Divine River

by Marina Vivancos

Mike is just fine being the grumpy wood-worker in town. Sure, maybe he’s not the epitome of happiness, but he doesn’t need some lively city boy coming onto his turf and turning his world upside down.

Mike has learnt to conform to the small-town expectations placed on him. He keeps who he loves—who he is—to himself. Turns out, it’s a lot tougher to stay in the shadows when city-slicker Jason’s sunshine personality beams straight at him.

Jason makes Mike feel seen. Makes him feel like it might just be okay to be himself.

The questions remain—is Mike brave enough to show the rest of the world?

Is he brave enough to let go…and fall in love?

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Novella, Contemporary, Friends To Lovers, LGBT, Contemporary Romance

139 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 3, 2022

About the author

When Marina was a child she couldn’t sleep. Night after dissolving night she just couldn’t sleep. Nothing much worked – until she started making up stories in her head. Suddenly, the transition into unconsciousness was a smooth dive into calm waters.

Marina is currently in a period of sleepless upheaval, and she hopes writing down the stories in her head will cast the same spell it did years ago.

You can find her being malhumorada on Twitter.

Reviews

[len ❀[ia bc of school] · Rating 4 out of 5]

“And I feel so…trapped by that definition sometimes. Like someone is trying to fit me in a small space and it hurts to stay there for so long when I just want to be…me?”

Dear Marina Vivancos,

all I can say is thank you for your words.

I'm shocked at how much I enjoyed this, primarily because of how short it is, but I’ve come to see that’s expected from this author

In Divine River, we follow Mike, who is pretty introverted and keeps to himself in the small town he grew up in. While he isn’t entirely anti-social and opposed to meeting people, he usually keeps to himself or his small group of friends, so the unexpected friendship he comes to form with the new next-door neighbor catches him by surprise. Mike is happy to be known as the grump, but he isn’t letting the sunshine personality of his new and quite attractive neighbor, Jason, slide down easily. As the two begin spending more time together, Mike realizes he finds himself comfortable and happy around Jason, even admitting to himself that he’s finding him attractive. But Mike is worried about letting Jason know about his hidden identity and is scared of being rejected for who he is.

Mike had learnt a long time ago about fitting in, but his body didn’t give a shit about that. It wanted things without caring about the consequences, and Mike, the person, was in charge of denying it.

The message of Divine River is essentially about embracing who you are. The blurb does describe Mike as a grump, but in my opinion, he isn’t the expected kind of grump that traditionally hates everyone, never smiles or goes out, and grunts in responses. While I’m a fan of that, Mike is mostly just introverted and isolated, keeping to himself. But behind all that hard exterior lies a part of himself that he’s scared to show to the public world. Look, I admit, I’m a little bitch. I cry easily at books. I cry at smallest things, but usually they are because I can relate to or see myself in. In this case, Mike hiding and even shaming himself for who he was, was heartbreaking. It’s not only that he’s gay, but he’s also a fan of “femininity,” such as pretty clothes (think skirts, camisoles, stockings, tank tops, booty shorts, lace, and garter belts) and make-up. But it’s a part he keeps hidden, one he hasn’t shown to anyone. When no one is watching, he’ll wear a skirt outside and feel free at night. Knowing that Mike does this broke me. I wanted nothing but to hug this imaginary Mike and tell him that many of us love him the way he is. It isn’t internalized homophobia, but his shame came from the way he grew up. With a dad that never spoke fondly of gay people and how Mike grew up being told what a man is and what makes a man, he feels like he isn’t who he should be.

The book also shows a message about identity and even identity issues. It’s tricky, but it shows how gender, identity, and sexual orientation are all different. As Mike describes it when trying to explain it to Jason, he doesn’t feel like a woman when he wears the pretty clothes, but he also doesn’t feel like a man as other people see him. Instead, he feels like the man he sees himself as. It is implied that there might be a hint of Mike being non-binary, as the identity of man and woman isn’t exactly who he is. However, while not precisely stated, he is still someone who presents his “gender” as different and one that people wouldn’t call a man. This representation and message were beautiful, and I loved seeing how accepting Jason was of Mike. He wasn’t disgusted or presented any rejection but instead asked him to help him understand how he wanted Jason to see him. I think this was all fair and square because it was still something new to Jason and something he wanted to understand to make sure he got it right.

