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Southern Fried
When orphaned Trip Jackson’s granny dies, leaving most of her extensive estate to him and a puzzling stranger, the mysteries start piling on from there. How did Trip’s parents really die? What’s the deal with the conservative senator who shares the stranger’s last name? What’s with all the blackmail? And does Billy Ray really have the hottest, saltiest boiled nuts this side of the Mason-Dixon?
Only Trip and his hot stable boy-boyfriend Zeb know for sure, and how they come by the answers makes for one erotically charged and funny whodunit.
Southern Fried, at its core, is about the love of family, the love of one’s heritage, and the love between friends, both old and new. Though not all is as it appears to be, and sometimes life can get turned upside down when you least expect it. Especially when lip-smacking romance, deep-fried humor, and a heaping side of mystery fall on your plate, all served up Southern style.
Only Trip and his hot stable boy-boyfriend Zeb know for sure, and how they come by the answers makes for one erotically charged and funny whodunit.
Southern Fried, at its core, is about the love of family, the love of one’s heritage, and the love between friends, both old and new. Though not all is as it appears to be, and sometimes life can get turned upside down when you least expect it. Especially when lip-smacking romance, deep-fried humor, and a heaping side of mystery fall on your plate, all served up Southern style.
248 pages, Kindle Edition
First published August 1, 2011
About the author
Rob Rosen
205 books166 followersMulti-award-winning and best-selling author/editor/anthologist Rob Rosen is the author of Sparkle: The Queerest Book You'll Ever Love, Divas Las Vegas, Hot Lava, Southern Fried, Queerwolf, Vamp, Queens of the Apocalypse, Creature Comfort, Fate, Midlife Crisis, Fierce, And God Belched, Mary, Queen of Scotch, Ted of the d'Urbervilles, Sort of Dead, Genie in a Vodka Bottle, Bobby Ray Breaks the Universe, and D.B. and Me. His short stories have appeared in more than 200 anthologies. You can read some of his best ones in Short Spurts, Short Spurts 2, and Short Spurts 3. He is also the editor of Lust in Time: Erotic Romance Through the Ages, Men of the Manor, Best Gay Erotica 2015 and Best Gay Erotica of the Year, Volumes 1, 2, 3 and 4.
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
October 21, 2011
I could not finish this book!!! I really tried, I swear I did!! But around 30% after the 2nd random masturbation scene with a total stranger, I couldn't force myself to continue. The 1st scene happened around 5% into the book and I really wanted to stop there. Also, I knew nothing about the MC other than he was a rich, loose, shallow slut. He moved away from the South for 10 years and I still have no idea what he had been doing all that time. I don't even know what he looks like.
The book was funny and I was kinda interested in the mystery, but unless you are ok with gross, random, meaningless sex, then this book is not for you.
ETA #1 Please see author's comments below. He states that direct quotes from his work are violations of copyright. Therefore, I feel it would be unwise to discuss his book, honestly review his book, and by all means...do not quote his book. I would hate for any more readers to be accused as I have been.
ETA #2 Somehow, the author's comments have been removed from the discussion below.
The book was funny and I was kinda interested in the mystery, but unless you are ok with gross, random, meaningless sex, then this book is not for you.
ETA #1 Please see author's comments below. He states that direct quotes from his work are violations of copyright. Therefore, I feel it would be unwise to discuss his book, honestly review his book, and by all means...do not quote his book. I would hate for any more readers to be accused as I have been.
ETA #2 Somehow, the author's comments have been removed from the discussion below.
May 3, 2012
I was unable to finish this I don't have much more to say other than go and read Heather C's review as to the reason why!
October 12, 2022
'Southern Fried' is all about family, Southern family. Now don't get me wrong, family is family. But, the South, or at least, certain parts of it, can seem as if it hasn't changed since the Civil War. I grew up down South, and it was quite a shock to my Yankee system. It did, however, give me a bit of an insight into the mentality, so to speak. Traditions and lineage mean a lot. Family means even more, regardless of the condition of said family bonds. There's a saying "Here in the South we don't hide crazy. We parade it on the porch and give it a cocktail." Truer words have not been spoken.
