, and I certainly wasn’t prepared for the graphic illustrations, as it progressed I grew more comfortable and was able to really enjoy the book. I think there was WAY too much football in it, however. Also, the book seemed neverending. I felt like I was going to be reading it forever. But, the dialogue more than made up for the length and the endless football references and play-by-plays. Their banter was very clever and well written.
3.5 stars
3.5 stars
February 7, 2011
I’d like to say first, that Out of Position is the first anthropomorphic novel that I have ever read. For those of you who are not familiar, the literal meaning of anthropomorphism is the attribution of human qualities and characteristics onto animals or any non-living object. In M/M romance, this translates to the animation of animals in a human way — animals that walk, talk, act and have a society like humans, depending on the variance of the story. Many readers of M/M romance often read shapeshifter stories, but this is very different. In essence, these characters are always animals, yet they have human qualities. I think this is a largely unexplored area in M/M romance, and I was intrigued by Out of Position by Kyell Gold and the beautiful illustrations by Blotch within its pages (some of which you can see here, on the Sofawolf website) and I thought I should give this a try. I was elated to find a wonderful story with extremely real characters, and even more surprised to find that this story showed me a new way to understand American Football and its players — a sport, which I must admit, has often baffled me and only ever given me the pleasure of watching hunky men with tight butts ram each other in testosterone overload. In honor of tomorrow’s Superbowl, I have moved this review up a few days, so that those of you who are football fans can make a weekend out of this, and those of you who do not understand football, might just gain some insight about the game from reading this novel, just as I did.
Out of Position tells the story of two males: Dev the tiger, a football player and all-around jock at Forester University, and Lee the fox, a queer activist who has a score to settle with the football team. They are both juniors (though most of their time in college takes place as seniors) and while Dev is skating through school picking up a new vixen every week at the local bar after the game with his buddies and floating on the small amount of fame he gets at their small, liberal college, Lee is still reeling from the gay-bashing and beating of his best friend Brian the previous year. Brian and Lee were almost too much alike, feeding off of each others ideals of queer activism and leading their local chapter of FLAG, the queer activist group on campus. Then, one night, under circumstances that are still not completely known, Brian gets cornered after a verbal altercation with a few member of the football team, then beaten. Now Lee is all alone, Brian having moved away, and his anger at those football players has spread to all of the jocks, who he knows are one and the same. He comes up with a plan: he will dress in drag, as he makes a very convincing vixen, go out and bag a football player. Then, when they get back to his place, he will show one of them how they’d been attracted to another male — that they are at least a little bit queer themselves. What he doesn’t expect when he bags Dev and brings him home, is that after he convinces him to sleep with him that Dev will want to stay and get to know him. This is how their secret affair begins, already leading to an uneasy relationship between a tiger who has never felt this way for another male and cannot come out lest he ruin his reputation and playing career, and a fox who never expected this tryst to become a relationship, much less one that forces him back into the closet and completely turns his life in a new direction. However, those are not the only problems. These problems are compounded by Lee’s insitance that Dev has the talent to make the pros, and if that becomes a reality, if they will ever be able to have an open relationship. Even more, Brian has his own revenge to make, and his activist spirit has become maddeningly fueled by his renewed hatred of football players. No matter the collateral damage, even to his friend Lee, Brian will do anything to show the world that one out player will make it easier for gay sports players everywhere to come out. But can an out player even have a career in football, or will he become lost in the bureaucracy of pro football?
One of the most incredible things about this novel is its portrayal of the sport. We know that Dev is a player, but Lee is a very big fan also. So we get to see the sport from two, often very different, perspectives. The story shows us the art of football, how graceful and intelligent of a sport it can be. It also does this in a way that someone completely ignorant of the sport can understand. I knew only a small bit about how the game is played and though a large portion of the book deals with the sport and the games in which Dev plays, I never felt left behind in the action. Here is how Lee describes the sport in his small chapter “Lee’s Guide to Football”:
What Lee said is exactly true about this story: “You don’t have to like football to get through it…but it helps.” Football fans will certainly love this story, but there is so much more here than the sport — especially the navigation through the bureaucracy of the league later in the novel and the evolution of Dev and Lee’s relationship throughout their difficult journey to an HFN — that this story is not only for sports fans.
For the full review, please visit Reviews by Jessewave.
Out of Position tells the story of two males: Dev the tiger, a football player and all-around jock at Forester University, and Lee the fox, a queer activist who has a score to settle with the football team. They are both juniors (though most of their time in college takes place as seniors) and while Dev is skating through school picking up a new vixen every week at the local bar after the game with his buddies and floating on the small amount of fame he gets at their small, liberal college, Lee is still reeling from the gay-bashing and beating of his best friend Brian the previous year. Brian and Lee were almost too much alike, feeding off of each others ideals of queer activism and leading their local chapter of FLAG, the queer activist group on campus. Then, one night, under circumstances that are still not completely known, Brian gets cornered after a verbal altercation with a few member of the football team, then beaten. Now Lee is all alone, Brian having moved away, and his anger at those football players has spread to all of the jocks, who he knows are one and the same. He comes up with a plan: he will dress in drag, as he makes a very convincing vixen, go out and bag a football player. Then, when they get back to his place, he will show one of them how they’d been attracted to another male — that they are at least a little bit queer themselves. What he doesn’t expect when he bags Dev and brings him home, is that after he convinces him to sleep with him that Dev will want to stay and get to know him. This is how their secret affair begins, already leading to an uneasy relationship between a tiger who has never felt this way for another male and cannot come out lest he ruin his reputation and playing career, and a fox who never expected this tryst to become a relationship, much less one that forces him back into the closet and completely turns his life in a new direction. However, those are not the only problems. These problems are compounded by Lee’s insitance that Dev has the talent to make the pros, and if that becomes a reality, if they will ever be able to have an open relationship. Even more, Brian has his own revenge to make, and his activist spirit has become maddeningly fueled by his renewed hatred of football players. No matter the collateral damage, even to his friend Lee, Brian will do anything to show the world that one out player will make it easier for gay sports players everywhere to come out. But can an out player even have a career in football, or will he become lost in the bureaucracy of pro football?
One of the most incredible things about this novel is its portrayal of the sport. We know that Dev is a player, but Lee is a very big fan also. So we get to see the sport from two, often very different, perspectives. The story shows us the art of football, how graceful and intelligent of a sport it can be. It also does this in a way that someone completely ignorant of the sport can understand. I knew only a small bit about how the game is played and though a large portion of the book deals with the sport and the games in which Dev plays, I never felt left behind in the action. Here is how Lee describes the sport in his small chapter “Lee’s Guide to Football”:
Even though I was still at that age where I wanted to be like my dad, I didn’t have much interest in football. But with the championship coming up, he thought it was the perfect time to get me started. Whatever else he’s done in his life—and I’ve run through the list more than once—he got me into football. So if you’re one of those kids who likes chess and books, listen up, because reading this story you’re in the middle of is like growing up in Nicholas Dempsey Middle School. You don’t have to like football to get through it, as my dad told me, but it helps.
See, what I always hated about football was that I was bad at it. I’d only played one football game up to then, at camp. I didn’t understand the rules. To me, it was just a stupid excuse for big kids to beat up little kids. What my dad told me is that football is actually like a chess game.
What Lee said is exactly true about this story: “You don’t have to like football to get through it…but it helps.” Football fans will certainly love this story, but there is so much more here than the sport — especially the navigation through the bureaucracy of the league later in the novel and the evolution of Dev and Lee’s relationship throughout their difficult journey to an HFN — that this story is not only for sports fans.
For the full review, please visit Reviews by Jessewave.
