Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Eric is back home for his tenth high school class reunion. He is now a successful, elegantly handsome New York lawyer, and is not above getting back a little at his former classmates who teased him so unmercifully in high school. In particular, he’s anxious to see Ben, his old enemy, the only boy he ever truly loved, despite his cruel jibes. When he meets Ben again, he’s shocked to find out that Ben is desperate to see him again too, and wants only to apologize and try to make it up to him. First, though, Eric wants a little payback. Before he forgives and forgets, Ben has some explaining to do—in bed.

 

Book Review

High School reunions hold a certain fascination for a lot of people, and the reasons are as varied as there are personalities, situations, and memories to deal with. In this story, all Erik wants is revenge on the guy who broke his heart in high school – more than once. The build-up is well done, a couple of flashbacks show us why Erik is so focused on paying Ben back, his emotions are clear and deep, and the outcome was not quite what I expected.

 

Erik is now a successful lawyer in New York City, but the insecurities and ridicule he had to deal with in his small-town high school still haunt him. And he knows exactly whom to blame. Amazingly, he has held on to his hatred for ten years, and his still-strong urge to get revenge is more than clear. As soon as he runs into Ben in the restroom, the sparks of his anger fly, and even though they sort of talk, that underlying fury never goes away.

 

Ben is truly sorry and apologizes for what he did, but the way in which he accepts his "punishment" made me cringe. The way Erik doles it out actually made me really angry. Ben says he still loves Erik, and if that is true, he is in for a ton of trouble and heartache. Nobody should have to accept to be treated with such disdain. On the other hand, he may like what Erik does to him – the story is too short for me to be able to figure this out with any certainty.

 

Although revenge is what Eric gets, the ending left me wondering if he didn’t miss a real opportunity here. He never loses his anger, and the forgiveness I had hoped for doesn’t happen. Maybe it is too early, after all, he's been hating Ben for ten years. But still. The romantic in me wanted a happier outlook for the two of them, even if that had made the story predictable. So, if you like stories about revenge that have a lot of anger and even leave you with a level of uncertainty as to what really happened, if guys coming back ten years later to see what "the one whom they used to hate" is up to, and if you're not looking for a romance and a traditional happy ending, then you will probably like this book.

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by Secret Cravings Publishing for the purpose of a review.

 

Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Short Story, 9763 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	31-August-2012
Price
Buy Link