“I just—I don’t feel right sometimes. Like my body is the wrong shape. Or, no—like people look at me in the wrong way. Or see the wrong thing. Like I’m putting this performance on about what a man is and it has all these rules and it doesn’t feel natural, you know? It’s exhausting to keep up.”

Speaking of Jason, I wasn’t the biggest fan at first. I usually love loud characters who honestly never shut up, the kind with a vast and bright sunshine personality, especially when paired with the grump. But Jason was overwhelming at first. He was even annoying. But he grew on me fairly quickly, and I appreciated his friendship with Mike, which later became a romantic relationship. He reminded me of some of my friends with whom I usually don’t expect to get along because of how socially different we are, but then I realized we were a platonic match made in heaven. Of course, we don’t get his point of view, so we don’t learn much about him or his inner monologue besides what he tells Mike, but I still found him to be a ray of sunshine. Cute, adorable, and funny, he was a total sweetheart. Caring, patient, and loving, I appreciate how realistic every conversation he had with Mike felt. I already have this feeling some people may complain about the writing, especially with the dialogue, but in my opinion, Vivancos wrote it as I’ve seen it in real life.

The banter between the two, which started friendly right from the beginning, flowed so well and naturally. Their relationship developed at a nice pace too. Even if the book is short, there were enough moments between the two that added to their relationship and romantic feelings towards each other. From their small dates to their cute confessions, the two felt perfect for each other. Even though Mike was someone used to confiding in himself, his change with Jason never felt forced, like the kind where he gets a sudden change or feeling with Jason even though he didn’t know him at all. I’m not a fan of the whole “they felt different” statement, so I was glad there was none here. Or at least, it didn’t feel like it.

In conclusion, I can only thank Marina for the sheer brightness and happiness she brought me with this. She has quickly become one of my favorite authors, and I am beyond excited to see what else she releases in the future. This was exactly what I needed in the moments in terms of just letting go and getting lost in a pretty low angsty fictional world full of warm characters.

Every time he’d had sex, he’d been in perfect control, aware of how much he was giving, making sure it was never too much. But this, this was what he wanted. To be taken care of like this, like he was something precious that belonged to Jason and deserved whatever Jason decided to give him.

[Drache.... (Angelika) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reread 03/2025
Heartwarming and beautiful.
I love this novel so, so much.

"So fucking what if you don’t know your exact gender expression and why and what you want to be called right now—fuck that. You don’t have to have everything figured out for it to be real.”
Mike took a trembling breath in. He was not gonna cry. He wasn’t.
“I mean,” Jason continued, on a roll now. “Maybe you want to be called man or whatever because it feels more comfortable right now even if it’s not the most accurate thing in the world—so what? Who’s going to stop you, the gender police? Fuck ’em.”

Some personal thoughts because I can't say nothing or I'll explode.
I hate that we as society go in a scary direction. This quote didn't hit me so hard a year ago on my first read, I was much more hopeful. I get so mad knowing people support right wing policies, or just don't care about anything anymore.
Why is it too much to ask that queer people may live their lives and be happy? Why is that even a thing that has to be asked? Why is it a political matter if a person gets to decide for themselves how they want to live their life?
-----
Read 04/2024
5 stars.
My first not-omegaverse book by this author, and it was STUNNING.
I loved everything about it (aside the fact that there was a sex-epilogue, one of my pet peeves).
The story is told in third person past tense, single pov (Mike's pov), only the epilogue was Jason’s pov.

I loved the MCs Mike and Jason, their slowly developing relationship, their beautiful emotional connection that grew stronger and stronger, Mike's group of supporting friends, Mike's sister.

And the storyline? AWESOME.
It was so beautiful to watch Mike feeling more secure about himself, beginning to accept and like himself, his sexuality and his body. Jason’s support was unbelievably heart warming and felt real.

This is such a positive, (despite the topics) feel-good novella, it's going directly on my all-time-favorites shelf.
I'm so happy I found this.

Hard to believe that the author managed to pack all this in a 130 pages novella.

[nark · Rating 3 out of 5]

that was lovely. so sweet and heartwarming. so many feels in such a small amount of pages. i really wish it would have been longer, and had a more developed plot though.💙

"it was nice to feel he was able to be himself anywhere else but in the shadows."

[drew · Rating 5 out of 5]

ahh this was too short!! i wanted more 😪 but it was still beautiful and sweet and so, so lovely! adored this!!

