Conquering the Phobe

by Yamila Abraham

Passionate right-wing conservative Albert Reese has taken a dangerous interest in his gay classmate Denton Price.

Albert mercilessly trounces Denton during a very personal debate in their politics class, leaving Denton devastated and grateful this is the end of the semester. He never wants to see Albert's cold judging glare ever again.

But then Albert chases Denton down in the library...

This super steamy, tumultuous romance is a standalone with no cliffhangers and a guaranteed happily-ever-after. By the author of UnPrison!

Genres: M M Romance, LGBT, Enemies To Lovers, Romance, Audiobook, Gay For You, M M Contemporary

116 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 16, 2015

About the author

Yamila Abraham founded the publishing company Yaoi Press in 2004 and published over 50 graphic novels, many she wrote herself.

Abraham is a prolific writer of male/male romance, yaoi, yaoi graphic novels, science fiction romance, and erotica. She's known for explicitly detailed love scenes and dynamic premises. She wrote two of Yaoi Press' best selling series: Winter Demon and Dark Prince. Her best known ebooks include Maelstrom, UnPrison, Alien's Bride, and the Vanquished series.

Abraham has been a speaker or guest of honor at 150 anime fan conventions.

Reviews

[Raj · Rating 4 out of 5]

"I'm not afraid of homosexuals.  I don't have a 'homosexual phobia.'  You're an enemy to what I believe is right.  I'm not going to cower from you.  What I want is to gather intelligence.  To gain insight, so I can add tools to my arsenal for dealing with this epidemic in the future.  However, the homosexuals I've come in contact with so far are so...revolting...I just can't bring myself to be around them.  They're so blatant in their perversion that my principles are attacked just by being near them."

Denton lifted his head from his hand enough to glare at him. "You're different."  A cunning smile formed on his lips.  "I like you."

How do you get a sociopath into accepting what he deems is perverse behavior?

By creating bigger monsters for him to battle to save the object of his obsession

How do you conquer a phobia?

The most effective way to overcome a phobia is by gradually and repeatedly exposing yourself to what you fear in a safe and controlled way.

The sociopath was off kilter which I like a lot in a character.You were unsure what his true motives were in embracing what he hated most.Despite wishing that the author would have drawn out the suspense with a bit more menace,I enjoyed this unconventional tale.

[Robin L · Rating 3 out of 5]

Hmmm..... First off, Albert was incredibly abusive and doesn't deserve to have a significant other. Secondly, this book is a celebration of hopping back into the closet for the sake of love, which turned me off. Thirdly, there was no ending resolution to some pretty major issues between the two mc's. Some things were said and done by Albert that he never made amends for. He just wasn't a likable character really.

Now having said all that, I still enjoyed reading the book. It gets three stars from me.

[Makhda · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think Albert was a high functioning sociopath. I liked the story. But I'm disappointed with the ending. Albert did not even come out. He's still in the closet.

[Milica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Original and different...and all in all a great story. I'm reluctant about writing elaborate review,because I literally went blind into this and I'm so glad I did. Highly recommended!...seriously people,read this.

[Nerea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Waa! This book was a kinf of surprise for me. It´s diferent.
Albert is an arrogant guy who doesn´t believe in homosexuality. But he feels attracted to this gay boy (Denton) from his college.
With his first rude comments he is only achieving to piss off Denton. But surprisingly, they TALK . A LOT. It´s interesting. This book is VERY centered in the MCs and their discurses so finally is beautiful to see how the relationship takes a new shape.

[Anita · Rating 4 out of 5]

Odd yet engaging tale of a homophobic frat boy, Albert, and a rather sensitive gay guy, Denton whose first interaction is during a class debate where Albert brutally belittles Denton for his views on gay marriage. I live in the US and if you're not living under a rock, you know the political environment is rather toxic. So Albert reminds of a cross between Steve Bannon and Stephen Miller, Trump's xenophobic henchmen. I had real trouble getting into his head since everything that came out of his mouth was insulting and cruel. Denton - oh goodness, why did this guy cry so much!!! So Albert demands that they be friends and you have to suspend belief a little, they end up together. Now the ending was interesting. Rather HFN. I appreciated that we didn't see any big pronouncement from Albert about his transition, if you will, to being with a man. Like the writing - wry, a bit of snark, intelligent and amusing. This is a new to me author and will try her other reads.