February 4, 2010
Out of Position is above all else, a very interesting book. The story takes on anthropomorphism, which ascribes human characteristics to animals. The world consists of animals living, working, loving, and acting like humans. Beyond that, the story is a very classic romance between two opposite personalities as they struggle to come to grips with their sexuality, relationship, work, family, and their goals for the future. Interspersed within the novel are drawings depicting the main characters in various pivotal scenes. Although this is described as a gay furry romance, the themes and characters are familiar and likely to appeal to readers. Just set in an alternate universe of animals instead of humans.
The story is about a tiger football player, Dev, who falls for an outgoing, activist fox named Lee. Lee awakens Dev to his real sexuality but unfortunately there are no openly gay football players so Dev must remain closeted. This in turns forces Lee to hide his relationship with Dev and there are a number of problems that result. Dev goes on to become a decent pro player, but not fantastic and is in danger of being dropped if his sexuality is known. Lee is struggling with a job he loves but not one he ever envisioned for himself while his former best friend continues to wage a bitter campaign against football players. The problems are many and from all directions and only the strong connection between Dev and Lee will get them through it.
The setting is modern day but with animals instead of humans. Here animals live, eat, drive cars, wear clothes, drink, have sex, play football and basically inhibit an identical world. The same problems that exist in our world exist here including gay bashing, homophobia, and interspecies discrimination. The setting is interesting and the book never lets you forget that these are animals. There are numerous and constant references to tails, ears, muzzles, and paws. Muzzles grin and tails flick while paws give...paw jobs. The sexual aspect took me a bit to grasp as I kept wondering how a fox and a tiger would French kiss or how the fox can deep throat the tiger without biting his junk off. Thankfully there were no problems and once I just gave up trying to figure out the mechanics and just went with the book, the plot becomes rather well known.
Dev is a decent but not fantastic football player. He goes from being a big fish at a small division two school to being a low man in the professional totem pole. His only serious relationship has been with Lee, his first gay lover. Dev loves Lee but struggles with keeping his sexuality a secret from his friends, teammates, and family. Dev is somewhat simplistic as he just wants to play football, have friends, and be left alone. He loves Lee and depends on him quite a bit more and more throughout the book. Dev frequently needs Lee’s advice and council on almost every aspect of his life and it is only at the very end of the book, Dev finally makes some choices of his own. However, Dev offers Lee constant love and support. Lee is the more complex of the two characters even as the book is told mostly from Dev’s point of view. Lee struggles with his maturity from outgoing activist majoring in literature to a football scout for a local professional team and in a closeted relationship. Lee tries to reconcile his feelings of failure with his love for his job and Dev. The one constant Lee has in his life is his love for Dev. Their relationship is strong and stands the test through distance and a great many trials, but not always easily.
In addition to the problems in professional football, Lee’s former best friend causes quite a number of issues as well. Brian was gay bashed by football players in college and his ensuing anger and bitterness cause problems in his friendship with Lee. Lee is torn between the best friend he knew that he can’t quite let go of and his relationship with Dev. Neither Dev of Brian approve of Lee’s association with the other and thus Lee is often thrust in the middle while trying to council both sides and deal with his own issues. Dev observes most of this from afar and the story does suffer from the lack of Lee’s point of view during some very pivotal times. However, following Dev as he works hard to become better and move up in his team while keeping secrets gives a lot of depth and emotion.
The themes in the story are universal and will no doubt be familiar to readers. This is a sweet coming of age for both men in an atmosphere where open gay sexuality is more than just discouraged; blending romance, humor, tension, drama, and conflict wonderfully with delightful characters and in an unusual setting. The furry aspect can be daunting to many readers and the reminders that wolves, bears, tigers, coyotes, rabbits, and even deer are thrown together in the world can be disconcerting but it makes for an eye opening and really fascinating world. The solid world building combines with well developed characters in a classic story that makes this definitely worth reading.
The story is about a tiger football player, Dev, who falls for an outgoing, activist fox named Lee. Lee awakens Dev to his real sexuality but unfortunately there are no openly gay football players so Dev must remain closeted. This in turns forces Lee to hide his relationship with Dev and there are a number of problems that result. Dev goes on to become a decent pro player, but not fantastic and is in danger of being dropped if his sexuality is known. Lee is struggling with a job he loves but not one he ever envisioned for himself while his former best friend continues to wage a bitter campaign against football players. The problems are many and from all directions and only the strong connection between Dev and Lee will get them through it.
The setting is modern day but with animals instead of humans. Here animals live, eat, drive cars, wear clothes, drink, have sex, play football and basically inhibit an identical world. The same problems that exist in our world exist here including gay bashing, homophobia, and interspecies discrimination. The setting is interesting and the book never lets you forget that these are animals. There are numerous and constant references to tails, ears, muzzles, and paws. Muzzles grin and tails flick while paws give...paw jobs. The sexual aspect took me a bit to grasp as I kept wondering how a fox and a tiger would French kiss or how the fox can deep throat the tiger without biting his junk off. Thankfully there were no problems and once I just gave up trying to figure out the mechanics and just went with the book, the plot becomes rather well known.
Dev is a decent but not fantastic football player. He goes from being a big fish at a small division two school to being a low man in the professional totem pole. His only serious relationship has been with Lee, his first gay lover. Dev loves Lee but struggles with keeping his sexuality a secret from his friends, teammates, and family. Dev is somewhat simplistic as he just wants to play football, have friends, and be left alone. He loves Lee and depends on him quite a bit more and more throughout the book. Dev frequently needs Lee’s advice and council on almost every aspect of his life and it is only at the very end of the book, Dev finally makes some choices of his own. However, Dev offers Lee constant love and support. Lee is the more complex of the two characters even as the book is told mostly from Dev’s point of view. Lee struggles with his maturity from outgoing activist majoring in literature to a football scout for a local professional team and in a closeted relationship. Lee tries to reconcile his feelings of failure with his love for his job and Dev. The one constant Lee has in his life is his love for Dev. Their relationship is strong and stands the test through distance and a great many trials, but not always easily.
In addition to the problems in professional football, Lee’s former best friend causes quite a number of issues as well. Brian was gay bashed by football players in college and his ensuing anger and bitterness cause problems in his friendship with Lee. Lee is torn between the best friend he knew that he can’t quite let go of and his relationship with Dev. Neither Dev of Brian approve of Lee’s association with the other and thus Lee is often thrust in the middle while trying to council both sides and deal with his own issues. Dev observes most of this from afar and the story does suffer from the lack of Lee’s point of view during some very pivotal times. However, following Dev as he works hard to become better and move up in his team while keeping secrets gives a lot of depth and emotion.
The themes in the story are universal and will no doubt be familiar to readers. This is a sweet coming of age for both men in an atmosphere where open gay sexuality is more than just discouraged; blending romance, humor, tension, drama, and conflict wonderfully with delightful characters and in an unusual setting. The furry aspect can be daunting to many readers and the reminders that wolves, bears, tigers, coyotes, rabbits, and even deer are thrown together in the world can be disconcerting but it makes for an eye opening and really fascinating world. The solid world building combines with well developed characters in a classic story that makes this definitely worth reading.
September 19, 2010
What a fantastic novel! It's unusual, for sure (I didn't even know there was such a thing as "furry erotica"), but I personally found the anthropomorphic worldview to be refreshingly endearing. The characters may be animals, but they are engaging and well-rounded, and their lives and feelings are just as heart-breakingly human as anyone else's.
But what makes this novel great isn't that it's unusual; it's great because the characters and relationships portrayed are so universally relatable. Everyone wants to fall in love, and everyone who does will struggle through good times and bad. We may not all be able to relate to a fox and tiger in a gay relationship, or to a closeted football player struggling to define himself -- but most people can understand the challenges and sacrifices inherent to a romantic relationship, the joy and wonder at finding someone to love, the personal pressures we feel from family, the struggle and desire to define oneself and find acceptance in the world, and the prejudices and betrayals that can make all this so difficult. Kyell Gold takes a couple of unusual characters -- a football playing tiger and a proud to be Out, cross-dressing fox -- and makes them into very real and utterly compelling individuals. Out of Position is one of those rare m/m romances with real depth, and with an author whose excellent writing skills can bring it all to life.