Mike was just.... ugh, such a wonderful character; complicated and scared but also warm and funny and really sweet, too. it was such a pleasure to see him learn to accept himself a bit more each time he revealed another layer of himself to Jason. their relationship had such a natural and realistic dynamic from page one, and even with the book's short length, they both dealt fully realized and their relationship was just, ugh so good!! i would have loved to see more of them, but i don't feel unsatisfied with where their story ends here.

Marina has quickly become one of my favorite romance authors in the last few years, and she wowed me yet again with his novella. 5 stars!

[Warda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marina Vivancos is a new to me author and one I wouldn’t have discovered if a particular BookTuber (bookswithsamantha) wasn’t constantly raving about her.

This was such a sweet, soft and wholesome story. 🥰

Even though this is a romance with a HEA, this really is Mike’s story. Mike’s journey with self-acceptance, with his sexuality, of his self, and all the different facets that live within him after feeling so restricted in his body and mind for so long.

Jason comes along and slowly changes everything for him. He finally found his person.
I love how comfortable Mike became in his skin, with who he is as a person and seeing how that self-acceptance began to calm him. He was finally able to let his guard go and just be.

There were so many wonderful parts to this story and I can’t wait to read more from Marina Vivancos.

[Mug · Rating 5 out of 5]

okay get this: grumpy x sunshine pairing where the grump is a huge softy for one man and likes to wear pretty clothes, i.e. dresses, skirts, panties (LACE🤩), crop tops, etc😍😍😍 like biiiiiiitchhhh, why did no one tell me!?!!!??😩😩😩😩

i love the exploration of gender identity and finding acceptance that occurs in this absolutely lovely story.

He’d never really wanted to change the core of his identity, ‘male’. It was the performance that came with it that had always chafed. He wanted to rub the image of himself until the borders were blurry and indistinct—until ‘male’ was just the foundation for something completely different.

mike is not out to anyone and no one knows about his love for pretty clothes. you can really sense how heavy and exhausting it is, day after day, for mike to put on this mask, this persona, how trapped and unhappy it makes him…even if he has resigned himself to making due living like this out of a sense of shame and fear of rejection. but then jason comes along, and mike can feel himself start to let go a little, that grip on his mask slipping just the tiniest bit, it’s just so EASY to be in jason’s presence.

It was such a sweet pleasure not having to act or force himself into something. To just be, like the lake was, or the trees, or the sky.

i adore that mike’s fervent wish to not hurt jason (combined with the acceptance from his friends) is what allowed him the strength and the bravery to let up some of that mask and come out to jason. i also love that not everything was cut and dry about mike’s own understanding of his gender identity, and that jason gave mike a safe space to express himself however he wished, without mike needing to have all the answers. that mike felt appreciated and cared for and loved in such a complete way that he was able to shed the mold he’d crammed himself into, that he’d been suffocating in bc it felt necessary in order to survive the world, and just be fully and completely himself around jason.

Mike was starting to accept that not everything had to be figured out for him to have permission to just be.

god, this was just so beautiful and warm and just left the coziest feeling🥰🥰

okay fave moments:

~ mike’s sister keeping it real as fuck🤣
“Are you two fighting?”
“I…not really. I mean. I don’t know.”
“What did you do?” Kasey huffed.
“What? Why me?��
“Because Jason is a sweetheart, and you’re a bit of a bitch, Mike. No offence.”

~ the sweetness of bashful lil grumpy pants blushing talking about feelings
Jason’s flush had spread to his neck, eyes wide. “You think about me all the time?”
Mike crossed his arms, looking away. “Don’t make a big deal about it,” he muttered, but he was blushing too, his chest expanding with hope.

~ jason and mike being the cutest cuties to ever cute #confirmed
“[Y]ou wanna date?”
“Uhm…obviously…”
Jason grinned again. “Obviously.”
“Yeah, obviously. We just kissed and stuff.”
“Right. Okay. We’re dating. You want to date me.”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I’m going to date the fuck out of you.”
DUH WE JUST KISSED AND STUFF🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺 stahhhppppp i will scream😩😩😩

~ jason’s entire brain going offline bc of that little blue number mike surprised jason with in the epilogue😍😍😍 well, BOTH little blue things😏

4.5 stars⭐️

[Papie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I. LOVED. THIS. SO. MUCH.

Marina Vivancos proves again that she is the queen of novellas, packing the maximum amount of feelings on every page, leaving you feeling like you read a full length story.

This was lovely and beautiful and so so so sexy. I adored Mike and Jason.

