Happy Wednesday Scribblers. I hope you’re all having a great week. Today I want to share my thoughts on this short story I picked up by G.B. Lindsey (learn more here) The story is Out with the Old (find it here). Check out my review below:
I’m so happy I picked up a copy of ‘Out with the Old’ by G.B. Lindsey. I wasn’t sure what I was expecting with this holiday MM Christmas Romance, however, as I read the story, I began to understand (I think) what the author was trying to do. This story is about miscommunication, youth, and pain, and how it affects us through our lives. In this case, we get to see the lives of three former friends who get back together for a Christmas wedding of their friend Amanda-Claire (or Mandy). The wedding is over the top and awkward, as most weddings are. We follow along with Trey as he goes through all the emotions and memories of the past and present and how his first kiss with Sandy affected him not only in his last year of highschool, but even now (10 years later).
Lindsey gave us all the background via flashbacks, but only through Trey’s eyes, which I enjoyed because when you only see one side of a memory you are bound to miss things, and that is exactly what happened here. Reading this short story might not be easy for some people, as Trey has a long-held grudge, rightly or wrongly the grudge is part of who he is and makes him the man he is currently. For me, I found his grudge and pain interesting, and I enjoyed seeing the story play out through his eyes (even though I’ll admit I found Trey a bit frustrating and annoying at times).
I think what helps this story is it’s length, if this was a typical novel length story (around 300 pages) I would have had a hard time with the book, but as the novel is, I felt it was perfect.
The characters are interesting and engaging, and most importantly, they felt honest to me, another big plus in my book. I also really liked that Lindsey didn’t go full bore with sex in this story, there was no need for it. You got the romance elements without them jumping in bed (or a bathroom, or closet) to have sex.
There are a lot of great elements to this story and it’s worth an absolute read, but I will offer this warning to you, if you want a short story about two hot guys hooking up at a holiday wedding this isn’t the story for you. If you want to read a well-crafted tale about youth, life and love (and how it can affect us for both good and bad) then give this read a go. I would love to see a follow up story with these same characters, perhaps from Sandy’s point of view, maybe that will happen, maybe not, but I would read it.
Well there you go. I hope you’ll pick up a copy of Out with the Old (click here) by G.B. Lindsey (check them out here). Until next time have a great week.
