Never Too Late

by Caraway Carter, Ofelia Gränd, Hans M. Hirschi

Never Too Late is a collection of nine stories featuring characters over the age of fifty – stories of travel, finding your purpose, of friendships past and present, and of love. Never Too Late brings you to a world where gender sees no borders, where the only way you’re identified is by the goodness of your heart.


Trapped by Ofelia Gränd
Ashes and Alms by A.M. Leibowitz
The Palette – A Lifetime by Caraway Carter
Clara by Hans M Hirschi
To Be Sure by Debbie McGowan
Nectar by Laura Susan Johnson
Moving by J P Walker
Cue The Music by Alexis Woods
Ocean of Tears by Phetra H. Novak

Genres: LGBT, Anthologies, Romance

500 pages, Kindle Edition

First published December 7, 2017

About the author

**Get Carried Away - Updates on recent releases.**

Caraway Carter has worn numerous hats. He’s been a furniture salesman, a dresser, a costumer, an actor/waiter, a rabble rouser, a poet and most recently a writer. He loves words and stringing them together, he loves sex and sexy men, and he writes relationship fiction that reminds you—it’s never too late for love. And he has lived his tagline. He married his husband on Halloween, at the age of forty-nine, and they are the loving parents of an adorable cat named Molly.

Reviews

[Wendy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I haven't read tons of anthologies, but this one is at the top of my list of favorites. As a matter of fact I will be purchasing the paperback copy as soon as I can. Many of the authors are new to me and I am delighted to have found them. This book and its nine stories are about family, love and the lives of LGBTQIA+ people over 50. I can't say that I've ever read a more touching and realistic tribute to a group of people. These people come from a different time and while they may understand and rejoice the rights and freedoms that are available today, sometimes they have difficulty applying it to their own lives. In many of these stories, I found a little piece of myself and a greater understanding of life in general. I will be writing a small thought on each of the stories and endeavor to do them justice.

As a whole, I think this is a brilliant anthology. Some of the stories are sweet, some bittersweet and they cover a big part of the LGBTQIA+ spectrum. We aren't just getting nine stories from a (admittedly diverse) group of people in an age group that is often overlooked, we are getting it from them as they live all over the world. That gives us another unique perspective on them and how they live out these stories. These are all relatively short stories and my reviews on them will be as well so that I don't spoil anything for you readers. That said, there are over 130,000 words in this book and nine stories, so get yourself a quiet weekend, a glass of the beverage of your choice and a box of tissue and happy reading.

One final thought before I tell you a bit about each story from my eyes... Each of these authors are incredible in their craft. They bring their stories to life and I feel incredibly lucky and grateful to have the opportunity to review them. I was a happy blubbering mess after reading these stories and wouldn't trade it for anything.

Trapped by Ofelia Grand

This was the first story in the book. It's a beautiful story of love as it triumphs over the ravages of time and disease. My heart went out to the MC's. Sometimes in very different ways. I cried throughout the story because it's one of those 'If you don't shed a tear, you're not human' kinds of stories.

Ashes and Alms by A.M. Leibowitz

I could relate to a lot in this story. It deals with teens during a time when they are trying to fit in while learning about themselves and how sometimes telling a lie can have long lasting effects and that there is always more than one side to every story. This one is very well written and has religious overtones.

The Palette by Caraway Carter

A story of a lifetime of loving and the lengths that people will go to in order to be safe and appear conforming. This one also deals with the effects of lies by omission. I loved how the author told the story through his characters paintings and the sense of true love that jumped right off the pages.

Clara by Hans M Hirschi

Clara is a senior citizen who is happy enough and accepting of all the things that make up Clara. Clara, is not about labels. This is Clara's story and that of her childhood friend. It is about love and friendship and how those two things endure for eternity. It's about reconnecting with your past and the difficulties growing up in a time when being trans or queer weren't accepted. This author writes strong characters that are true to themselves and realistic. I was deeply touched by this beautifully written story.



To Be Sure by Debbie McGowan

This story deals with characters that are from Ireland, deeply religious and trying to blend their love for each other with their Catholic beliefs. It has a great cast of secondary characters that are family and friends and spans some 50 years of togetherness and all they have to do to find and keep that togetherness. I enjoyed watching the characters deal with the challenges all of that implies.

Nectar by Laura Susan Johnson

Oh man! This one comes with trigger warnings and I don't think I've ever read a story that broke my heart so much and then put it back together again with the characters strength and determination. So much love and loss in this one and at times it was hard for me to read. It is a VERY realistic depiction of one girls life and her family. It's about lost love and what a family endures during the Armenian genocide of the early 1900's as well as WW1. The hardships they endured in war and peace and what it did to mold them into the people they survived to be. A brilliantly written story that will stay with you for a long time.

