Review: Beautifully written - poignant, sensual, and unforgettable.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 7, 2011
As an author, CANDY G is exactly the kind of story you can only dream of writing. And as a reader, it's not one you ever expect to see coming.It's that good. That compelling.Oh, you can plan for the story. You can anticipate the plot. But what no one will anticipate is the power of the words. And saying C. Zampa's CANDY G is powerful is an understatement.The story centers around Candelario Gonzalez, an attorney who made a name for himself first by defending a notorious drug lord, then by walking away from him. CANDY G is wealthy and an imposing presence on the local streets; the mere sight of him sends gang members scattering. In one scene, residents scurry into their dilapidated homes to cower with the rats when the sleek bulletproof Mercedes glides down the trash-infested streets. It's a telling example of how Candy finds himself a victim of his own reputation, his isolation a melting pot circumstance of those who fear him and others who want him for what he is, not who.The he meets Carlos Alvarez.Candy and Carlos have spent months admiring one another from afar, and the passion ignited when these two men finally join proximities is tangible. Zampa manages to pour such vivid heartfelt emotion into every exchange that you feel your own heart beating in cadence with Candy's. You find yourself looking into the eyes of the man whose essence has captured a piece of Candy's soul, pulling the whole time for this to be something real, for these two to finally have happiness. But alas, it's not always that easy, is it?Candy has a past, and Carlos has a secret. And the fallout? You'll never see it coming.CANDY G is a story marked with gripping emotion - the love sensual and strong, the intimacy so intense you almost feel at times like you should back out of the room to give these two some privacy. But do that and you'll regret it, because the sex is not only beautifully written - marked with a great deal of feeling and less focus on that other f-word - but smoking hot.Zampa's writing style is unforgettable, the words filled with a poignancy readers seldom find - particularly in stories of an erotic nature. To read CANDY G is to be emotionally invested, and by the time the painful truth comes out there's a deep ache with it. The impact of this story - inescapable, extraordinary - is one you'll want to carry with you, the last line lingering long after the page is closed.I was first in line to buy this one, and I'll be there for the next. C. Zampa's ability to coax meaning and beauty from the same mere words the rest of us use is incomparable.Not surprisingly, so is CANDY G.