3 out of 5 stars
Ebook. 76 pages. Published March 4th 2017 by JMS Books LLC
Blurb:
Nathan Wong wants to marry his
boyfriend of more than seven years but has no idea how to propose. Neither of
them is particularly fond of huge gestures, so he decides to go the traditional
route.
Jason Yang has also been considering proposing to Nathan, and eventually he
manages to pull it off. It’s one of the more memorable events in their
relationship. The two then begin to plan the wedding with the help of their
mothers.
The only problem is neither man realizes the extent of planning for a wedding
and how stressful it can be. As the wedding date approaches, frustrations take
their toll and put a strain on their relationship. Will they ever get their
dream wedding and happy ever after?
Likes:
- Short.
- Hot sex scenes.
- Showed the difficulties of trying to create perfect moments.
- Good story idea.
- Racially diverse characters.
Dislikes:
- Sex without lube.
- Lack of dialogue tags and contractions.
- The men didn’t act or speak like they were in their thirties.
- All the characters were one dimensional.
- Wasn’t sure if the story was set in England or America.
- Some important events weren’t shown and other scenes didn’t affect the plot at all.
*I wrestled with what to give this novella, and decided on three stars with the caveat that I don’t recommend it.
I can tell that Mr. Graham has talent. The basic plot was interesting. The main characters want to make their proposals and wedding perfect events, only to face the reality of how stressful it can be. The blurb caught my attention and the story started off well.
However, by the end of the book I was skimming. I just didn’t care anymore. What I’d liked about the beginning of the book was the focus on the men’s relationship. By the end, the scenes played more like a list of steps that had to happen just to get to the happily ever after.
I think this book needs a good editor. It’s more than just the overuse of ellipsis and lack of contractions. There were scenes that added nothing to the story and some, like the couple fighting, that were only mentioned in passing, not shown. The focus of the story should have stayed on the romance, not the process of setting up the wedding.
Then there was the lack of dialogue tags. I lost the thread of the conversation a few times and had to flip back pages in order to find who was talking. Not to mention, without the dialogue tags, there was no action or description between the dialogue. Not only did that make things a little boring, it deprived the story of the opportunity to flesh out the characters. And they could use it.
All the characters were one dimensional and most were stereotypes. From the bro best friend to the wedding obsessed mothers. As for Nathan and Jason, neither talked or acted like they were in their thirties. Their last names and a few words in the story hint at their ethnicity, but it’s not a big part of the story which makes me wonder why it’s in there at all. As for what country they were living in, I assumed it was America. Then the word ‘knackered’ was used and I thought they were in England. But eloping to Vegas for the wedding was mentioned several times, so I have no idea.
The sex scenes were by far the best part. Which was good, because there were a lot. Five or six at least. However, the couple had penetrative sex without lube three times. That lost the story a quarter of a star automatically. Not to mention, each time they had dry sex, it was in their own living room. You’d think that sometime in the two years they’d owned the house they’d have thought to shove a travel sized bottle of lube between the couch cushions.
I read this book because I was curious about Casper Graham. This story was much better than the first one of his I tried to read (and couldn’t finish) and it’s clear that the talent is there. But it needs to be polished and refined. At the end of the day, the finished product leaves much to be desired.
Love is Love Reviews 