Moving by J P Walker

I got lost in this story of a past love and a present love. What happens when the past love dies and the MC is sucked into the memories to the point of letting it take over the present? It is a tough road to try and reconcile a past that didn't end well and the knowledge that even if you were never going to... you now can never clear the air. Sometimes past memories are clouded by what we want to remember and this story is about a woman as she tries to process her feelings for her lost love before she loses the love she has now.

Cue The Music by Alexis Woods

I love a story that connects feelings to music and this one did that perfectly. I could feel the hurt feelings and the need for apologies and forgiveness. There were a lot of feels in this short story and I thoroughly enjoyed every bit of it. I can't say much more without giving the story away and I don't want to take away from your pleasure by doing that. Just read it. It has its serious moments and reminded me that relationships are hard work, but is delivered in a sweet, sexy way.

Ocean Of Tears by Phetra H. Novak

The anthology ends with a sweet angsty May/December romance. I love a story about a broken MC and this one didn't disappoint. A man who doesn't think that he has what it takes anymore in life or love, that is until a force of nature who is less than half his age shows up. Like I mentioned, there's angst, but it's not overdone and it was the perfect end to an amazing book.

[A.M. Leibowitz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This has to be one of my favorite anthologies. And I'm not just saying that because I have a story in it. I think mine is the least good of the batch.

This is the most diverse LGBTQ+ anthology I've ever read, both in terms of identity and content of stories. There are people of many genders and tales that extend beyond romance. There are romantic stories too, of course, but there's also family and friendship and the love that comes with long-term partnership.

Whether you're looking for an uplifting cross-generational romance, a sexy reconnection for an established couple, or the bittersweetness of living out the last days with your partner by your side, that's all in here. Some of the stories have historical elements, while others are set firmly in contemporary society.

Often when people hear "love story" and "lgbtq+" together, it's assumed it will be gay or lesbian romance. While one of the stories does have a more traditional romance arc, the rest don't. Even the few with erotic content are hardly cut from the usual cloth. Be prepared to stretch your thinking on what queer love means and how it's expressed over a lifetime.

For many of us who are older Gen Xers and beyond, we either had no examples of queer love after age 50 or we thought perhaps we might not make it that far. This is a treasure trove of many kinds of love, and there's something delightful for everyone.

[Debbie McGowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

(Editor's Review)

Note: I'm not reviewing my own story - this is a collection of nine stories by different authors. The stories are about friendship, family and love, featuring LGBTQIA characters aged 50+. Some veer towards traditional romance; some do not, and they reflect the diversity of the LGBT+ community.

STORIES:
Trapped by Ofelia Gränd
Before I became a teacher (which was before I became a publisher), I worked as a carer - for fifteen years - caring for older people. My first job (well, second - the first one I got sacked from after only a couple of weeks for being late because Queen over-ran on Live Aid) was probably the most challenging of all, because I worked with quite a few old guys like William - one of the three main characters in Trapped.

There was one chap in particular whose wife came to visit every day even though most days he didn't know who she was. Nor did he recognise his carers, but then he'd have these moments of clarity, within which he shared what his life had been like before his dementia. He changed my attitude forever, which was why I stayed in healthcare for such a long time. I loved it; it was hard but so worthwhile. Older people have so much to teach us.

But, alas, when you reach the top of the career ladder and you're still earning minimum wage...I could earn more teaching, and that's the only reason I changed career.

Anyway, that's not really a review of Ofelia Gränd's story, or it is in a round-about way. Trapped is one of those sad-happy/happy-sad stories - I can't quite figure out whether it's tragic or glorious, but in the end I let (completely within my control, honest) a happy tear or two escape for this beautiful, respectful depiction of a very different and incredibly real relationship between two (fairly grouchy) older men.

Ashes & Alms by A.M. Leibowitz
Well, I may as well continue with the 'been there, done that' theme. I used to be 'churchified', but for various reasons, I was pushed out of the church. A year or so ago, there was a reunion of sorts, which I didn't attend because...it's complicated. Short, simple version: many church people are judgemental hypocrites, and while I'm no saint, I don't need their judgy fingers wagging at me.

But then there are the friendships I lost, and I miss being a part of something. I miss going to church (except on damp, miserable Sunday mornings), but like Jo in Ashes & Alms, I'm torn between facing the friends that became adversaries and knowing I'm just fine - maybe better - leaving all of that far behind me.

There were a lot of parallels between my life and Jo's, and I sense other readers with very different life experiences will also find this - not just with Ashes & Alms, but with any of A.M. Leibowitz's stories. The characters are very real and face the same challenges - the little niggles and the epic traumas - we all face.

What I especially enjoyed were the tense moments later in the story, all the show and facade and the waiting. It could've gone either way, and I read tight-lipped with a tense, slightly hysterical giggle in the back of my throat. And...that's all I'm saying or I'll spoil the story.

The Palette by Caraway Carter
OK, I can't do the 'once upon a time, I was an artist' because I suck, epically, at painting, drawing, sketching, pottery...any and all of those things involving hand-to-eye creative coordination. I ain't got it.

