Review: "If you've read too many light and fluffy books lately, One Real Thing is just the cure you need."
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 11 30, 2011
In college, Nick Addison took it upon himself to take care of his friend, Hollister Welles.  He lost track of the man for a while after college, but occasional updates from another friend let Nick know that Holly is once more neck-deep in his old wild ways.  Married to a woman who can't stand Holly, Nick tries to stay out of Holly's life.  When Holly's life implodes--in full view of the tabloids--Nick can't take it anymore.  He has to come to the rescue.  He brings Holly back to New York to try to help him get back on his feet.Helping Holly may be what Nick wants to do, but Holly wants none of it.  He's held himself apart from life, and especially Nick, for so long that he's not sure he can come back again.  Then Nick's life falls apart, just as Holly's beginning to get his together.  Can Holly help Nick back from his own rock bottom, and help Nick face the truth about their relationship?If you're in the mood for an emotional angst-fest (and I mean that in the nicest way), then One Real Thing is the book for you.  Nick is a good man and friend, but he is also rigid, secretive, and very much in denial.  He would do just about anything to help Holly, except be completely honest with everyone--including himself.  I liked Nick, despite his insistence on having his own way and his attempts to keep secrets from his wife.  Holly is the opposite of Nick in almost every way.  He's volatile, wildly moody, and expressive.  Holly has been trying to outrun his past and family history for a long time, mostly by destroying himself.  The scenes of him falling deeper and deeper into a hell of his own making are difficult to read.Although I wanted to slap some sense into Holly at first, I found myself liking him and sympathizing with him more and more as the story progressed.  He grows and changes a lot, in realistic fits and starts rather than all at once.  The relationship between Nick and Holly during this segment is both caring and confrontational, an interesting mix.  Nick, on the other hand, seems to have himself together at first.  Events conspire to change that, of course, and Nick's calm life is shattered.  There's a bit of a role-reversal storyline, which I liked a lot.  It showed how much Holly had grown, and how much Nick needed to learn about himself.Secondary characters are well-drawn, with the exception of Nick's wife, Caroline.  I found her a bit two-dimensional.  She served her purpose, but I would have preferred her to be a more nuanced character.  Even so, that's a minor complaint in an otherwise thoroughly enjoyable tale of redemption and self-discovery.  If you've read too many light and fluffy books lately, One Real Thing is just the cure you need.CassieFor Joyfully Reviewed