Day: August 25, 2021

4 out of 5 stars

E-book. 192 pages. Published August 11th 2010 by Dreamspinner Press 

Blurb:

Sebastian Craig and Isabella Bryne have been best friends for five years in the Neverland of academia, and that’s where they’re planning to stay. So when Bella’s brother, Asa, offers them a rent-free summer in his gorgeous home before they move to their next college and degree, they jump at the chance. It looks like a good deal at first… but there’s more to Asa than meets the eye, and Sebastian finds himself suddenly hip-deep in complicated, grown-up problems and the frightening, bemusing prospect of having a family that will miss him when he’s gone.

When the best summer of his life finally ends, Sebastian has to make a difficult decision between staying in perpetual childhood forever, and facing adulthood—with all of its joys and fears. It seems that when Sebastian and Bella came up with a master plan for the future, they didn’t count on Sebastian being bewitched by Bella’s brother. 

Likes:

• Sebastian and Asa’s first meeting.
• Sebastian and Bella’s friendship.
• Jordan was a cute kid.
• The entire Bryne family.
• Almost no homophobia.
• In many ways, this was a story about growing up.
• Cute and fluffy.
• The tougher subjects that were touched on were treated well.
• Bella and Asa’s relationship got better.

Dislikes:

• Not much tension.
• Not much of a hook.
• Asa was too perfect.
• The original cover.
• Deidre.
• Jordan should have been in therapy.
• Everyone was attractive.

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I think of Amy Lane as a solid writer, and this book is another example of that. The characters were fun and engaging, even the side characters. The story was lighthearted even though it touched on some tougher subjects. Overall, it was fun and fluffy and low angst. And almost no homophobia at all.

I loved how Sebastian and Asa initially met. It was both funny and a way for me to finally get invested in the story. There wasn’t a strong hook for me, since the book is basically about Sebastian and Bella’s summer, and at the start they’re moving into Asa’s huge house.

Sebastian was a fun character, and the story is told completely from his point of view. He’s a smart guy, likeable and charming. He got along well with Asa’s son Jordan, who was a cute kid. In fact, Sebastian adores the entire Bryne family, and they love him back. It’s part of why he was so hesitant to start something with Asa. If things went south, Sebastian worried about losing his place in the family.

Asa was a perfect man. Handsome, hardworking, a loving father, a caring brother. The fact that Asa was bi but had practically no experience with men was one of the few downsides Sebastian could find. And even then, it wasn’t much of a problem. There’s not a ton of smut in the book, but Asa didn’t have any internalized homophobia and was ready to go all in with a relationship. It was Sebastian who had the misgivings.

I loved the way that Sebastian finally got over all his issues and decided to get serious about Asa. It sure took him long enough, but it was worth the wait. In many ways, Sebastian had a lot of growing up to do. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that he needed to stop being afraid of what becoming an adult would mean.

Sebastian and Bella’s friendship was amazing. They were very different but fit together perfectly. Best of all, Bella got her own mini arc within the story, fixing her relationship with Asa and finally forgiving herself for a mistake she made as a teenager.

In fact, the entire Bryne family was great. Super accepting of Sebastian and Asa. I loved seeing that, but it compounded my feelings that everyone in the book was both super attractive and a perfect person. Seriously, very few people had any flaws, and certainly not the main characters. Even when we finally found out what Bella’s day was about, it wasn’t her fault. Just a mistake made by a teenager that she’d been beating herself up about for years.

I do think Jordan should have been in therapy. The poor kid went through a lot. His mom was easy to dislike, but her issues were handled with care and respect. In fact, all of the harder issues in the book were handled well, even though none were given much page space.

My biggest complaint, and the thing that kept me from reading this book for years, was the original cover. I’m so glad it’s been replaced. No offense to the original artist. I surely couldn’t have done better, but it just didn’t look good, and did a disservice to the story.