[Krinessa · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible eye opening love story

I am new to Yamilah's writing but was quickly drawn in by the dynamic writing and deeply 3 dimensional characters of Albert and Denton. They were so well written and relatable. I was moved by Albert's desire to really get to know Denton despite is strong convictions against Denton's sexuality. A beautiful and very eye opening love story. Kudos! I give this story ten stars!

[J Alm · Rating 5 out of 5]

A cute yaoi (male and male) love story

Albert and Denton are two complete opposites.

Albert's father is a congressman and Albert wants to be one as well. He has it all worked out. He has already been in the army so is older than most of the students in his year.

Denton is very much gay but is not openly so like his friend and roommate Soledad.

Albert and Denton have a debate where Albert openly tells all attending that Denton is gay. The forum was on gay marriage. Albert was against and Denton was pro. Albert won but to what cost for Denton.

Denton ends up crying by the end and runs to a quiet corner to lick his wounds, however he is found by Albert.

Much happens between these two characters and it makes for a more interesting read.

The ending is beyond sweet and way too good to divulge.

The story and characters are very well written. The story was crafted so well that I didn't notice how time flew reading it.

The author shows a good understanding of her characters and their situations. It was a joy to read.

[Darlene · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book also. A lot of interaction between one young man who is super conservative is his view about gays and a gay man who can believe this ignorant fellow student has no idea what it means to be gay. And what! that ignorant guy wants to be friends...no way after the being humiliated and outed in a class debate between them.

It's super enlightening as they become friends and then lovers. Well worth the read!

[Sam_pien · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was such an intellectually sweet, hot story. Does that even make sense? To me it does. My only niggle was the 'back in the closet for love'.
I get why it had to happen... I just didn't like it...

[Lene · Rating 3 out of 5]

MM romance.

[charlotte rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love it

YA you did it again I love this book wish it had a part two. But moving on great job

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't expect to love this but it really did it for me, the dynamic between Denton and Albert is quite something and I enjoyed reading about them

[Bre · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

[Brittany · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this. I rag a lot on Novellas and Short stories and how they feel rushed but I feel like this plot and these characters kinda fit into it. You come in after the debate that absolutely wreaks poor Albert but you don't feel like you missed anything. Even the ending while cut and dry conjures images for me of these two later in life still bickering and challenging each other. It was nice.

[Brittany Kilpatrick · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved this story

I am a Yamila fan and am working my way through her books. Lots of different stories, some I like better than others, but that is my preference alone. My all time favorite is Unprison about a rich spoilt kid who landed in prison. This story, Conquering the Phobe is about a college boy dealing with homophobes, dealing with many of the issues gays have to deal with. A great read which I recommend.

[Gina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fascinating story

I'm a bit confused whether I like it or not. There are parts of this book that I enjoyed but then it confused me. Albert was just a bit too much for me to believe yet I guess it worked with this book. I just wished that the hiding of both of them being together would have disappeared. But it was a good story.

[Nessa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, this was an intense read that was enraging as well as quite engaging. Albert is a pompous, arrogant, condescending, heterosexual jerk who hurts the feelings of Denton during a college debate where Albert all but outed him with his gay bashing. Albert's ignorance did amuse me at times and he did try to understand the whole concept of being gay in his own judgemental way. The story was very well written (and executed) with an excellent pace. I was wondering how Albert could ever come to love Denton with the negative and basically jerky attitude he had about being gay (their actions being an "abomination"). However, I thought that the author made it work and I know that it's possible , except for some of the hateful characters like Carl, and everyone in that fraternity. They were consistently vicious and those parts were difficult for me to read, simply because I just want everybody to be happy. :) The ending was sweetly gratifying and overall I found the story as a whole to be very impressive and thought provoking for those with beliefs similar to Albert's. :)