Bottom Line: One of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time. Great writing, compelling characters, and beautiful artwork make this an extra-special treat. Sequel to come, Jan 2011.
But what makes this novel great isn't that it's unusual; it's great because the characters and relationships portrayed are so universally relatable. Everyone wants to fall in love, and everyone who does will struggle through good times and bad. We may not all be able to relate to a fox and tiger in a gay relationship, or to a closeted football player struggling to define himself -- but most people can understand the challenges and sacrifices inherent to a romantic relationship, the joy and wonder at finding someone to love, the personal pressures we feel from family, the struggle and desire to define oneself and find acceptance in the world, and the prejudices and betrayals that can make all this so difficult. Kyell Gold takes a couple of unusual characters -- a football playing tiger and a proud to be Out, cross-dressing fox -- and makes them into very real and utterly compelling individuals. Out of Position is one of those rare m/m romances with real depth, and with an author whose excellent writing skills can bring it all to life.
Bottom Line: One of the most enjoyable books I've read in a long time. Great writing, compelling characters, and beautiful artwork make this an extra-special treat. Sequel to come, Jan 2011.
September 11, 2017
I listened to this as an audiobook.
This is the first time I've been able to put up with 1st POV in present tense. I usually run away from it in horror. I'm not sure if I was able to endure this style of POV because of the writing, the likable character or because of the person who read the book. He is a good performer and he used a variety of agreeable voices for the various characters. I particularly liked the voices for Dev and Lee.
I would really like to know why the author chose to use animals for the various characters. This story could just as easily been told with human characters.
Also, this book was longer than I would have liked, but not a bad book, considering the animal characters.
This is the first time I've been able to put up with 1st POV in present tense. I usually run away from it in horror. I'm not sure if I was able to endure this style of POV because of the writing, the likable character or because of the person who read the book. He is a good performer and he used a variety of agreeable voices for the various characters. I particularly liked the voices for Dev and Lee.
I would really like to know why the author chose to use animals for the various characters. This story could just as easily been told with human characters.
Also, this book was longer than I would have liked, but not a bad book, considering the animal characters.
October 21, 2013
After a rough and glitchy start this book settled into itself nicely. Once the plot really got going I was sucked in and at times forgot I was reading my first anthropomorphic novel since reading Redwall by Brian Jacques when I was a kid. Not that this is even remotely in that world. A few too many naughty bits discussed for that. Course, I’m not complaining. ;)
Dev loves football, loves the adrenaline, loves the game, and hey the adoring fans swishing their pretty little tails at him isn’t objectionable either. Heck maybe playing DII ball isn’t a direct route to the big time but he’s still getting to play and Forester University is as good a place as any. He’s a good cornerback, an unusual position for a tiger maybe, but he’s quite content to bask in all the glory that playing brings him and not worry about what more could be out there. At least until he gets ensnared in a twitch of a little vixen’s tail.
Lee has a plan. As an out and proud gay man, and gay activist it may even be his duty. He’s pretty enough to pass for female and he’s got no problems throwing on the skirt and blouse to fool some dumb football jock. So what if getting one of them to sleep with him may not be the smartest idea he’s ever had for retribution, still it’s something. They’re just big ignorant idiots anyway and it’s their fault for beating up his best friend last year just because he was gay. Sure Brian should have known better than to start something in that part of town when drunk, but he still didn’t deserve what he got. What he didn’t expect was for the tiger to come back for more…or for himself to like it so much.
First of let me just say I really liked Dev and Lee as characters. Even if in the beginning of the book I found myself lost more often than not. The jumping around in time for the first quarter did not work for me. Nor did the rapid POV switching. It was hard to figure out where in their story we were and frankly I almost put the book down and had a *headdesk* moment. The hinted, I have a secret and what not just annoyed me since we all knew what the secret was. Once Mr. Gold settled into the story though and the timeline and POV’s smoothed out into a linear progression I was hooked. The story moved along admirably and I got to really enjoy Dev and Lee falling for each other and moving things from a friends/acquaintances with benefits thing into a real relationship.
There were a couple of moments in this book that didn’t make a lot of sense for me character wise (Most notably Dev not completely freaking the f**k out when he first figures out Lee’s not a girl. I would have much rather he stormed out the door the minute he figured it out and yet still not been able to get the attraction out of his head. Felt a little forced the other way. *shrug* Personal preference I guess.). But all in all I felt like I understood where these two were coming from in trying to figure out their lives and what they wanted. This story really does allow both guys to start to grow up.
Now, *evil grin* I LOVE the football aspect of this novel! It’s my favorite sport under the sun and I’m a maniac when my Seahawks are playing. I thoroughly enjoyed how much of the actual sport there was in the novel and the way it dealt with the issue of being gay in professional sports. This was one of the places I got the most kick out of the anthropomorphic element as well. The descriptions of the types of animals and why they tended to play certain positions was such fun. I think my biggest disappoint in this aspect was that at roughly the half way point, when we switched POV’s from Lee’s to Dev’s for the second half of the book I no longer got to enjoy Lee’s budding career in scouting. I really enjoyed his take on things and what a good eye he had. I liked that it was his influence that really stepped up Dev’s game. I would love to know how he’s doing professionally with more detail than just that he still has the job. While I appreciated the simplicity of the first half/second half POV switch once things settled, I think I would have enjoyed seeing inside both Dev and Lee’s head throughout the story. Would have required more POV switches, but I believe could have been laid out in a clear manner that wouldn’t have had me as lost as the first part of the book did.
Still as much as I wanted to know more about what the other was doing/thinking/feeling I really enjoyed the POV I was in. I struggled right along with Dev and Lee as they tried to figure out the best way to handle things. I liked that despite being out himself Lee really understood what it meant for Dev and he wanted what was best for his boyfriend. There were a lot of emotional complexities to their relationship and while I didn’t always like the choices they made, I understood them and accepted the path they were choosing. Of course I get all growly and grumbly about the semi-abrupt ending to this book, softened only by the knowledge that the sequel picks up right where this one leaves off.
I’m sure I will be back to read the rest of this series. I’m very curious to see where this world goes with the idea of gays in professional sports. I love the premise and like my MC’s so add one more to the TBR! 4.5 Stars in the end.
Dev loves football, loves the adrenaline, loves the game, and hey the adoring fans swishing their pretty little tails at him isn’t objectionable either. Heck maybe playing DII ball isn’t a direct route to the big time but he’s still getting to play and Forester University is as good a place as any. He’s a good cornerback, an unusual position for a tiger maybe, but he’s quite content to bask in all the glory that playing brings him and not worry about what more could be out there. At least until he gets ensnared in a twitch of a little vixen’s tail.
Lee has a plan. As an out and proud gay man, and gay activist it may even be his duty. He’s pretty enough to pass for female and he’s got no problems throwing on the skirt and blouse to fool some dumb football jock. So what if getting one of them to sleep with him may not be the smartest idea he’s ever had for retribution, still it’s something. They’re just big ignorant idiots anyway and it’s their fault for beating up his best friend last year just because he was gay. Sure Brian should have known better than to start something in that part of town when drunk, but he still didn’t deserve what he got. What he didn’t expect was for the tiger to come back for more…or for himself to like it so much.
First of let me just say I really liked Dev and Lee as characters. Even if in the beginning of the book I found myself lost more often than not. The jumping around in time for the first quarter did not work for me. Nor did the rapid POV switching. It was hard to figure out where in their story we were and frankly I almost put the book down and had a *headdesk* moment. The hinted, I have a secret and what not just annoyed me since we all knew what the secret was. Once Mr. Gold settled into the story though and the timeline and POV’s smoothed out into a linear progression I was hooked. The story moved along admirably and I got to really enjoy Dev and Lee falling for each other and moving things from a friends/acquaintances with benefits thing into a real relationship.
