Review: Beautiful story, characters, and writing
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 6, 2013
This is a beautiful book--richly told, filled with details that bring the dusty Texas scenery alive, and populated by very multi-dimensional characters that seem so real, they could be sitting on your porch right now, quietly drinking a beer and loving so fiercely, you can feel it through the pages.I loved Lorenzo Maryboy's first person POV--it was simple and straightforward, but still very evocative, whether he was describing his early morning runs though the small town of Marathon, or the irresistible charms of Jesse, the artist he ends up helping at a bar fight, or when he's delving in deep into his comics and how he wants to create them. Lorenzo, Jesse, Jesse's Grandfather (also named Jesse, so his nickname is The Original)--I loved reading about them, and Black did such a great job of creating these characters who felt so realized.As someone who loves comic art, I especially loved the details about Lorenzo's drawings and the history behind The Original's own comic. It was little details like that, or about Lorenzo's USMC background, or Jesse's painting that added that extra layer of realism, so it was easy to slip into their cozy corner of Texas and follow along as they fell in love.My only down points was that there were a few times the dialogue felt too lyrical, even for artistic Hurricane Jesse, who could get lost when he was in his zone with painting. At those times, I felt the book, more than if this was realistic dialogue between two people. That, and something happens during the last quarter that I thought might have been handed differently if it happened in real life.Besides that though, I really dug it--the writing, the characters, the setting. I thought it was beautifully told, and I would recommend this to anyone who was looking for a good contemporary romance with very interesting, developed characters.