Review: Playing with Language and Voice
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 08 5, 2013
I won't be the first to rave about how I love Amy Lane (and her books too), but I really, really love when she comes out with a lighter story between all those angsty ones.  I'm trying to work my way back into reading all of those (<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/86133-johnnies">the Johnnies books</a> scare me), but I think that the fluffy and sweet ones will always be my favorites -- at the moment that crowning achievement goes to the <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/series/75736-knitting">Knitting series books</a>, which I <a href="http://coleriann.com/tag/knitting-series/">gleefully reviewed</a> last year.This novella is a bit along those lines.  While not really fluffy, they're definitely light and sweet compared to some of her other work.  Carson messed up.  He hasn't had sex in months and his boss' nephew Stassy has been giving him all kinds of come-ons at the restaurant.  So when Stassy follows Carson into a pantry closet in the kitchen and then promptly flees, a look of upset confusion on his face after a full body kiss from Carson, Carson feels like a douche.  Obviously the kid is gay, but it seems like he isn't quite sure about it.  And Carson thought he was finally going to get some action in his dry spell, even if the small and cute Stassy isn't quite his type.  He might have been able to put the whole incident out of his head if Stassy hadn't run away to Florida the next day.  It's been two weeks and the boss wants Carson to drive down to Florida and bring the kid back home.  He doesn't have much of a choice -- the boss is worried about Stassy -- but it isn't just that the boss of his restaurant is another kind of Boss in Chicago, but that of all things, Carson feels guilty that kid ran away right after he kissed him.  Doesn't seem like a coincidence.The biggest surprise of all awaits Carson when he reaches the small beach town in Florida where Stassy is holed up.  The Bates Parrot Motel turns out to be just like it sounds, which isn't much comfort.  The place is so run down it looks like it's growing it's own species of serial killer.  Parrots in crusty, dropping-lined cages squawk over his hearing of the undead looking lady at the reception desk.  Though his boss is paying for the room, not even the prospect of getting to Stassy quickly can quell his fear of staying in this place for the night.  A tour of the place shows everything from mold to insects to dried jizz, or whatever that mystery stain is.  The Motel 8 across the street looks much comfier.It isn't until the next morning that Carson prepares to visit Stassy and load him up to drive back home.  A breakfast at the diner across the road turns up a killer plate of fried heart attack and a heaping dose of too-cute waiter.  Flip-flops, cutoffs, and a charming smile continually come back to his table to chat him up.  An equal opportunity Carson wouldn't have a problem taking Dale the waiter back to his room for the afternoon, it's only the women he seems to want to settle down with, but the disarming smile and quick wit soon have Carson spilling way more info than he intended.  Before he realizes it, Carson has company on his trek across the road to the Bates Parrot Motel to find their runaway. Unfortunately, what they find in the room isn't Dimpled Blondie, but dead body covered in lye.It looks like some major trouble for Stassy.  Carson knows his task has changed -- now he has to take care of the kid too, and by extension the kid's new boyfriend -- and it looks like it won't be difficult to surpass the small town police in the intelligence and sleuthing departments.  Dale is along for the ride, wanting to help his friend (Stassy's new boyfriend) and using the time to get to know Carson better.  It doesn't take a whole lot of time to see how good they are together.  They're both men who have small town dreams and are more content to enjoy today than plan tomorrow's.Every now and then Amy Lane pulls a page out of Mary Calmes' book and really gives the language and rhythm of her book a makeover.  The beauty of this one is all in the words, thick in Carson's voice and then shared by Dale in their rapid-fire dialogue. That, and Carson's humor (though he often fails in comparison to Dale's), are what originally bring these two characters together. Yes, they're working together to solve a mystery, but it's largely on the back burner for most of the book.  The time they spend together is mostly them driving around, eating and talking and getting to know each other.  And I found their conversations completely charming.Speaking of the mystery, I thought that it wasn't really the focus of the book.  For the largest part of the book they aren't actively working on it.  Instead, it's used as a device to bring them together and keep them together while they find out enough about each other to want to stay together.  So, in some ways, the mystery failed for me.  Or, perhaps I shouldn't use the word fail, since that would imply that the mystery was the focus of the book.  Rather, I found the mystery a bit anticlimactic.  It was really funny, in it's own way ;) but it wasn't what held my attention about this book.Amy Lane fans will want to snatch this one up, of course, if they haven't already.  It's short and funny and charming, so you can't really go wrong.  Carson's voice might be somewhat difficult for some readers to get into, but that probably depends on how you usually feel about strong voices.  As for me, I love them.  And I continue to love Amy Lane :)