There were a couple of moments in this book that didn’t make a lot of sense for me character wise (Most notably Dev not completely freaking the f**k out when he first figures out Lee’s not a girl. I would have much rather he stormed out the door the minute he figured it out and yet still not been able to get the attraction out of his head. Felt a little forced the other way. *shrug* Personal preference I guess.). But all in all I felt like I understood where these two were coming from in trying to figure out their lives and what they wanted. This story really does allow both guys to start to grow up.
Now, *evil grin* I LOVE the football aspect of this novel! It’s my favorite sport under the sun and I’m a maniac when my Seahawks are playing. I thoroughly enjoyed how much of the actual sport there was in the novel and the way it dealt with the issue of being gay in professional sports. This was one of the places I got the most kick out of the anthropomorphic element as well. The descriptions of the types of animals and why they tended to play certain positions was such fun. I think my biggest disappoint in this aspect was that at roughly the half way point, when we switched POV’s from Lee’s to Dev’s for the second half of the book I no longer got to enjoy Lee’s budding career in scouting. I really enjoyed his take on things and what a good eye he had. I liked that it was his influence that really stepped up Dev’s game. I would love to know how he’s doing professionally with more detail than just that he still has the job. While I appreciated the simplicity of the first half/second half POV switch once things settled, I think I would have enjoyed seeing inside both Dev and Lee’s head throughout the story. Would have required more POV switches, but I believe could have been laid out in a clear manner that wouldn’t have had me as lost as the first part of the book did.
Still as much as I wanted to know more about what the other was doing/thinking/feeling I really enjoyed the POV I was in. I struggled right along with Dev and Lee as they tried to figure out the best way to handle things. I liked that despite being out himself Lee really understood what it meant for Dev and he wanted what was best for his boyfriend. There were a lot of emotional complexities to their relationship and while I didn’t always like the choices they made, I understood them and accepted the path they were choosing. Of course I get all growly and grumbly about the semi-abrupt ending to this book, softened only by the knowledge that the sequel picks up right where this one leaves off.
I’m sure I will be back to read the rest of this series. I’m very curious to see where this world goes with the idea of gays in professional sports. I love the premise and like my MC’s so add one more to the TBR! 4.5 Stars in the end.
September 9, 2013
Furry, gay for you, animal sex? = I was so in!
Looooong spiels on American football to the tune of 85% of the book, dilemma on coming out in sports, extreme minutiae = Me being terribly bored.
I tried.
DNF @ Chp 9 of 13
Audible version.
(Jeremey Sewell reads like a very new narrator. Nice voice but needs some more practice.)
Looooong spiels on American football to the tune of 85% of the book, dilemma on coming out in sports, extreme minutiae = Me being terribly bored.
I tried.
DNF @ Chp 9 of 13
Audible version.
(Jeremey Sewell reads like a very new narrator. Nice voice but needs some more practice.)
December 28, 2024
Dropping out of college with the religious belief that your also-college age boyfriend of less than a year will pay for you to go back and finish your degree IF he gets drafted is CERTAINLY the kind of blind faith in the forever-ness of first love that I enjoy seeing 💀(but in a whyyyyy would you put yourself in this position way).
Love young adults making objectively dumb decisions for love. Like....awwwww you're so dumb and you're putting unnecessary pressure on this new relationship but I love that for you!
This has the usual closeted athlete in a relationship issues. Publicity-only relationship with a female animal(I forget which animal she is), forced outing. Plus a few book-specific challenges like cross-species dating(mentioned but not truly explored in this book).
Also—soooooo much football talk(kill me now).
The realest thing for me the whole book was when Lee told Dev, "If I promise to tell you to tell you something on Saturday, can you please not worry about it till then?"
And Dev going, "No."
Because excuse me? What's it about? Whom does it concern? Are you breaking up with him? Are there pictures of you two in a compromising situation on the internet? TELL HIM NOW.
Then, "Can you promise it's not something bad?"
And Lee SIGHING then saying, "No. But I promise it won't get worse between now and Saturday."
???????????? YOU SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT IT UP ON SATURDAY, THEN!
What kind of unhinged person does this?
But outside of the fact that the MCs are animals, there's nothing exceptional (to me) that warrants continuing to read the whole 7-book series.
Though that could be my own trauma talking since I'm a firm believer that unless it's Alice Winters, any book that ends with the MCs in a happy place is best left there because any continuation can only mean emotional distress for the MCs the likes of which you'll regret having read.
Doesn't help that the blurbs for the following books seem to hint at one of the MCs rekindling his friendship with the reporter who outed the other. Maybe context matters but it's a no from me.
Sorry but it's a special brand of reprehensible when a gay person outs another and to frame it as a necessary sacrifice for the greater good type thing is just......no.
But the reviews for them indicate others enjoyed the following books so I guess that's a good sign.
This is the end for me, though❤️.
Love young adults making objectively dumb decisions for love. Like....awwwww you're so dumb and you're putting unnecessary pressure on this new relationship but I love that for you!
This has the usual closeted athlete in a relationship issues. Publicity-only relationship with a female animal(I forget which animal she is), forced outing. Plus a few book-specific challenges like cross-species dating(mentioned but not truly explored in this book).
Also—soooooo much football talk(kill me now).
The realest thing for me the whole book was when Lee told Dev, "If I promise to tell you to tell you something on Saturday, can you please not worry about it till then?"
And Dev going, "No."
Because excuse me? What's it about? Whom does it concern? Are you breaking up with him? Are there pictures of you two in a compromising situation on the internet? TELL HIM NOW.
Then, "Can you promise it's not something bad?"
And Lee SIGHING then saying, "No. But I promise it won't get worse between now and Saturday."
???????????? YOU SHOULD HAVE BROUGHT IT UP ON SATURDAY, THEN!
What kind of unhinged person does this?
But outside of the fact that the MCs are animals, there's nothing exceptional (to me) that warrants continuing to read the whole 7-book series.
Though that could be my own trauma talking since I'm a firm believer that unless it's Alice Winters, any book that ends with the MCs in a happy place is best left there because any continuation can only mean emotional distress for the MCs the likes of which you'll regret having read.
Doesn't help that the blurbs for the following books seem to hint at one of the MCs rekindling his friendship with the reporter who outed the other. Maybe context matters but it's a no from me.
Sorry but it's a special brand of reprehensible when a gay person outs another and to frame it as a necessary sacrifice for the greater good type thing is just......no.
But the reviews for them indicate others enjoyed the following books so I guess that's a good sign.
This is the end for me, though❤️.
October 25, 2015
Out of Position by Kyell Gold is a 2009 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention (5* from at least 1 judge) and below is the Jury motivation:
1) The story not only deals with the very contemporary problem concerning legal recognition of gay relationships but also takes a long, hard look at bigotry between the species of animals. It is also a “coming out” novel in which a very physical and intimidating linebacker who had spent his life believing he was heterosexual even though he always felt that there was something missing a life where, night after night, he “banged” what ever cheerleader or coed he could entice to his bed. Since he is an incredibly gorgeous, muscular, alpha male tiger, he has no problem populating his bed. Because of the length of this novel, the writer was able to establish characters along with emotional growth for all of them.
2) I've just finished the absolutely terrific OUT OF POSITION and I'm giving that one a perfect 30. I can find no flaws with it whatsoever.
