Elisa - My reviews and Ramblings

The Finest Thing is a short novella released as part of a series on same-sex marriage, and as such is very much romantic and uber-positive. Another point that probably the author wanted to highlight is that, hetero marriages or same-sex marriages doesn’t matter, the marriage itself is a romantic moment that is like a concentrate of love.

And so, as often happens, Aidan is coming back home to participate to his best friends’ marriage in Connecticut, a same-sex marriage. Aidan has recently lost his long-time partner Kyle, and he is not yet totally over with his mourning; plus it’s not that he left Connecticut in a friendly way, his relatives more or less disowning him when he came out in college. So sincerely, aside for the friendship, he has not really any reason to join a festive event like a marriage; he is in no mood to be sociable and happy.

But of course a marriage is also the right occasion for the grooms to play matchmakers with their unattached guest, and to Aidan they “assign” Paul, a handsome doctor recently moved back in town. This is a typical expedient of a romance, the happy grooms trying to make all their friends happy as they are, and this happens as much in het than same-sex marriages.

There are two sides of Aidan: there is the “lover” Aidan, who is mourning a lost partner but who is also ready to give another chance to happiness with Paul; this Aidan is for sure a little sad, but more or less he has a positive attitude towards love and with little encouragement he is ready to try again. Then there is the “son” Aidan, who is embittered by the situation and that is not so ready to forgive his relatives; sometime I found this Aidan to be a little too harsh with his own mother, but I think it’s understandable if you consider that he didn’t receive any support when he needed it more, i.e. when he was facing the long illness of his partner and also during the aftermath to Keith’s death. In any case lover and son will match into one single person when the pink glasses perspective will align all sides.

On a side note, the novella is set in Mystic, Connecticut, a small town I had the pleasure to visit and coincidence is that, when I was there, they were celebrating a marriage, so indeed I have the proof that is really a very romantic situation.

http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=1378

Amazon Kindle: The Finest Thing
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press; first edition (June 10, 2009)

Reading List:



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At book 3 in the Boys of the Zodiac series, I can affirm this is quite a variegated series. The Wicked Things is more or less a fantasy/fairy tale story, and I have to admit that I liked most the first part, when Travis was describing his way of life in a small village in the English countryside. A market analyst who moved back home to take care of his aging mother, Travis is lucky enough he can work from home, and so is life is marked by precise appointments, breakfast, lunch and the afternoon tea; it could sound stupid, but the fact that indeed Travis and his mum have not dinner, but hot tea with something else at night, made me appreciate a lot this novel, it was a touch of pure English style that not always I find in a novel set in England.

Aside from this little detail, and the introduction that Travis does of the village, Nether Stowey, and its people, all the rest of the story is a fairy tale about damned souls, wicked witch and good fairies; practical Travis will fall in love for the ghost of John Walford, a man who was hanged for the murder of his wife and that, by the way, was in love with another woman. Even if John is a protector, I think his mutual love for Travis is a little biased, meaning that he has not exactly many chances, Travis will prove to be someone very important and powerful, and John can only return the love (or he will be lost forever…). In a way the form John takes when he is cursed, that of a big black dog, well match this attitude: the dog John loves Travis since he is the first kind soul trying to help him; it’s a love without condition, that doesn’t consider the gender; the man John can only continue to love Travis, without condition as well.

This is not a long novel, and I had the impression the author, like me, was more interested in the “ordinary” life of Travis other than in his otherworldly adventure; for this reason I think she conveniently skimmed most of it, and the second part of the story was a little less captivating than the first, or at least it was like that for me.

http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure/Zodiac_Gemini.html

Amazon: (Boys Of The Zodiac) Gemini: The Wicked Things
Amazon Kindle: (Boys Of The Zodiac) Gemini: The Wicked Things
Paperback: 130 pages
Publisher: Amber Quill Press, LLC (June 24, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1602727899
ISBN-13: 978-1602727892

Reading List:



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