Mike is edgy and sarcastic, and terrified of people finding out who he really is. He is tired of hiding but he is so ashamed. Jason is a beautiful sunshine, fun and outgoing. Slowly he shows Mike that he can be happy. That it’s okay.

The sex scenes. Fire and sweetness and love. I melted.

“Fuck. I think you ruined me,” Jason muttered, peppering Mike’s face with kisses. “For what? Other people?” Mike grumbled. “Baby, there are no other people in the world. Just you.”

[Cat the bookworm (still at the cottage in AO3 land) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved the writing, and most of all, I loved the characters ❤️

Is it a bit unrealistic? Probably, yes. Did I care? Not at all.

It’s the story of Mike, who lives outside a small town, right next to a lake. And Jason, a city boy, who moves in next to him and who disturbs the peace and quiet Mike so desperately needs with his bubbly, positive golden retriever personality.

Mike is very deep in the closet, having successfully tried to mold himself into the person he thinks others expect to see. And he’s not only attracted to men, he’s struggling with his gender identity, and even though he doesn’t put a name on it, it’s as close to nonbinary as I imagine it to be.

It’s described so well - while I wholeheartedly accept and support people who don’t fit the heteronormative mold, I didn’t quite understand the nonbinary mindset so far. Thanks to this lovely book, I think I’ve come a step closer to that.

He’d separated woman as a gender from feminine as a characteristic. Had untangled his identity as a man to the wishes of its body—to be a man, and pretty. To be a man, and soft. Delicate. Tender.

Side note: isn’t it just wonderful how reading all there’s books here, loving and living all these characters and stories others have imagined, makes us more open minded? I truly love this safe space here 🥰

But I digress.

The book itself isn’t very long (135 pages), but it’s lovely and will make you swoon. It left me smiling and happy, that’s why I’ll rate it with 5 stars, despite it not being quite perfect.

Absolutely recommend reading it!

[Layla · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was delightful.
I loved this low-angst novella:

- neighbors
- opposites attract
- Friends to lovers
- Instant connection (NOT insta-love)
- Sweet moments and banter
- Sexy steamy scenes
- Finding oneself and being content with who you are.
- HEA

I wish we had more tbh. These two men were sweet.

[Bizzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is the perfect example of why I read romance and why I value the genre. The story is told through the POV of Mike, as we watch him build a friendship with his new neighbor and confront the ways the relationship changes his feelings on his sexuality and gender.

Vivancos evokes such deep, profound feelings that the reader experiences Mike’s catharsis with him as he slowly moves out of a painful period in his life and into a better one. It feels natural that Mike hasn’t fully resolved all his questions about his identity in the end, yet the ending is still satisfying because he has found a new way to look at himself and what’s important in his life, and it’s clear he’s built a strong foundation for addressing future challenges.

The book is the perfect length to show Mike getting to that point, and I love that Vivancos didn’t go further to try to resolve all Mike’s uncertainties or guarantee a perfectly rosy future, because that wouldn’t have undermined the book’s message that uncertainty doesn’t have to mean unhappiness.

[Claudie ☾ · Rating 5 out of 5]

“This is what we are, Mike, okay? This. Mud, water, grass. That’s it. Bone, and muscle, and fucking…teeth. There’s nothing to hate. We just are. Your body just is, yeah? You’re the one putting all those eyes on you. Giving all those eyes power.”‍

The world would be a completely different place if everyone just had a Jason. 😭

I wouldn’t exactly call Divine River low-angst — Mike had been forced to hide his true self his whole life, had a toxic scumbag of a father, and not a single person who accepted him whole, as he was — but it was definitely sweet. Jason turned the whole thing around.

Marina, thank you for writing this book. Please keep doing your thing. You are amazing.

[✵Damjana✵ · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 66%
This was very odd, I didn't get it at all 🙈

[Rin (indefinite hiatus) · Rating 5 out of 5]

Marina’s writing is just different. And I love it. This one hit a little unexpectedly though.

Not only was Mike deeply closeted as a gay man, he had other identity issues he kept deeply hidden. The commentary on his body, his discomfort in his skin, in the roles we place on ourselves and how the world sees us… the words put to that struggle are why this little book is 5 stars. I think perhaps someone who hasn’t struggled with that might not appreciate it like I did, but it was really intense and beautiful to read.

I absolutely loved the bond between Jason and Mike. And Mike is unlike any character I’ve ever read and that’s saying something considering how much I read.