3) Probably the setting is the best thing about it. Very creative with the animal characters acting like humans and mingling together in a human-type setting in contradiction to the usual prey-predator relationships in nature. I wouldn't have thought a writer could make me believe this, but this author managed to convince me. Not a whole lot of change in characterizatoon, but I did get a clear sense of both characters' personality and they were appealing and believable as young ""college student"" types (even though they're furry animals as well). The writing style Very clear, plain, and minimal, which is how it should be. This author knows how to set down a good story and get out of his own way so as not to distract the readers from the experience. He's a good writer who know the rules of grammar, and his story had a decent, believable plot.
1) The story not only deals with the very contemporary problem concerning legal recognition of gay relationships but also takes a long, hard look at bigotry between the species of animals. It is also a “coming out” novel in which a very physical and intimidating linebacker who had spent his life believing he was heterosexual even though he always felt that there was something missing a life where, night after night, he “banged” what ever cheerleader or coed he could entice to his bed. Since he is an incredibly gorgeous, muscular, alpha male tiger, he has no problem populating his bed. Because of the length of this novel, the writer was able to establish characters along with emotional growth for all of them.
2) I've just finished the absolutely terrific OUT OF POSITION and I'm giving that one a perfect 30. I can find no flaws with it whatsoever.
3) Probably the setting is the best thing about it. Very creative with the animal characters acting like humans and mingling together in a human-type setting in contradiction to the usual prey-predator relationships in nature. I wouldn't have thought a writer could make me believe this, but this author managed to convince me. Not a whole lot of change in characterizatoon, but I did get a clear sense of both characters' personality and they were appealing and believable as young ""college student"" types (even though they're furry animals as well). The writing style Very clear, plain, and minimal, which is how it should be. This author knows how to set down a good story and get out of his own way so as not to distract the readers from the experience. He's a good writer who know the rules of grammar, and his story had a decent, believable plot.
September 8, 2016
Yeah so. If you really dig football. I mean you enjoy the game not just the tight cute butts on the players. If you really really enjoy the fundamentals of the game this books for you.
Me. Personally, I'm just there for the tight butts, so this book was a little over the top football wise for me.
All I really wanted was more furry loving. Because it was kinda funky yet hot.
The graphic pictures seamed to help me as well. I must of starred at the one with Dev and Lee isn't heir erect penis on their furry body's for a good 5 minutes. I was captivated.
Around 1/2 way through, if you can make it that long the plot starts to pick up and the second half is much easier to read then the first. It's very wordy and descriptive with the football parts.
But they had a couple hot furry scenes.
I'm pretty sure unless someone can tell me for sure there isn't 300 pages about football I won't read anymore in the series.
Me. Personally, I'm just there for the tight butts, so this book was a little over the top football wise for me.
All I really wanted was more furry loving. Because it was kinda funky yet hot.
The graphic pictures seamed to help me as well. I must of starred at the one with Dev and Lee isn't heir erect penis on their furry body's for a good 5 minutes. I was captivated.
Around 1/2 way through, if you can make it that long the plot starts to pick up and the second half is much easier to read then the first. It's very wordy and descriptive with the football parts.
But they had a couple hot furry scenes.
I'm pretty sure unless someone can tell me for sure there isn't 300 pages about football I won't read anymore in the series.
July 11, 2012
I liked that it was furries, but I wasn't aware beforehand that this was gay-for-you, which I hate. Even worse was that it was the whole "He put on a dress and tricked me into having sex with a man for the first time" deal, which I am SO over. Basically, straight, skirt-chasing, lay 'em and leave 'em Devlin had never had a gay thought what-so-ever and was "turned" gay, quite predatorily, which always offends me as it speaks to a lot of terrible stereotypes that some straight people have about gay people, such as us constantly pouncing on straight men and our inability to be monogamous. Between sleeping with Lee, Devlin is also banging other females to try and get the "gay" out of his system. Ugh! Even in the forward I was a little insulted when the author said "I suspect the majority of gay furry romance fans are not a fan of football..." Really??? Then why are you even writing this story if you don't think there are any gay people who like football and furries? Who is your target audience then? FYI: I do and I know plenty other gay men who like football and furries/ furry literature as well. Anyway, I was put off by the gay-for-you aspect, then the cheating and all the "but I'm not gay" drama was just too much for me to really enjoy this story. I guess I'm just tired of that old trope. And, to be fair, that could just be my personal prejudice, but can you really blame me when such a large percentage of gay literature now is just about that same old recycled material? It's not creative and the fact that this was furry literature should have really made this a fresh, engaging read, but alas it wasn't. I also tried to read "Waterways" by this same author (just to be sure) but it was the same old, tired stuff. I did enjoy the illustrations though.
July 29, 2013
I never thought I'd be into anthropomorphic animal fiction (especially in the m/m genre) but it turns out I am! I came across this title from a stellar review by one of my favorite m/m authors and thought 'why not'? Familiar well loved themes- gfy, coming of age, the star athlete coming out- became fresh with this added furry twist. Of course, the animal aspect would probably get redundant if that was all there was to it- but Kyell Gold is a great storyteller, and his characters are multi-faceted, interesting and loveable (the ones you're supposed to anyways). Will definitely read more from this author.
November 19, 2010
At first I was lost in this book and angry that I paid 9.99 for it. I was not feeling the story, the writing style and the characters as animals. But...and this story is lengthy, it started to unwind and become much more. It really is a beautiful life lesson and then on top of that fun to read.
November 3, 2011
My Kindle said I was at 89% and I was thinking "Holy Shit, this is going to be one of the best things ever." I should have held out for 90% because that was some BOOLSHEET! Seriously, knocked down the story for me quite a bit. If you've read it, you know what I'm talking about. It didn't even make sense the reasoning behind it. Grrrrrr
September 24, 2017
Странный экспириерс...
Как-то все эти мохнатости совсем не моя тема. Особенно в эротических сценах, бррр.
Затянуто, слишком много спорта, в середине книга вообще буксует на ровном месте. Бонус читать не захотелось даже.
Как-то все эти мохнатости совсем не моя тема. Особенно в эротических сценах, бррр.
Затянуто, слишком много спорта, в середине книга вообще буксует на ровном месте. Бонус читать не захотелось даже.
July 12, 2016
The story itself is probably 4 Stars but I'm knocking it back to 3 because I just couldn't get past the "Furry" aspect. For me it detracted from the actual story. I love fantasy, paranormal, sci-fi, etc. but every time the author wrote a scene like a tiger and fox french kissing my mind just wouldn't let it go. I kept thinking "That is just physically impossible." Vampires? No problem. A man shifting into a wolf? Okay. Traveling faster than light? Gotcha. A tiger giving a fox a blow job? Nope.
If you can ignore that aspect and just concentrate on the fact that it's a college sports/coming of age book then I think you will enjoy the story.
If you can ignore that aspect and just concentrate on the fact that it's a college sports/coming of age book then I think you will enjoy the story.
July 20, 2012
I know a lot of people have really enjoyed this book and I wish that I could say I'm one of them. However, the book was just SO long with the majority of it being about the world of football. Unfortunately, I don't care about football, so I found much of the book to be extremely boring. I didn't mind the furriness and did enjoy some aspects of the romance side of the book. Overall, this one was just ok for me. If you're a football fan, though, I'd say give this one a shot! You might like it. :)
February 12, 2011
Wow. This is the first book by Kyell Gold that I've read and it won't be the last. I especially liked how Dev and Lee didn't give up their lives to be together, which probably would have proven disastrous for these two. Even though Dev was portrayed as a tiger, the emotions, the fears, the stress, and the coming out were very believable, as was his attraction to Lee. Not understanding football in no way hampered my enjoyment of the book; it is that well written. Highly, highly recommended.
December 13, 2010
the writing is well dont but it is overly detailed. it should have been about half as long as it was. just way to much pointless detail. other than the story was good. Dev was so sweet and really deserved better than the lying-cheating fox
January 28, 2014
Quite an interesting read...once I got used to the fact that they're animals, it was a very good story.
