Oleander House by Ally Blue

Given my recent history with the genre, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't nervous, starting Ally Blue's Oleander House. It's nothing against Blue; I just don't know her work and lately I start every book with a sense of trepidation. And so, when a book is actually a good read, I find myself appreciating it more than ever before and with a great sense of relief.

(I had a similar experience regarding acting after watching three seasons of Dante's Cove, but I digress)

Oleander House is the first in Blue's Bay City Paranormal Investigations series. Newcomer Sam Raintree is starting his first job for the investigation group, a haunted house. His ability to put his best foot forward, however, is a bit derailed by his immediate attraction to his good-looking, married-with-kids boss, Bo.

What surprised me most about Oleander House (and pleasantly so) is how willing Blue was to put the simmering romance between Bo and Sam on the back burner, in favor of her plot. Though the romance is a strong thread throughout and feeds into the haunted house plot, the haunted house is definitely her A storyline and the romance more the subplot. More, the haunted house plot-line was (although telegraphed much earlier than it took the characters to figure it out) interesting, quick-paced, had internal logic and fed well into her romantic subplot. There was also a decent creep factor here. I love haunted house stories and there were subtle rumblings here that reminded me of Marble Hornets (not a book), or House of Leaves, or even The Haunting of Hill House. Though I think the 'resolution' of the haunted house plotline was a little weak at the end, it was still logical, dramatic and fit well with the story Blue had set up. The secondary characters were good and balanced, fleshed out and individual and the dialogue was excellent, natural and snappy as actual conversation.

On the other hand, I wasn't entirely sold on the romance angle. And this is why: (spoilers under the cut)

The thing is, I liked Sam. Though he did sometimes the kind of typical dumbass things you expect in a horror/paranormal story, they weren't out of character and they didn't strain the credulity of the story. They were the kind of dumbass things that people less paranoid than I would do in that kind of situation. At worst, Sam underestimated the danger he—and everyone else—were in, and that's…well, normal. And though Sam sometimes pushed his attraction to his married, supposedly straight boss in ways I thought were inappropriate and unwise, it was hard to hate, or even dislike him too much, for it, given the situation with the house and the way Bo would push back just as hard.

Which brings me to the other half of the equation: Bo. It's obvious from the text that we are supposed to feel for Bo. I mean, he's the other half of the romantic protagonists; the story doesn't really work as a romance if you don't like them as a couple. But, for me, Bo's behavior was pretty unlikeable.

I mean… I feel for anyone who is so terrified by their own sexuality that they force themself into a loveless and unfulfilling marriage in an attempt to make it go away (it never works, btw). That is indeed a kind of tragedy. On the other hand, Bo was the one who initiated the flirting, Bo was the one who made the first move by touching Sam in ways that you don't touch your employees (or even your close friends, unless you have benefits attached), and—and this is the most damning, imo—Bo is the one who continued to flirt and push, even after pushing Sam away and saying he wasn't interested, that he couldn't cheat on his wife, yadda yadda yadda…

And here I'd like to make a sidenote about a couple things that bother me a lot about modern romances and that come into play here:

1. The idea that we are helpless against attraction and, concurrently, if you have a deep attraction to someone, it is your right and duty to explore it, regardless of the consequences. Frankly, I just call bullshit on that entire idea. I feel like I could go into much greater detail about this and how much it makes me froth at the mouth, but my bottom line about it is "be a goddamn grown-up and keep it in your pants!" and I don't want to get too far off my topic.

2. The idea that, as long as no genital contact happens, it's not cheating. Now there's a certain amount of idle, meaningless flirting that I don't think is cheating. But flirting with intent, coy, covert touching, kissing, emotional infidelity…all that is definitely cheating in my mind. Fidelity is not just keeping that nickel between your knees; it's also giving away those things that should only belong to an SO, including intimacy and intimate trust.

In Oleander House, both Bo and Sam are, I think, guilty of the first and I do wish Sam had been more definitive in pushing Bo away, both in mind and deed. However, I did feel like Sam had a greater awareness than Bo that they were in commission of the second and I felt that Bo was certainly a lot more guilty of it and of being an asshole because of it.

Because here's my thing: it's one thing for Bo to be unfaithful to his wife. And bottom line, that's not okay. I don't care if the relationship is dead and vacant; you divorce or you stick with your vows. But putting that aside, I thought it was incredibly cruel and selfish for Bo to continue to tease and chase Sam, who he knew was attracted to him, after declaring that nothing could happen between them and using his marriage—and ostensible heterosexuality—as a shield to hide behind.

Attraction happens. It doesn't always happen to or with the right person, or the appropriate person or in ways we want it to. And I accept that. I think that's okay. It's what we do with that attraction that matters. And, knowing that someone is attracted to you…it's knowing where they're vulnerable. It's spotting their Achilles heel. And to use that knowledge, to manipulate the person and their attraction to you, to make yourself feel good, to give yourself the pleasure of their attraction, with no intention of following through on it…it's shitty, assholish behavior.

Bo runs hot and cold throughout the novel, pushing himself at Sam and then shoving Sam away. I know that it's a product of that same, tragic fear, but my response to that is, "Man-up, strap it on, and get a hold of yourself." It's a reason, but it's not an excuse for his behavior. It's even worse when Sam draws this behavior to Bo's attention (and speaking of, I'd like to give Blue a big round of applause there for not only acknowledging the problem, but having Sam bring it to Bo like a freaking ADULT), Bo acknowledges it…and then goes on to repeat the same behaviors. And, again, I get why Bo does it. I think it's entirely psychologically valid, especially for his character.

But it's still asshole behavior.

And, as a result, it's harder for me to be invested in a relationship between Bo and Sam, when I think Bo is kind of a jerk. What I said to the husband was this: "It succeeds as a story, but it failed as a romance."

That being said, I am willing to see where Bo and Sam go from here and to give Bo the chance to get his shit together and become a partner more 'worthy' of Sam (I feel like I want to write a whole 'nother essay about 'worthy' and 'deserving', when applied to interpersonal relationships, especially romantic ones, but that's a subject for another time). I've already bought the next three books of the series and I'm looking forward to Blue's evocative but no-nonsense prose, I'm looking forward to 'seeing' Sam (and the other characters) again and I'm looking forward to the next investigation. I think we all know I'll likely be reporting back.