⌚⌚ Time for a coffee and a quick read? ⌚⌚
Need something quick to read? Below are a couple of short stories, that can be read in under 30 minutes or so. And they cost less than your cup of coffee! I hope you enjoy!
My rating: 4.5 of 5 stars
The Blurb…
Cornish fudge maker Seb Wright is anticipating and dreading the upcoming tourist season with equal measure. The cash injection is more than welcome, the long hours in the sticky, vanilla scented kitchen less so.
A few days into the first tentative sparks of summer a shadowy Good Samaritan catches his eye. Vagrant Dex is a new face in town…a beautiful, sullen enigma, and yet with each busy day that passes, Seb finds himself becoming more and more attracted to the mysterious, young man.
A young man who seems destined to become the heartbeat of a summer he’ll never forget.
So what did I think?
Short but oh, so sweet! This is a beautifully written story.
It is a gentle story that provides a glimpse into the life of Seb, who owns a fudge shop and Dex, a young man who enters his life for a short time.
The author does a wonderful job of describing the setting for the story. It is beautifully descriptive and makes it so easy to imagine the small town of Padstow in Cornwall. There is a real sense of the place and people. Likewise with Seb – although a short story, there is a real feel for the type of man Seb is and of the life he leads.
Seb is intrigued by the quiet and vulnerable Dex and over many weeks they develop a unique friendship. We don’t learn a lot about Dex and even at the end of the story he is still a mystery. “Dex was like a short summer rain: heady, unexpected and all too rare.”
There is no happy ending in the traditional sense, more a reinforcement that some people can enter your life for a short period and touch deeply. “….and as the fast-breaking dawn light crept into the sky, he felt blessed, like he’d been touched by an angel.”
I also adored the cover of this book. It is gorgeous! The author is obviously very talented as she is credited with being the cover artist too!
I will definitely be checking out more work by this author and would love to see a full length novel. Perhaps Seb could get his HEA?
4.5 stars
For more information on Leigh Garrett and her books visit her website.
Perfect Drug by Victoria Zagar
My rating: 2 of 5 stars
The Blurb…
In this short story, David and Sam are scientists working together on a cure for cancer while struggling to keep their personal lives and relationships intact. When they make a massive breakthrough, they find there are forces at work who don’t want the research to proceed. Facing a choice between his life’s work and the man who has stood at his side, what will David choose to protect?
So what did I think?
This was a freebie so really can’t complain too much! This was one of those stories that had so much potential but didn’t quite follow through.
The story revolves around a scientific research team who are working on a cure for cancer. Leading the team is David and his assistant is Sam. Sam is secretly in love with David. David has a girlfriend who he eventually breaks up with but has no idea that Sam is interested in him. There is some scientific espionage which adds the drama element.
There is a lot packed into a short story but somehow things lost their way as the story came to it’s conclusion. For example, one of the researchers is suddenly revealed to be undercover cop but with no real shock to the revelation and it doesn’t seem very believable. David’s reasons for being with his girlfriend are all over the place. And when David and Sam get together it just happens quickly with no real discussion, just a sudden dropping of pants – one minute talking, the next minute sex!
Maybe this story would have been better as a full length novel, with proper time devoted to the complexities of the story. But I liked it enough to want to check out some other stories by this author.
For more information about Victoria Zagar and her books visit her website.
Buy these books from Amazon (check out my Short Story category).
photo credit: javaturtle via photopin cc