“Every day for the rest of my life, it’ll remind me there’s only one way forward. I’m done being angry. I’m done feeling regrets and living on the sidelines. From now on, if life is a question, then this is the answer.”
During a trip to Denver with his best friend, Mark, Ian Parker buys a bar of enchanted chocolate from a candy store and wakes up two decades younger. Feeling like he was gifted by the universe a second chance to correct past mistakes, he poses as his nephew Ryan who then tried to pursue Bartley James, a regular customer at his La Tazza Magica cafe. Things, though, didn’t go as planned as his Ryan persona’s expectations didn’t bode well with the reality of things. Only what exactly is real and what is not?
You are forty, you have your own business and are successful enough, but you are not happy – you are still searching for that one thing and still feel that past mistakes are holding you back in reaching that.
What if you’ve got a chance for a do-over? Ian was given that chance, and as per Brad Boney’s tradition – magical realism was heavily used here. Yes will introduce you to the characters from the author’s past efforts entitled The Nothingness of Ben and The Return (you can include The Eskimo Slugger even). I’m confident you’ll enjoy reading this more if you’ve read the first three books because familiar characters were heavily featured here. However, I don’t think it’ll be a significant problem if you want to read this one regardless of the authors’ other books. What I can tell you is that this is a brilliant book. The characters are decidedly relatable, and the story was easy.
The whole 17 Again vibe was glaring at me at the onset of the story, and the excessive information dump about porn stars was somewhat informative, and I do like that part for some reason. It was like the pop culture lessons back in The Return.
Although there is one part that irks me, which I thought was intentional – the car sex scene between Ryan and Matthew – I was like, cmon’ man, it’s a do-over, right? —ever heard of protection? That was a ploy to get a rise out of the readers. I know I took the bait.
I think avid fans of Boney (like me) will get a kick out of this in the scope of things. I know I enjoyed this immensely and thought the author’s writing style is one of a kind in this genre. He’s just always on point, and the voices of his characters (especially Ian) speak to you.
Can I also mention how happy I am to hear from Topher and the guys? Ugh. So. Very. Special. And the preamble on Sam and Jeremy’s story. I couldn’t wait!
Yes may not be the strongest amongst Brad Boney’s novels, but it is a solid effort deserving of a five star-ratings like its first three predecessors.
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Published March 16th 2015 by Dreamspinner Press
About The Author
Brad Boney lives in Austin, Texas, the 7th gayest city in America. He grew up in the Midwest and went to school at NYU. He lived in Washington, DC and Houston before settling in Austin. He blames his background in the theater for his writing style, which he calls “dialogue and stage directions.” His first book was named a Lambda Literary Award finalist. He believes the greatest romantic comedy of all time is ’50 First Dates’. His favorite gay film of the last ten years is ‘Strapped’. And he has never met a boy band he didn’t like.
PADDYLAST INC. 
Pingback: ICYMI: New Release from Brad Boney – Brothers Across Time | PADDYLAST INC.