Trip has come home after ten years up North after his granny died. He is the last living Jackson and in those parts, that means an awful lot. Granny was an interesting character and the nicest thing anyone could say was that she was "difficult". But, she lived up to her heritage, outside the antebellum mansion. So, now she's passed and there's a funeral to be had, a will to read, and a hot stable boy to mess with. All in a day's work, I'd say. There are some definite surprises that come out of the will, but Granny has a great way of keeping all the staff tied to the mansion just like a spider and her web. Ah, the Southern machinations to keep everything in the family.
Please find my full review at Rainbow Book Reviews
Trip has come home after ten years up North after his granny died. He is the last living Jackson and in those parts, that means an awful lot. Granny was an interesting character and the nicest thing anyone could say was that she was "difficult". But, she lived up to her heritage, outside the antebellum mansion. So, now she's passed and there's a funeral to be had, a will to read, and a hot stable boy to mess with. All in a day's work, I'd say. There are some definite surprises that come out of the will, but Granny has a great way of keeping all the staff tied to the mansion just like a spider and her web. Ah, the Southern machinations to keep everything in the family.
Please find my full review at Rainbow Book Reviews
March 14, 2016
It's been awhile since I read this book and when I stumbled across it again, I realized I hadn't written a review and I felt that was a shame because I loved this book.
Rob Rosen has written a book that is a bit of a mystery with some romance and steamy sex thrown in and a huge truckload of humor. If I remember nothing else about his book I remember that I laughed my ass off.
From the moment he returns home Trip Jackson is thrown into a mystery that he's going to need more than a little help to unravel and just when he thinks it's all figured out, there's more. Following Trip and his ragtag collection of friends was an adventure of the most entertaining sort.
If you're looking for a book that will leave you smiling or more probably laughing check out Southern Fried. It's southern hospitality at it's wackiest best!
Rob Rosen has written a book that is a bit of a mystery with some romance and steamy sex thrown in and a huge truckload of humor. If I remember nothing else about his book I remember that I laughed my ass off.
From the moment he returns home Trip Jackson is thrown into a mystery that he's going to need more than a little help to unravel and just when he thinks it's all figured out, there's more. Following Trip and his ragtag collection of friends was an adventure of the most entertaining sort.
If you're looking for a book that will leave you smiling or more probably laughing check out Southern Fried. It's southern hospitality at it's wackiest best!
October 21, 2011
This review was originally written for The Romance Reviews and can also be found there.
Even though you might not know what exactly you're getting yourself into when you first read the blurb, it won't take you long to get pulled into a world or love, betrayal, mystery and a lot of laughter. Almost every paragraph of SOUTHERN FRIED is charged with humor and even some moments that should have been heart wrenching will probably pull out a smile.
What I liked best were the jokes. For once they were not forced, unimaginative or flat. In this story, jokes came as easily as each breath and I felt as if I was reading about someone's family member, when the author talked about Granny, instead of a fictional one. That woman, although not someone I actually got to meet, was the most solid character of the whole book.
Trip is a gay man who returns home after a ten-year absence into the deep South for his Granny's funeral. Being kept away by her wishes, he feels sorry that he'd missed all the years with the people on her vast estate and that he couldn't have spent some more time with the last of his kin.
When Trip arrives to his childhood home, some things appear to be the same, but it doesn't take him long to realize others don't fit at all and the rest are highly suspicious. From there, this book turns into a fast paced mystery with funny as well as secret-hiding characters, hot and random bouts of lust, but above all else, it turns into a story where family matters and mistakes can be forgiven.
During the whole course of the book, there is a romance in the making. Something that started innocently enough eventually turns into a bit more. The more is where I had issues. I'm not sure if I could call this book a romance, because it is a mystery more than anything else, and the love parts are more about family than they are about Trip's emotions growing from lust to affection. I guess I like my men more tangled in each other than the world surrounding them, no matter how intriguing that world might be.