May 25, 2019
Summary
Lee is gay. If you were to anthropomorphize the concept of gay activism and angst -flags, stickers, and all- it would be Lee… and a fox, apparently. But the story doesn’t actually begin with Lee. If you really want to know where it all began, the story actually starts with Brian, the living embodiment of antagonistic friendzoning and unsympathetic trauma who is also a spotted skunk. You see, Brian used to be just like Lee: aggressively gay and out to prove something to someone. Unfortunately, those someones were about ten times bigger than him and attacked him for what I believe technically counts as sexual harassment. Of course, violence is never forgivable or an appropriate response, especially with such a big power differential, but the football players at the other end of Brian’s taunts and jeering proceeded to beat the living crap out of the skunk until he was hospitalized, traumatized, and forced to become this story’s primary antagonist.
Lee doesn’t take any of that well. So, he decides that the best way to get back at the football team for the harm inflicted upon his totally platonic friend (who happens to be a boy and also gay and a skunk) is to dress up as a woman and seduce someone from the team into a sexual encounter -despite the fact that everyone responsible for the harm inflicted upon Brian has already been removed from the team prior to the actual start of the story. But, you know, solid plan, Lee. Well reasoned as always. /s
But depending on where you begin, this is actually a story about Dev. I’d love to tell you all about Dev. He’s a college football player. He’s a tiger. He wants to go pro.
…
Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Moving along, Dev is the one that Lee manages to seduce. They met at a bar, went back to Lee’s apartment. One thing led to another, and -SURPRISE! DEV IS GAY! Much confusion and boning is had.
As an audience we are yanked by the chain back into Lee’s perspective as he proceeds to tear apart his life with a devil on his shoulder whispering sweet nothings in his ear about how much he’s changed and how he’s abandoned “the cause.” He at once can’t ever get enough of his big, hunk of a tiger boyfriend, whom the novel chooses to describe in intimate physical details approximately every five minutes, and blames him for all the complications in his life despite never clarifying his needs or relationship goals with his partner. But none of that matters because Dev is going to swoop in and take away all the pressure by promising Lee that economics are just a figment of one’s imagination and he can take care of his secret boyfriend if/when he goes pro.
Meanwihle, Dev- Oh, we’re doing a time skip? Just going to overlook Dev’s entire college experience as he grapples with his own sexual identity? Alright, then.
About two years later, Dev is starting to realize that he kind of sucks at football. The big fancy team didn’t want him, and now he’s part of a low-ranking team as an auxiliary member who never gets to play. Lee is several thousands of miles away, but we’ll never touch on how they manage their long-distance relationship and only show their fights and boning.
But then everything changes! Kind of! The crappy team’s starter gets gored by an antler (geez, anthro football is kind of metal); so, Dev is up. It’s his big chance! And the crowd goes mild. Honestly no one cares, and that’s a big part of the problem. Dev’s agent sets him up with a beard -a hot panther actress to draw more attention to Dev. But here comes Spotty-McStalker Pants who specifically moved to the city hosting Dev’s crappy team just to enact his weird vendetta against the man who took away Lee-... I mean… football players. Gotta get one to come out to the public in order to prove that gay people are nice freaks. You know, like the X-men. Woo~ Social equality.
Lee is largely absent physically and emotionally, and we’re told he’s doing things behind the scene, but none of it matters. I still legit know nothing about Dev. He comes out. People take it poorly until they don’t. We hardly see any consequences because the whole premise of this leg of the novel is about keeping everything under wraps.
Where am I going with this? I don’t know. That’s just where things end. Dev’s out. His team stands by him… eventually. And we don’t see the public fallout.
What worked?
I think that the novel portrayed the tension and stress of coming out pretty well. It’s rough having to hide who you are and jump through hoops just to keep your life from derailing. Dev never asked for any of this. It’s not fair, and I think that’s the point.
What didn’t work?
This is the kind of story that I feel like I’ve heard a million times but nevertheless can’t name a single example of a similar book. So, maybe the most remarkable thing about Out of Position is just how unremarkable it really is. In all honesty, it barely qualifies as a story because it’s consistency is as thin as watery oatmeal.
This book exists in a montage. It has the pacing of those scenes in a movie where the music plays in the background and we get flashes or snippets of scenes that go by in a blink. They’re meant to convey a feeling, not necessarily plot. Sure, the trappings of something are there:
However, Out of Position is concept-driven at best. There’s a half-formed idea of something, but the characters involved are either exaggerated caricatures or brick walls.
Lee is a caricature, for example. He exists purely for the sake of drama and sexual gratification. He’s an excuse for Dev to explore his sexuality and feel pleasure (despite the fact that we never actually get to see him grapple with his sexual identity; we just see him get exposed to being gay and then identifying as gay). But he’s also a reason for Dev to feel the friction between the testosterone-fueled, heteronormative, and sometimes homophobic world of football and lgbt+ individuals. And sometimes (read “frequently”) Lee goes out of his way to stir the pot and tempt drama. Then, just when Dev notices that Lee feels uncomfortable and tries to offer a way out, Lee blows up on him. He’s a time bomb of emotion with very little substance.
Dev is a brick wall. He’s a six foot tall tiger. He plays football. He has secrets that he does not want to share with us, and at this point I just don’t care. I know next to nothing about Dev. Who is he? What does he like (besides football)? What makes him tick? I think he was an economics major? I think.
Dev and Lee have no chemistry. It’s incredibly difficult to see these two together. Why do they like one another? I don’t see much between them besides physical intimacy. They have nothing in common. Even their pet names come across as forced and unnatural, given that the narration felt the need to explain them, rather than letting them develop or emerge over time. Do they even want to be together? What are their relationship goals? They don’t really ever do things together besides sex. They’re always just watching one another. Dev watches Lee in the play (once). Lee watches Dev in football.
I HATE how Dev and Lee treat each other and act after Dev goes pro. I hate how little time they spend together. I hate how little they support one another. I HATE how Lee nearly sabotages their relationship, Dev’s job, and his own physical well-being by visiting the locker room in drag to flirt with Dev’s teammates. I despise how Dev just gives in to playing straight with the panther actress. It makes no sense for Dev and Lee to be together. They didn’t have chemistry before, but now they’re both being incredibly toxic. This is not ok.
And can we just take a moment to talk about football in this book? There’s so gosh darn much of it. I'm sorry, I was expecting more personal growth and development. Silly me. Please, go on and tell me more about how Dev was playing the wrong position for somewhere between 2 and 8 years depending on how you count without anyone (including Lee) making the suggestion of him switching elsewhere. It’s not that I didn’t want any football talk. I sort of expected it with a main character who plays the sport and wants to go pro, but that’s his entire identity. Heck, it’s most of Lee’s identity too. There’s so much football that there’s hardly any time to really learn who these people are outside of the game and what makes them characters I should be invested in.
There's so much I don't understand about this book, and very near the top of the list is what the hell is wrong with it's sense of focus and priorities. Like why we don't spend more time on the more relatable tensions in the story? There's the tension of Lee being shackled with debt by his parents as a tool of control and the tension of becoming a professional football player, but none of that is super relatable. Whereas something like the question of "Are we meant to last?" or "Who am I supposed to be when my plans fall apart?" gets swept under the rug time and time again.
I wanted to see more of what Dev and Lee do to keep their relationship alive when they're thousands of miles apart. I want to feel their loneliness and longing instead of abstracting time until they're together and boning again just so we can spend more time talking about football positions. I wanted to spend more time with Dev and Lee interacting with other people together, trying to fit each other into their lives instead of keeping them so emotionally and socially isolated from one another.
I wanted the story to feel like a story about people in a tough situation rather than a series of football games that just happen to involve two people with no emotional chemistry. I wanted to be able to see something human in these anthropomorphic characters instead of simply boning each other between football statistics.
