Review: Sarah's Best Yet
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 04 22, 2013
I readily admit I'm a big fan of Sarah Madison and have read almost all her works, but my first reaction up until the chapter marked 'Interlude' of "The Boys of Summer" was, 'wow'.I love these characters. I love David's insecurity and how he surprises himself by his ability to step up when most necessary, and then how he steps up again to finally get what he wants. I love Rick's quiet anguish and vulnerability, and how he hides it under practiced indifference. Most of all I love the adventure story and the injuries and the suspense, and David's pictures and Rick's painful stoicism, and the backdrop of WWII that underlies everything.The Interlude is a long dream sequence that shows painstaking research and beautiful writing. It's also a gorgeous and heart wrenching story all on its own, one I couldn't help wishing had actually been made into a separate novella. While David's dream does inform the rest of the novel (and subtly and cleverly so), the dream itself is nonetheless so very different to the overall plot and tone that it ended up feeling like Sarah had missed an opportunity for yet another excellent story.On the other hand *two* excellent stories in one novel doesn't seem like much to complain about, especially when the main plot arc had everything I could want in M/M H/C (Hurt/Comfort). If "The Boys of Summer" is indicative of where Sarah's talent is going, I'm looking forward to being a fan of hers for a very long time.