Some readers might mind the overly emotional ending, where tears were too many and words too few. Others might find Trip's open sexuality and expressiveness a bit too much, but for me, those aspects of the books were pretty funny and not far off the mark when it comes to real life situations.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I was relaxed, I laughed to my heart's content and was left with a very good feeling for a significant time after I finished the book. It is something I should have read after a bad day – I know it would have made things look better.
Even though you might not know what exactly you're getting yourself into when you first read the blurb, it won't take you long to get pulled into a world or love, betrayal, mystery and a lot of laughter. Almost every paragraph of SOUTHERN FRIED is charged with humor and even some moments that should have been heart wrenching will probably pull out a smile.
What I liked best were the jokes. For once they were not forced, unimaginative or flat. In this story, jokes came as easily as each breath and I felt as if I was reading about someone's family member, when the author talked about Granny, instead of a fictional one. That woman, although not someone I actually got to meet, was the most solid character of the whole book.
Trip is a gay man who returns home after a ten-year absence into the deep South for his Granny's funeral. Being kept away by her wishes, he feels sorry that he'd missed all the years with the people on her vast estate and that he couldn't have spent some more time with the last of his kin.
When Trip arrives to his childhood home, some things appear to be the same, but it doesn't take him long to realize others don't fit at all and the rest are highly suspicious. From there, this book turns into a fast paced mystery with funny as well as secret-hiding characters, hot and random bouts of lust, but above all else, it turns into a story where family matters and mistakes can be forgiven.
During the whole course of the book, there is a romance in the making. Something that started innocently enough eventually turns into a bit more. The more is where I had issues. I'm not sure if I could call this book a romance, because it is a mystery more than anything else, and the love parts are more about family than they are about Trip's emotions growing from lust to affection. I guess I like my men more tangled in each other than the world surrounding them, no matter how intriguing that world might be.
Some readers might mind the overly emotional ending, where tears were too many and words too few. Others might find Trip's open sexuality and expressiveness a bit too much, but for me, those aspects of the books were pretty funny and not far off the mark when it comes to real life situations.
All in all, I really enjoyed this book. I was relaxed, I laughed to my heart's content and was left with a very good feeling for a significant time after I finished the book. It is something I should have read after a bad day – I know it would have made things look better.
Read
September 20, 2012A mix between mystery / thriller and cinderfella romance, this is the story of southern boy Trip, the very wealthy heir of an antebellum mansion and estate in South Carolina. Trip is gay and open about it, as you will learn the very first day of its arrival back in the deep south after ten years of absence: he meets Zeb, the stable boy, and he will find out that he is no more the only gay boy of the town. But he will also discover that he is not the only heir to his granny, apparently he has a brother he didn’t know about. And here the mystery starts: where is Beau? And more important, who is Beau? Why no one has ever heard about him, why he is not living in the mansion?
What I found quite funny of this novel is that, wherever Trip is turning, gay boys are appearing and to Trip is like a candy story for a child. I think that, at one point, Trip started to wonder why he spent the last 10 years of his life in “cold” NYC, when he could find all this entertainment right in the place he likes the best. Yes, since, despite everything, Trip is a 100% southern boy, and he plenty enjoys the old way of life of that country. In a way, Trip is even snob, he has that aura around him, like he could be friendly with the servants, but they still remain employed hands. Oh sure, he likes Zeb, and I’m sure they will have a nice and long relationship, but Trip will always be the lord of the manor and Zeb the stable boy.
Even the mystery remains on the light side, something I have already the chance to experience with this author’s novels. The boys got in trouble, but they always manage to come out of them unscathed and smiling, like it was a funny adventure more than a dangerous situation. If you like to laugh more than worry for your heroes, any Rosen’s novel is right for you.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608204359/?...