Final Thoughts
Don’t judge me. Sometimes I just need a gay furry romance in my life, but this book made me so upset. I hate how much the characters’ feelings got invalidated and pushed aside. I’m bothered by the fact that these characters whose relationship never felt genuine and comes across as toxic are sold as the people I’m supposed to care about and root for.
I’m very upset, and I absolutely will not be reading the rest of this series.
Lee is gay. If you were to anthropomorphize the concept of gay activism and angst -flags, stickers, and all- it would be Lee… and a fox, apparently. But the story doesn’t actually begin with Lee. If you really want to know where it all began, the story actually starts with Brian, the living embodiment of antagonistic friendzoning and unsympathetic trauma who is also a spotted skunk. You see, Brian used to be just like Lee: aggressively gay and out to prove something to someone. Unfortunately, those someones were about ten times bigger than him and attacked him for what I believe technically counts as sexual harassment. Of course, violence is never forgivable or an appropriate response, especially with such a big power differential, but the football players at the other end of Brian’s taunts and jeering proceeded to beat the living crap out of the skunk until he was hospitalized, traumatized, and forced to become this story’s primary antagonist.
Lee doesn’t take any of that well. So, he decides that the best way to get back at the football team for the harm inflicted upon his totally platonic friend (who happens to be a boy and also gay and a skunk) is to dress up as a woman and seduce someone from the team into a sexual encounter -despite the fact that everyone responsible for the harm inflicted upon Brian has already been removed from the team prior to the actual start of the story. But, you know, solid plan, Lee. Well reasoned as always. /s
But depending on where you begin, this is actually a story about Dev. I’d love to tell you all about Dev. He’s a college football player. He’s a tiger. He wants to go pro.
…
Yeah, that’s pretty much it. Moving along, Dev is the one that Lee manages to seduce. They met at a bar, went back to Lee’s apartment. One thing led to another, and -SURPRISE! DEV IS GAY! Much confusion and boning is had.
As an audience we are yanked by the chain back into Lee’s perspective as he proceeds to tear apart his life with a devil on his shoulder whispering sweet nothings in his ear about how much he’s changed and how he’s abandoned “the cause.” He at once can’t ever get enough of his big, hunk of a tiger boyfriend, whom the novel chooses to describe in intimate physical details approximately every five minutes, and blames him for all the complications in his life despite never clarifying his needs or relationship goals with his partner. But none of that matters because Dev is going to swoop in and take away all the pressure by promising Lee that economics are just a figment of one’s imagination and he can take care of his secret boyfriend if/when he goes pro.
Meanwihle, Dev- Oh, we’re doing a time skip? Just going to overlook Dev’s entire college experience as he grapples with his own sexual identity? Alright, then.
About two years later, Dev is starting to realize that he kind of sucks at football. The big fancy team didn’t want him, and now he’s part of a low-ranking team as an auxiliary member who never gets to play. Lee is several thousands of miles away, but we’ll never touch on how they manage their long-distance relationship and only show their fights and boning.
But then everything changes! Kind of! The crappy team’s starter gets gored by an antler (geez, anthro football is kind of metal); so, Dev is up. It’s his big chance! And the crowd goes mild. Honestly no one cares, and that’s a big part of the problem. Dev’s agent sets him up with a beard -a hot panther actress to draw more attention to Dev. But here comes Spotty-McStalker Pants who specifically moved to the city hosting Dev’s crappy team just to enact his weird vendetta against the man who took away Lee-... I mean… football players. Gotta get one to come out to the public in order to prove that gay people are nice freaks. You know, like the X-men. Woo~ Social equality.
Lee is largely absent physically and emotionally, and we’re told he’s doing things behind the scene, but none of it matters. I still legit know nothing about Dev. He comes out. People take it poorly until they don’t. We hardly see any consequences because the whole premise of this leg of the novel is about keeping everything under wraps.
Where am I going with this? I don’t know. That’s just where things end. Dev’s out. His team stands by him… eventually. And we don’t see the public fallout.
What worked?
I think that the novel portrayed the tension and stress of coming out pretty well. It’s rough having to hide who you are and jump through hoops just to keep your life from derailing. Dev never asked for any of this. It’s not fair, and I think that’s the point.
What didn’t work?
This is the kind of story that I feel like I’ve heard a million times but nevertheless can’t name a single example of a similar book. So, maybe the most remarkable thing about Out of Position is just how unremarkable it really is. In all honesty, it barely qualifies as a story because it’s consistency is as thin as watery oatmeal.
This book exists in a montage. It has the pacing of those scenes in a movie where the music plays in the background and we get flashes or snippets of scenes that go by in a blink. They’re meant to convey a feeling, not necessarily plot. Sure, the trappings of something are there:
Football player is gay.
He meets a guy who dresses up like a girl so they can be together.
The cross-dressing boyfriend has a negative perception of all jocks because of homophobic violence committed upon his former best friend.
Football player is very closeted.
They don’t see eye to eye and can’t have a relationship in public.
However, Out of Position is concept-driven at best. There’s a half-formed idea of something, but the characters involved are either exaggerated caricatures or brick walls.
Lee is a caricature, for example. He exists purely for the sake of drama and sexual gratification. He’s an excuse for Dev to explore his sexuality and feel pleasure (despite the fact that we never actually get to see him grapple with his sexual identity; we just see him get exposed to being gay and then identifying as gay). But he’s also a reason for Dev to feel the friction between the testosterone-fueled, heteronormative, and sometimes homophobic world of football and lgbt+ individuals. And sometimes (read “frequently”) Lee goes out of his way to stir the pot and tempt drama. Then, just when Dev notices that Lee feels uncomfortable and tries to offer a way out, Lee blows up on him. He’s a time bomb of emotion with very little substance.
Dev is a brick wall. He’s a six foot tall tiger. He plays football. He has secrets that he does not want to share with us, and at this point I just don’t care. I know next to nothing about Dev. Who is he? What does he like (besides football)? What makes him tick? I think he was an economics major? I think.
Dev and Lee have no chemistry. It’s incredibly difficult to see these two together. Why do they like one another? I don’t see much between them besides physical intimacy. They have nothing in common. Even their pet names come across as forced and unnatural, given that the narration felt the need to explain them, rather than letting them develop or emerge over time. Do they even want to be together? What are their relationship goals? They don’t really ever do things together besides sex. They’re always just watching one another. Dev watches Lee in the play (once). Lee watches Dev in football.
I HATE how Dev and Lee treat each other and act after Dev goes pro. I hate how little time they spend together. I hate how little they support one another. I HATE how Lee nearly sabotages their relationship, Dev’s job, and his own physical well-being by visiting the locker room in drag to flirt with Dev’s teammates. I despise how Dev just gives in to playing straight with the panther actress. It makes no sense for Dev and Lee to be together. They didn’t have chemistry before, but now they’re both being incredibly toxic. This is not ok.
And can we just take a moment to talk about football in this book? There’s so gosh darn much of it. I'm sorry, I was expecting more personal growth and development. Silly me. Please, go on and tell me more about how Dev was playing the wrong position for somewhere between 2 and 8 years depending on how you count without anyone (including Lee) making the suggestion of him switching elsewhere. It’s not that I didn’t want any football talk. I sort of expected it with a main character who plays the sport and wants to go pro, but that’s his entire identity. Heck, it’s most of Lee’s identity too. There’s so much football that there’s hardly any time to really learn who these people are outside of the game and what makes them characters I should be invested in.
There's so much I don't understand about this book, and very near the top of the list is what the hell is wrong with it's sense of focus and priorities. Like why we don't spend more time on the more relatable tensions in the story? There's the tension of Lee being shackled with debt by his parents as a tool of control and the tension of becoming a professional football player, but none of that is super relatable. Whereas something like the question of "Are we meant to last?" or "Who am I supposed to be when my plans fall apart?" gets swept under the rug time and time again.
