Valley of the Dudes

by Ryan Field

In this M/M adaptation of the classic novel Valley of the Dolls, an innocent young man named Rush Goodwin leaves behind his family, his longtime boyfriend, and the safety of his small New England town to find a new life that's filled with glamour and excitement in New York City. Though he's not sure exactly what he wants in life, he's willing to take a few daring chances along the way to find out.

It doesn't take long for him to make two new best friends, Cody and Anderson, who are just as young an innocent as he is when the story begins. The only difference between them and Rush is that they both have faithful partners and Rush is alone in New York. But that doesn't last long. When Rush meets his new boss, handsome Lance Sharp, it's love at first sight and the beginning of a turbulent relationship that is rarely without conflict.

While Rush and his friends are all moving forward and climbing their respective ladders of success, they each learn, in different ways, that nothing in life is perfect. Especially not the fame and fortune they thought they all wanted. And in order to deal with the stress of success, they all turn to drugs for comfort. And in time, this leads them all on a downward spiral that ruins their relationships and ultimately threatens their lives.

In the end, after suffering painful disappointments and serious setbacks that almost ruin him, Rush learns the true meaning of what life is all about for a gay man of his generation. And he does this without drugs and fame and fortune, with the help of true love and the one goal he never expected he could reach.

Genres: M M Romance, Erotica

236 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Ryan @ryanfield Hybrid author of over 100 published modern romance novels and stories, including AN OFFICER AND HIS GENTLEMAN, FANGSTERS, and THE RAINBOW DETECTIVE AGENCY. He is a Lambda Award-winner with a short story and he's always more than thankful for reader reviews. In fact, he cherishes reviews from real readers, and that means good or bad reviews.

Reviews

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

So this book is a gay parody of Valley of the Dolls. That being said, I never read Valley of the Dolls, so I can't say how well it sticks to the story or anything. Anyway, I would say I liked this book overall, but dear god was it frustrating. I hate Cody and Lance with a passion, they are the absolute worst! At least Cody had the excuse that he was addicted to drugs, Lance was just a total dick. And Rush.... ughhhhh, why the hell did he take Lance back at the end??? Lance was all, "please give me a second chance, I actually do love you! I didn't really cheat on you" and Rush just accepts him right away. Despite the fact that it was actually his second time doing this. Have some respect for yourself Rush, Lance is a dick and you deserve better. I won't feel bad for Rush when Lance inevitably leaves him again.

[Scott · Rating 3 out of 5]

What an interesting read. I have some difficulty classifying this book as a "parody". It followed the basic events of the original story fairly consistently (just man on man), but the ending is different from both Susann's novel and the film version. At times, the plot delved into outright erotica, but could have been so much better if the author had steered clear. The concept still seems to me to be prime for a truly well-written, man on man version.
The character of Anderson (the Jennifer North character in the book, played by Sharon Tate in the film) struck me as the most tragic. And I suppose there is no little irony in that revelation.

[Robert Fontenot · Rating 2 out of 5]

I knew I was in trouble when I read this sentence:

“He kept his wavy brown hair at a medium length and wore a thin, well-manicured layer of facial hair on purpose that looked more like five o’clock shadow than an actual beard which he trimmed daily to achieve a scruffy look on purpose.”

I really enjoyed the original Valley of the Dolls. It was fun and trashy and it’s easy to understand why so many people read it. This is just bad. I’m not sure why anyone has read this.

[William Hendrix · Rating 5 out of 5]

Head, sexy & campy

Great parody of Valley of the Dolls. Sticks to the film script - fun sex scenes! Easy read. Highly recommend

[Meggie · Rating 1 out of 5]

Jesus, this book is totally cheezy and horrible. I DON'T RECOMMEND IT AT ALL. I don't want to judge a writter by this book, but damn that book was totally to dramatic and all the characters where just juck. The explicit sex sceness are ugly and feelings are not developed at all you don't feel atraction between the guy at all. If your smart don't read it -____- what a waste of my time...

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice try at a gay version of Valley of the Dolls. Not nearly trashy enough.

[Matthew Horsfield · Rating 1 out of 5]

No redeeming qualities except it was a free gay audiobook from the library on Hoopla. Even the narrator stunk