I've realised now, having read quite a few of Caraway Carter's stories, that he writes in a kind of tableau form, so 'the palette' is the perfect medium for his storytelling. Each scene in the story is intense with deep, rich tones - a vivid retelling of a significant event that fades and blends before it gives way to the next.

James - the artist at the centre of this story - is honest and emotionally open (I imagine the wine played its part), emotionally indulgent at times (potentially also the wine, but he's an artist, so...goes with the territory, perhaps), and the author does well in keeping the balance between the retrospective inspiration for James's work and the present moment in the story. This all leads to a lovely conclusion that more than makes up for the tragedy James and Roy endured in the past.

Clara by Hans M Hirschi
The blurb is spot on - Clara is best be described as 'a Clara' - I have no idea which pronoun to use because Clara is truly non-binary in all respects. I've never found gender categories much use, so that's fine by me, although it's tough to break free of the he/she programming, even for an enby like me.

Hans Hirschi has written a story that is entertaining and touching, yes, but it's also an excellent education in what being genderqueer/non-binary is like for Clara and others. It's a story I'll be recommending to anyone who tells me they don't understand gender beyond male/female. Well, I'll be recommending it to everyone; it goes without saying.

What I also love is that this story - as with others in Never Too Late - illustrates beautifully the different kinds of 'happy ending' that happen later in life, when happiness and success are measured purely by their quality in the moments we're given.

To Be Sure by Debbie McGowan
I can't review this one, because it's mine. :) I had fun writing it, though.

Nectar by Laura Susan Johnson
There is so much I admire about Laura Susan Johnson's writing. She is what I think of as a 'real writer' who doesn't shy away from the hard stuff, and she really works at her craft. I know, from being her editor, that every word is carefully considered, every sentence worked and reworked until it is just right. I love her stories for that, even if at times they cut me to the core.

Nectar is a story of survival and resilience. The narrator - Nedgar - is so brave and strong. The depiction of what she endured and witnessed isn't graphic, but it's enough to understand the horrors of the Armenian genocide - something I knew nothing about prior to reading this story. Many of us won't, because history forgets, moves on, gets subsumed under further atrocities.

It makes this an important story - an opportunity to learn so that one day we can stop saying 'we must never let this happen again'. Nectar is also a beautifully written story - literary - and should be read for that reason too, with the forewarning that it deals with events some (most) readers will find difficult.

Moving by J P Walker
Poor Maggie. When faced with the news that someone who was important to us has passed away, particularly when our time with them didn't end well, it's easy to get caught up in reminiscing. For Maggie, it's the loss of her first love, which sparks memories of their incredibly passionate relationship.

I must admit I didn't really like Jane. She was a bit too bolshy for me, but I could see how Maggie fell for her, and how she falls for her again in her grief. First love is profound, perhaps because it happens for most of us when we're relatively young, and we only ever move away from it. It's still always there. To see Maggie trying to recapture the excitement and passion...it's devastating, because she's acting on her loss and in so doing risks losing more - losing everything.

The intimate scenes are perfect explorations of the two different relationships, and I can't really say more than that without giving it all away, but there's enough in here to steam up your varifocals. ;)

Cue The Music by Alexis Woods
I've got a real soft spot for series where the main characters from previous stories crop up in passing - I go completely Buddy from Elf - 'I know him!' This happens very naturally in the Southern Jersey Shores series (of which Cue the Music is #5), as if this is a gang of guys I see whenever I drink in a particular bar. It's very welcoming, comforting even.

I also have a soft spot for musicians. :) I love the way the music is woven into this story - I imagine we all have songs that are significant to our relationship, the meaning of which can change drastically when things go awry. Including YouTube links to the songs is an excellent touch, like scratch 'n' sniff except it's read 'n' listen - for that full immersion experience.

There are some intense moments in this story, mixed with some dry humour, and while it's a short story (the shortest in the series, I think), it feels complete - not quite a happy-ever-after, but hopefully on the way to one. Until I meet these guys again in #6 and beyond (...) I'm satisfied they'll do OK.

Ocean of Tears by Phetra H. Novak
It's not a spoiler if it's in the blurb, so I can say that I've never laughed so much reading a story about someone dealing with depression. Oh, I'm not heartless. In fact, I empathise with Karl a great deal. The music - his life blood - is silent, and he has an epic case of 'can't be arsed'. Which is, of course, Noa's cue to arrive on the scene.

In short, this is not some bleak tour of misery and dreary middle age. It's not about Karl reliving his youth through a relationship with a younger man. Karl knows who he is and accepts it, even if it takes him a while to work through what I know are real concerns for the older partners in relationships with a significant age difference.

Noa, with his relentless cheeriness, is exactly the person for Karl, I have no doubt, although he'd drive me nuts. And Karl's bandmates are awesome - their banter had me in stitches and also left me with a warm feeling of reassurance that if Karl has another bad do of it, he's got lots of great people around to support him.