I wanted to see more of what Dev and Lee do to keep their relationship alive when they're thousands of miles apart. I want to feel their loneliness and longing instead of abstracting time until they're together and boning again just so we can spend more time talking about football positions. I wanted to spend more time with Dev and Lee interacting with other people together, trying to fit each other into their lives instead of keeping them so emotionally and socially isolated from one another.
I wanted the story to feel like a story about people in a tough situation rather than a series of football games that just happen to involve two people with no emotional chemistry. I wanted to be able to see something human in these anthropomorphic characters instead of simply boning each other between football statistics.
Final Thoughts
Don’t judge me. Sometimes I just need a gay furry romance in my life, but this book made me so upset. I hate how much the characters’ feelings got invalidated and pushed aside. I’m bothered by the fact that these characters whose relationship never felt genuine and comes across as toxic are sold as the people I’m supposed to care about and root for.
I’m very upset, and I absolutely will not be reading the rest of this series.
August 16, 2023
My first book from Kyell Gold and I loved it! The coming out footballer romance is a common trope, but in Kyell's writing along with the anthropomorphic aspect makes this book unique and a must read.
Dev and Lee are the opposite in all aspects, and that gives this relationship all its twists and turns. There is a whole new universe here with the particular mannerisms of different animal species that keep you captivated. I am a big fan of "Peppa pig" cartoons (along with my daughter ,lol) where you get the kid version of this book.
Looking forward to the next book in Dev and Lee's life and hope it's smoother than this one.
Dev and Lee are the opposite in all aspects, and that gives this relationship all its twists and turns. There is a whole new universe here with the particular mannerisms of different animal species that keep you captivated. I am a big fan of "Peppa pig" cartoons (along with my daughter ,lol) where you get the kid version of this book.
Looking forward to the next book in Dev and Lee's life and hope it's smoother than this one.
February 22, 2021
As much as I am ashamed to say that I really enjoyed reading furry erotica this was a really good book and now I'm knee deep in the series and can't stop.
January 12, 2016
Just read this for a second time, in spite of feeling disappointed the first time around when it was new. The ebook was on a special offer for free, and the Kindle version also offered the Whispersync(tm) matching Audible narration for a nominal charge. I'd been wanting to try out Whispersync so I went for this option.
My overall reaction to the book, as before and in spite of the tremendous popularity of this series, was disappointment. Admittedly, I'm not and have never been a football fan. The entire concept of that sport seems ridiculous and just plain Neanderthal to me. The football discussions and scenes were of little interest. The idea of a self-described "straight" tiger jock being turned gay by a transvestite fox still seems to have a lot of potential to me, but this version fails to meet my expectations. It comes across much too pat and easy, for one thing. The characters of Dev and Lee are so stereotypical that they become caricatures instead, but without the humor I'd expect in a satirical approach.
I couldn't take either character seriously, though it seems clear that the author's intention is to make a genuine romance of the story. It just wasn't believable to me, even though some of Gold's other work has definitely succeeded where this one fails.
As often happens in this author's work, I felt that the amount of detailed sexual behavior was excessive and often failed to advance the story in any meaningful way. Perhaps for that reason, the audio narration also seemed to lack much conviction or involvement and sometimes becomes almost clinical.
My conclusion: Whispersync works as described. The book, however, fails to excite or even interest me for the most part. And yes, I'm aware that this is a minority opinion.
My overall reaction to the book, as before and in spite of the tremendous popularity of this series, was disappointment. Admittedly, I'm not and have never been a football fan. The entire concept of that sport seems ridiculous and just plain Neanderthal to me. The football discussions and scenes were of little interest. The idea of a self-described "straight" tiger jock being turned gay by a transvestite fox still seems to have a lot of potential to me, but this version fails to meet my expectations. It comes across much too pat and easy, for one thing. The characters of Dev and Lee are so stereotypical that they become caricatures instead, but without the humor I'd expect in a satirical approach.
I couldn't take either character seriously, though it seems clear that the author's intention is to make a genuine romance of the story. It just wasn't believable to me, even though some of Gold's other work has definitely succeeded where this one fails.
As often happens in this author's work, I felt that the amount of detailed sexual behavior was excessive and often failed to advance the story in any meaningful way. Perhaps for that reason, the audio narration also seemed to lack much conviction or involvement and sometimes becomes almost clinical.
My conclusion: Whispersync works as described. The book, however, fails to excite or even interest me for the most part. And yes, I'm aware that this is a minority opinion.
September 4, 2013
When I walked up to the table at LoneStarCon3 (WorldCon) last weekend and saw a lot of fantasy novels with animal protagonists I didn't think much of it. I talked to the guy there, who turned out to be Kyell Gold himself, and asked him to pitch me on the books. I even asked him why he decided to write in a world populated by animals. It didn't occur to me that this was a thing until he talked about getting into "furries". I've never considered furry fandom because it had always been a thing that was outside of my bubble, lumped in with kinky things that didn't appeal to me.
After reading this I feel that I was wrong in my classifications. There is a lot more to anthropomorphic fiction (the term that the publisher, SofaWolf, calls this) than I would have though and it adds a couple of things that are useful to me personally. First, it added just enough of a fantasy element to create the escapism that I miss in most mainstream, non-fantasy, non-scifi fiction. It turns out that that is enough to make me even enjoy a sports story. Second, the different species was a nice shorthand for a set of physical characteristics and personality types. Not that there aren't exceptions to both of those things within a species, but if I told you that there was a Klingon and a Ferengi in a room, you know which one is which and can guess, with a high probability of success, which one you shouldn't piss off and which one can get you a black-market holo-novel.
Regarding the book itself, I fell in love with both main characters, Lee and Div, and found myself rooting for their success, both romantic and professional.
I am glad that I was sold on a sports book and a romance story.
After reading this I feel that I was wrong in my classifications. There is a lot more to anthropomorphic fiction (the term that the publisher, SofaWolf, calls this) than I would have though and it adds a couple of things that are useful to me personally. First, it added just enough of a fantasy element to create the escapism that I miss in most mainstream, non-fantasy, non-scifi fiction. It turns out that that is enough to make me even enjoy a sports story. Second, the different species was a nice shorthand for a set of physical characteristics and personality types. Not that there aren't exceptions to both of those things within a species, but if I told you that there was a Klingon and a Ferengi in a room, you know which one is which and can guess, with a high probability of success, which one you shouldn't piss off and which one can get you a black-market holo-novel.
Regarding the book itself, I fell in love with both main characters, Lee and Div, and found myself rooting for their success, both romantic and professional.
I am glad that I was sold on a sports book and a romance story.
November 17, 2016
Well...this is a very different book. I thought that I would be hung up on the whole "furry" thing but it kind of fades into the background and quit noticing it, aside from like "paw/muzzle" references. I liked Dev and Lee. They weren't perfect, but I appreciate that for the the most part they didn't let the angst affect them. And they worked through their issues in an understandable way. I struggled with Lee the most towards the end. I do not understand his continued association with Brian. And his playing the victim when he CHEATED on Dev and acting annoyed that Dev had the nerve to be upset cost him a lot of points. I liked how the football aspect was written. You really actually learn about the game in a natural way that doesn't feel like a lecture. I don't know if I'll continue the series or not, but at least this was interestingly different.
September 29, 2011
I realized I should write something for someone in my situation *before reading the book*, that is someone thinking: ''Football? Furry? No way!''.
This is an amazing book: excellent writing, compelling characters, gripping plot, a believable relationship development. I'd give more than 5 stars if I could.
This is an amazing book: excellent writing, compelling characters, gripping plot, a believable relationship development. I'd give more than 5 stars if I could.
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