One and Done

ONE AND DONE

By Frederick Smith

During Pride Month, I had the honor of hosting a panel of Black LGBT authors on The Conversation With Al McFarlane, as they shared their stories and discussed the importance of Black LGBT love stories and romance. One of the authors, Frederick Smith, just released his latest novel, and it is my pleasure to present to you One and Done.

The story is set in San Francisco. Dr. Taylor James comes from a loving family of professionals in academia. He is devoted to serving his LGBT community and focused on achieving his own success in his professional career apart from his parents. Now in his 40s and a vice president at California University-Merced, his goal is to become one of the first Black, openly gay presidents of a university. With his university undergoing an accreditation process, his goal is riding on the success of that process, and a relationship isn’t part of the equation.

Dr. Dustin (D.J) McMillan, Jr. is a consultant for Kane-Carlos Collective, the company evaluating CU Merced for accreditation. Cocky, competent, and confident, Dustin goes after what he wants. However, in this world of academia, he is circumspect about his background–being raised by a struggling single mother in Oakland, knowing next to nothing about his father, and having a younger brother languishing in prison. Leaving the Bay Area to Chicago to escape his past, he finds himself back there for this five-week assignment.

Sparks fly when the brothas first meet during a drag brunch show at a club run by Taylor’s friend Markell, and not the good kind. When Dustin tries to front, puts down San Francisco, and calls out Taylor for being a “stingy tipper,” he scores no points with Taylor. Worse, he is called out by his cousin Manessa. Yes, Dustin isn’t an out-and-out liar, but neither has he been totally forthcoming with the truth about himself.

Guess what happens when the two meet again at the first accreditation meeting at the university a few days later?

As the process goes on, Taylor thaws out more when it comes to Dustin as they slowly attempt a balancing act between the professional and the personal. With so much riding on the line, will Taylor take a chance on real love to add to his professional dreams, or will he leave it at one night? Will Dustin open up to accepting his past, rid himself of the baggage he’s been carrying around, and own up to Taylor about his feelings?

Smith paints a fascinating tapestry of two 40-something brothas at different crossroads in their lives, in a city that has so few Black LGBT people in it as compared to the larger white LGBT community. Though their socioeconomic backgrounds are different, each discovers the gifts in each other that change their preconceptions. Taylor’s colleague Wes Jenkins and Dustin’s ex Silas are toxic people that create their share of problems for the couple as they navigate the relationship waters and their respective careers, but as with all romance novels, there is a happily-ever-after.

I appreciate Smith’s inclusion of families of origin and chosen/found families with elements of realism and welcoming sensibilities, the assorted facets of the Black LGBT community, and the responsibilities and challenges that come with the academic world and higher education as a person of color.

One and Done is available through Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Bold Strokes Books.

Thank you, Fred, for sharing another story that lets us know, at the end of the day, that love wins!