What I found quite funny of this novel is that, wherever Trip is turning, gay boys are appearing and to Trip is like a candy story for a child. I think that, at one point, Trip started to wonder why he spent the last 10 years of his life in “cold” NYC, when he could find all this entertainment right in the place he likes the best. Yes, since, despite everything, Trip is a 100% southern boy, and he plenty enjoys the old way of life of that country. In a way, Trip is even snob, he has that aura around him, like he could be friendly with the servants, but they still remain employed hands. Oh sure, he likes Zeb, and I’m sure they will have a nice and long relationship, but Trip will always be the lord of the manor and Zeb the stable boy.
Even the mystery remains on the light side, something I have already the chance to experience with this author’s novels. The boys got in trouble, but they always manage to come out of them unscathed and smiling, like it was a funny adventure more than a dangerous situation. If you like to laugh more than worry for your heroes, any Rosen’s novel is right for you.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/1608204359/?...
January 5, 2014
I enjoyed this. The story has funny off-beat humour together with a mystery, all wrapped up in Southern hospitality, or not as the case may be.
The story takes the reader to the deep south, and introduces us to Trip who has returned home to bury his grandmother, his last surviving relative, or not as the case may be.
Trip is then caught up in a mystery. Does he have a long lost half-brother? Why wasn't he told? Why did his beloved Granny keep these secrets from him? And is someone plotting to keep Trip from the truth?
Trip is supported by a caste of amusing characters and plenty of hearty southern fried food as he tries to get to the bottom of the mystery, rescue his possible half-brother, fall in love with the dashing, resourceful stable boy (Seb) and shine some light into the dark side of southern hospitality, or not as the case may be?
The story takes the reader to the deep south, and introduces us to Trip who has returned home to bury his grandmother, his last surviving relative, or not as the case may be.
Trip is then caught up in a mystery. Does he have a long lost half-brother? Why wasn't he told? Why did his beloved Granny keep these secrets from him? And is someone plotting to keep Trip from the truth?
Trip is supported by a caste of amusing characters and plenty of hearty southern fried food as he tries to get to the bottom of the mystery, rescue his possible half-brother, fall in love with the dashing, resourceful stable boy (Seb) and shine some light into the dark side of southern hospitality, or not as the case may be?
February 6, 2021
This was a fun story filled with Rosen's trademark sex and silliness. Tongue in cheek humor and a screw you to the bigots and liars.
September 13, 2011
Advance Praises for "Southern Fried":
Southern Fried
“Rob Rosen's Southern Fried goes down like sweet tea, grits, fried chicken, collard greens, and Southern Comfort--its a little spicy, a little hot, a little comforting, and, in the end, completely satisfying. A delicious read!”
-- Rick R. Reed, award-winning author of Tricks and The Blue Moon Cafe
“Southern Fried by Rob Rosen is a charismatic, erotic, comic, and gastronomic trip through the South with a dash of mystery and pinch of peaches. You’ll close the book with a smile and a craving for sweet tea.”
-- Greg Lilly, author of the Derek Mason Mystery series
“Southern Fried is a delicious, fun romp of intrigue and secrets, mixed with extra large portions of southern hospitality. It’s like a crime-solving Steel Magnolias, but with a cast of stunning men with six-pack abs and perfect pecs. Once again Rob Rosen has created an entertaining, page-turning escape.”
-- Kemble Scott, author of the bestselling novels SoMa and The Sower
“Southern Fried is Rob Rosen’s best yet, a sexy and fun whodunit set in a southern mansion full of soul food and mystery. The chapter titles could have been pulled from Paula Dean’s recipe files, so be forewarned not to start reading on an empty stomach. Did I mention sexy? Plenty of that and it’s hot!”
-- Mark Abramson, author of the Beach Reading series
“With any of Rob’s popular books you know you are going to get something good, something interesting, and this Southern Fried tale is no exception.”
-- Wayne Mansfield, Author of The Stroke of Midnight
Southern Fried
“Rob Rosen's Southern Fried goes down like sweet tea, grits, fried chicken, collard greens, and Southern Comfort--its a little spicy, a little hot, a little comforting, and, in the end, completely satisfying. A delicious read!”
