Wheat Kings and Pretty Things, by G.S. Wiley
A World of Love Novel
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: August 9, 2017
Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
As soon as he graduated high school, Paul Thompson fled the tiny, heavily Ukrainian town of Liddon, Saskatchewan, for bigger and better things. Now in his late thirties, Paul owns a struggling art gallery in Toronto. His grandmother’s one-hundredth birthday is approaching, and Paul will return to place where he grew up for the first time since he left.
The town—and the province—don’t match Paul’s memories. Have they changed? Or has he? He reconnects with Dylan Shevchenko, an old friend who now teaches phys. ed. in Regina. When Paul learns his grandmother had an Aboriginal son he never knew about, he wonders what else he missed while he was away. Did he make the right choice all those years ago? He receives the rare opportunity to start over when he discovers a gallery for sale in Regina. He’s faced with a choice between his youthful dreams in the big city and making a life with Dylan in a place that somehow finally feels like home.
M/M Pairing
Gay Character
Bisexual Character
Contemporary
Small Town
Second Chance
Novella
Rating this book is extremely hard. While I must commend the fact that it was a well-rounded story for only being 45 pages, it left me a bit underwhelmed.
The story centers on Paul and Dylan who grew up in a very small town. Paul leaves after high school graduation to move to Toronto, with the hopes of making it as an artist. Twenty years later he returns to town to celebrate his grandmother’s 100th birthday and finds himself revisiting a– relationship is a strong word… with Dylan.
My reasons for being meh about this book is that it’s basically too short to really become invested in either Paul or Dylan’s lives. The progression between meeting randomly on the street when Paul returns home, to boyfriends and HEA, is too fast. I think overall it really came down to Paul wanting a reason to close up shop in Toronto, and Dylan being at the right place at the right time. We don’t see a lot of relationship development between the two for me to understand why their reconnection would have Paul upending his life to return to a place he couldn’t flee fast enough.
G.S. Wiley is a writer, reader, sometime painter, and semi-avid scrapbooker who lives in Canada.
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I received an advanced copy of this novel in exchange for a fair and honest review.
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