The Grump From Pahrump

by Chance Christopher, Bella Liddell

Pahrump, Nevada -- Population 44,700

The home of Ted Binion's buried treasure, The World Famous Chicken Ranch brothel, and all the illegal fireworks you can handle. You may think it's a podunk Western backwater... and you may be right, but that's not the point.

Arlo is just a pretty, carefree Libra from Portland, trying to live his best life. Why does the Pahrump Justice Court have to be so unnecessarily harsh? All he did was plow down one stupid ice cream stand with his car after having a few beers while visiting his Nonny. Now he’s stuck in this piece-of-crap cow town where everyone knows your business, his best friends are octogenarians, and the biggest thing going on is the DMV burning down. It’s going to be a really long year on probation. And as for his Nonny’s cranky neighbor, Bryan? He may have an odd, not-wholly-unappealing rugged handsomeness to him, but he is not passing the vibe check.

Bryan likes to mind his business, and he likes people who give him the same respect. Left to his own devices, he’d keep to himself. Just his little community, the auto garage that is his life’s work, and his pup, Mojo—he’s a man of simple needs. That’s why it is so freakin’ infuriating having Genny’s grandson, Ari, living next door and screwing up everything. Nobody should be entitled to so much babying and special treatment. Especially not a spoiled brat from the big city who thinks he’s better than everyone and doesn’t even eat meat. Just seeing him puts Bryan in a bad mood.

…so why can’t he stop looking?
THE GRUMP FROM PAHRUMP is an enemies-to-lovers romantic comedy with big “will they/won’t they” chemistry and tons of small-town heart. It features a big ensemble of characters you’ll swear must exist in real life… or do they?

Genres: Queer, M M Romance

317 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 25, 2024

Reviews

[Saskia Veldhuis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Definitely one of the strangest books I've read in quite some time, but it worked. The inhabitants of this small town were just as weird as its name, but made a pretty close and supportive group nevertheless. Underneath it all was a rather touching enemies to lovers, with Bryan being surprisingly sweet and incredibly supportive. Ari stayed true to his personality throughout.

[Lucid Quill · Rating 4 out of 5]

I saw this book pop up from a local to me author and had to take time to read it! First of all, if you haven't heard of Pahrump- yes it's a real place. Secondly, it's a worse place than depicted in this story. Seriously, I hate it here. SO, it was great to see such a cute story about the place. Both Bryan and Ari are very strong personalities and they stayed true to form to the end. It was a fun read and I'll totally be checking out more from this author!

[... · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was well written and full of fun, quirky characters... it just really wasn't for me, and that is absolutely a me thing, not the fault of the story. I've never really enjoyed enemies-to-lovers and should know better than to pick it up from the new-to-me author-duo, since the enemies-to-lovers stories I do end up enjoying tend to be primarily because of how much I love the author's style. In this case, I do love grumpy-sunshine and the premise sounded super cute, so I thought I'd give it a try, but it delivered none of the romance vibes that I read for, I REALLY didn't care for the level of snark and animosity between Ari and Bryan, and the little drops of casual slut- and fat-shaming we're jarring and off-putting. I can absolutely see why others might really enjoy this book, the style just isn't for me despite the fact that it's a genuinely entertaining story. So... lesson learned. 🤷‍♀️ Just not an author for me.

[Saskia Veldhuis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread as audiobook. Really good narration, I like the narrator's different accent for Bryan.
Story - 4 stars. Definitely one of the strangest books I've read in quite some time, but it worked. The inhabitants of this small town were just as weird as its name, they made a pretty close and supportive group nevertheless. Underneath it all was a rather touching enemies to lovers, with Bryan being surprisingly sweet and incredibly supportive. Ari stayed true to his personality throughout.