Genre: Contemporary, Magical realism
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay
Reviewer: Scott
Get It On Amazon | Publisher
About The Book
Metal artist Martin Murphy knows dragons don’t talk, especially the dragon crafted of sequins on a former flame’s vest. So when the dragon seems to reach out and tells him to help its creator Ty, Marty refuses to believe the illusion. The sparks between him and Ty, on the other hand? They’re as real as it gets.
As he and Ty reconnect after so many years, Marty sees firsthand how the big man’s innate kindness and willingness to help others consume his time and energy. Maybe the dragon was right, and Ty needs saving.
While Marty is willing to try, what he really wants to do is pounce on the man and keep him all to himself while they walk down the path to HEA. Does that count as saving him?
The Review
I am thrilled to see Pat Henshaw tackling a new series of magical realism romance novellas featuring unlikely pairings. It’s set in the San Francisco Bay Area, in the art scene.
The first one, Fragile as Glass, was between Ashton and Hunter, a glass artist and a rockstar. That unlikely pairing worked out really well in the end. Hey, it is a romance! Ashton had a gift – when he touched pieces of crafted glass, he could see their future.
In Bright Shiny Love, it’s Tyson who has the gift – his ability to make his sequin art come to life.
Marty, whom his mother calls “delicate,” starts out recounting the time in high school when he was crushing on another boy. A really tall, robust boy, whose family had absolutely no use for art in their lives. Fast forward to the present day, when an older Marty finds out his old friend Ty is doing the costuming and art for a play that’s a retelling of Romeo and Juliet, only gay.
They get lunch together, but Marty’s rosy memories of the past are tempered when they smash into the reality of Ty’s current life, and how much his step-family relies on him, making everything into an emergency and demanding far too much of the gentle giant’s time, with very little thanks.
Marty has to learn to step out of his own shadow to help Ty out of his. I love the allusions to fantasy throughout the peace, and the troubles they have to get through together in order to find their happily ever after.
Bright Shiny Love follows the normal romance beats – meet, fall in love, break-up, make-up – but it’s a cute, quirky little tale of unexpected love between two people who are very different, and yet clearly meant for each other.
A great addition to Henshaw’s new series – a perfect short light read.
The Reviewer
Scott is the founder of Queer Sci Fi, and a fantasy and sci fi writer in his own right, with more than 30 published short stories, novellas and novels to his credit, including two trilogies.