-- Rick R. Reed, award-winning author of Tricks and The Blue Moon Cafe
“Southern Fried by Rob Rosen is a charismatic, erotic, comic, and gastronomic trip through the South with a dash of mystery and pinch of peaches. You’ll close the book with a smile and a craving for sweet tea.”
-- Greg Lilly, author of the Derek Mason Mystery series
“Southern Fried is a delicious, fun romp of intrigue and secrets, mixed with extra large portions of southern hospitality. It’s like a crime-solving Steel Magnolias, but with a cast of stunning men with six-pack abs and perfect pecs. Once again Rob Rosen has created an entertaining, page-turning escape.”
-- Kemble Scott, author of the bestselling novels SoMa and The Sower
“Southern Fried is Rob Rosen’s best yet, a sexy and fun whodunit set in a southern mansion full of soul food and mystery. The chapter titles could have been pulled from Paula Dean’s recipe files, so be forewarned not to start reading on an empty stomach. Did I mention sexy? Plenty of that and it’s hot!”
-- Mark Abramson, author of the Beach Reading series
“With any of Rob’s popular books you know you are going to get something good, something interesting, and this Southern Fried tale is no exception.”
-- Wayne Mansfield, Author of The Stroke of Midnight
January 31, 2012
I liked Rob Rosen's Divas Las Vegas, and was happy to come across Southern Fried. Somehow, this book grinding in humor and it worked. I found myself to be chuckling at the funny lines and imagination. Although it was kinda offbeat to find so many cute guys being gay in one area (which reminded me of James Lear's work - where every guy is gay), I did appreciate that although the main character, Trip, was cheeky, he was faithful to his newly found boyfriend, Zeb. Another unlikely scene to happen in real life was that everyone not-evil in the book ended up being close to one another, but again, I did like the way Rosen brought the characters together...
I have to admit that the part Trip and Zeb spying on Jake taking a shower was a great erotic scene, that somehow other M/M writers failed to produce..
I have to admit that the part Trip and Zeb spying on Jake taking a shower was a great erotic scene, that somehow other M/M writers failed to produce..
June 30, 2012
This book was full of great humor, some tender moments and is a coming home story that was touching. Ofcourse there was some sex, but I don't feel it was overdone. It is very rare you will find a great book that doesn't have some sex in it, I have read books with TONS more sex in it than this book. This book may not be for everyone, but then again, isn't that why there are soooooooo many different books out there for us to read. Being from the south myself, it was a very real depiction of some of the people I know, and know of. I liked this book and would love to check in with the characters again sometime if they are talking to the author.
February 18, 2015
I tried reading mysteries, and the idea of them kind of appeals to me, but I really just get bored. I thought if you threw in a gay protagonist I would be more into it, and with that formula I started reading Rob Rosen's "Southern Fried" No dice. I couldn't wait to finish this book, and I was so bored it took me a week. I thought the characters were unrealistic, and the sex scenes were hollow and gratuitous. Just not my kind of book.
December 5, 2011
4.5 stars
September 22, 2011
Loved trip and zeb and it's a great book with good southern humor lots of fun characters loved I laughed and cried it just rocked
October 18, 2011
despite multiple editing errors, the book is well written, author has a good voice, humorous narrative. characters weren't exactly deep or complex, but it's a fun read.
October 8, 2012
2.5 stars
May 21, 2012
I'm never disappointed with anything written by Rob.
It's funny, with some mystery and angst, this one is a gem.
It's funny, with some mystery and angst, this one is a gem.
November 14, 2013
Light weight at the best silly piece of writing that onviously was only published to target the gay audience
Want to Read
February 23, 2024I'm sad. See Heather C.'s review. The author sounds like a dick and there are some issues with the sex scenes. I really wanted to read it, too.
September 23, 2011
3.5 superficial but a lot of fun
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews