When Love Gets Hairy


Hello, everyone. I’m Jacob Z. Flores, and I’m so glad to be back here at fellow author Michael Rupured’s blog. Since this is my second time here, I guess I didn’t make too much of a nuisance of myself during my last stop back in November. Yay!

So why am I back? Well, Michael has graciously offered to be the second stop on my blog tour promoting my latest release, When Love Gets Hairy, which is the third book of my Provincetown Series. The Provincetown books don’t have to be read in order (in case you were wondering). The main characters in one book become the supporting characters in other books, so you can read them in any order you want. Pretty neat, right?

As for my blog post today, I thought I’d tackle a fun and interesting subject that most gay men, and those who love us, are familiar with. It’s called Grindr.

For those of you not in the know, Grindr is a gay dating hookup app that many homosexual men have installed on their phones. It’s like Facebook but without all the status updates and annoying pictures of cats.

While Grindr may not offer a bevy of cute animal pics, it more than makes up for the lack of kitty with the abundance of dogs and buns on non-stop parade.

You see most men post nude to semi-nude pictures of themselves (or what they claim they look like) in an effort to snag a trick, and a trick can be had anywhere.

Stuck in an airport and need a quickie? Log onto Grindr and you’ll find someone a few gates away needing to stow his baggage in your compartment. Trapped at the mall with your BFF, who is searching for the perfect pair of jeans, open up the app and you’ll find someone shopping at the Gap, who’s willing to fill your—well, you get the idea.

Grindr has become so popular it has spawned a whole slew of similar apps—Scruff, Mister, and Jack’d to name a few. And why have these apps become so popular? Well, when has getting off ever been unpopular for men?

These apps are all about sex, and we all know how well sex sells. Hell, I write about gay romance, so I know a bit about sex and its selling qualities.

But what about love? While sex is most definitely fun, can apps like Grindr bring true love?

Many will say no. Grindr and its ilk are solely for guys who want to get off with as many guys as possible or for men who are married and on the down low. There is definitely truth to that statement. Many men use these apps for strictly just sex.

But I’m in the minority who believe apps like Grindr can ultimately lead to love. After all, we are in the most technologically advanced era society has ever known. Everything has gone digital, so why not love?

Amid the never-ending headless torsos that populate the main screen of these apps exist real people, who are looking for real connections. Perhaps they are like me and not good at the clubs. Far too shy to walk up to another man and ask to buy him a drink. But online, they are more confident and carefree. They are able to initiate a conversation without stuttering or stammering. They can be the poised, confident man they have always been but have never been able to outwardly express.

That’s why I have had the characters in my books use a Grindr-like app I call Cyber. Justin, Spencer, and Dutch from 3 used it; Matt from The Gifted One mentioned being previously addicted to it; and Gil and Tom from Chasing the Sun found each other through it. Even Nino Santos, the main character from my current release When Love Gets Hairy, logs onto Cyber trying to find his Mr. Right Now.

For these men, Cyber is a stepping-stone on the path toward true love. What starts as a search for sex leads to more than any of them bargained for. Isn’t that the way real life works?

Before I go, I want to thank everyone who stopped by today. It’s been fun.

For those interested, I have included a blurb and excerpt below. Additionally, as part of my blog tour I’m hosting a giveaway. 

The When Love Gets Hairy Giveaway Contest

All you have to do is leave a comment to this post, and your name is entered to win one of eight cool prizes, including books from my backlist to gift cards from Amazon to some of my author swag.

 


19 responses to “When Love Gets Hairy”

  1. Thanks for the education. I knew about grinder (autocorrect!) but not exactly what it was. I got the book yesterday but haven’t had time to read it.

  2. I’m with you Jacob, grindr and its clones are all ways to meet people, and unless you are very lucky Mr Right isn’t just going to materialise out of the ether. You have to be out and about looking at the frogs to find the prince.

  3. Thanks for the Grindr education, Jacob. I knew it’s use was for gay men to hook-up but not how it worked. Like you, I do believe it is possible to find love that way. It’s definitely not the best route if finding love is your primary focus. But, if you’re looking for a hook-up and are open to the idea that a casual hook-up could turn into something more, it might just work for you. After all, I know a few people who found love in what started out as a bar hook-up. Not the norm but it happens. Why wouldn’t the possibility also exist in the world of Grindr?

    Great excerpt!

  4. Just finished the book and really liked it. To me it doesn’t really matter how you wind up meeting someone. Bars, work, apps, you’re still taking the same chance.

  5. I met my Mr. Right before the explosion of social media (yes, I am dating myself), but can see how it could help people meet others the might otherwise never meet – for whatever reasons. Thanks for the blog and contest!

  6. Love can be found everywhere – so why not?

    Btw – though the cover is great, I’m a bit disappointed as that doesn’t seem to depict the ‘bear’ 🙁

    • I think the cover is great too, Ninna. While the cover art might not be the perfect beary guys, it captured a moment in the book perfectly. It was too good to pass up! I’ll talk about that in a later post. 😀

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