Being that this was a long novella/short book, there were a few things I wish had been concluded and/or fleshed out more, but the way she writes I honestly don’t care. It was just a really lovely read.

[Crystal's Bookish Life · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply emotional, full of pockets of tentative vulnerability. I loved this m/m novella so very much.
Will be in my next vlog

[Agla · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 rounded up. This is a case of "everybody loved it except me" so it's probably me not the book. I liked it but was underwhelmed. I didn't really have expectations for this one. The relationship development is good especially for such a short book. But the "banter" in the beginning didn't work for me. I didn't like all the "dude" and "bro" they kept using because it felt odd in this context. I liked that we met several of Mike's friends and family members (even though they were not fully fleshed out) but Jason didn't feel like a real person to me because he seemed to have no one. We hear about an ex but don't know anything about that relationship. I really don't feel I know Jason, nothing about his past, how he really got here, how he is adapting to living in a small town after being a "city boy"... BTW where is here? I was also wondering that. I know this book is really Mike's book: a story of self-acceptance but still I wanted more depth to Jason. It also felt kind of unfinished when it came to Mike's journey, I didn't mind because it was enough for him. Outside of his struggle to accept his gender identity and sexuality what else do we know about Mike? Not much either. All in all not a bad book by any means but it didn't whaou me.

[Florence . · Rating 4 out of 5]

RTC but this book was just the sweetest thing. I had the biggest smile on my face the entire time I read this book, it was just so cute and I absolutely loved that.

I received an ARC of this book and this is my honest opinion

[~Nicole~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful..Absolutely beautiful.

[therese ˃ᴗ˂ · Rating 4 out of 5]

FINALLY!! AFTER ALL THE SHTTY BOOKS THESE PAST FEW WEEKS. A FLAVOR. A TASTE. A LEGEND - this book.

love that one of the main mc is a bipoc and its amazing..he's not grumpy at all he's just reserved??? and he is very kind. to think that this was a short book?? but the relationship development was there??? it didnt feel too rushed and it was natural. im glad there wasnt an unnecessary drama just to make it longer.

jason is amazing and understanding. he really is the perfect boyfriend. i could write so many essays about him but if you dream about having a significant other jason can fit into your description. he's not even condescending or patronizing. he's just a wonderful human.

this is probably minor details but some things are good and understandable if its left unsolved i get it. but my overthinking mind cant help but wonder about mike and his dad's relationship and the talks about gender?? or of him being potentially nonbinary?? that is so important!! i love that part but also he doesnt need to label himself or put himself into any category or description to fulfill other people so i get it. i just think it was a nice conversation that it was opened up there especially with the therapist part too.

[ML · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mike has suppressed his true self almost his whole life. Jason comes into his life and shows him it’s ok to let go.
Their friendship was a great foundation for what came next. Jason is so brave in his feelings. He challenged Mike in a very gentle way to reveal his. This book is about acceptance and love. I wish there was more.

[Elizabeth]

DNF at 16%.

I hate that the hero just had meaningless sex with some rando man after he's met his person. It bums me out. A lot.

This book may be great otherwise, but I just don't like that at all.

[rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well, this was unexpectedly sweet and meaningful.

”It was such a sweet pleasure not having to act or force himself into something. To just be, like the lake was, or the trees, or the sky.”

”Mike started crying, then. Because he was tired of walking and walking and doing it all alone, and it felt, finally, as if he were home.”

[bikemi · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and I really wasn’t expecting it to hit this hard. I have no idea what to say about it right now other than Go Read It, hopefully I’ll write something coherent later.

[Shelba · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I did quite enjoy this, I did find that it very much so takes part in a bubble. Telling us Mike is a woodworker and Jason a mechanic was irrelevant to the plot, since 90% of the book takes place at their homes and other then throwing their professions out there, they never once come into play. And there are two brief mentions of visits to Mike’s father’s house, and two to the bar with friends.

The first bit of this was really dialogue heavy, and for all that Jason was described as a surfer dude, they both talked like one. “Dude” was used 24x…. I couldn’t count the “bro” and “man” if I wanted to.

I was surprised when I finished reading one chapter to realize I was at the epilogue. It seemed very sudden. And then the epilogue jumped to Jason’s POV. And it was 90% a sex scene…. It felt more like an extra an author provides to readers than anything that added to the story. I would have liked the epilogue to either not exist (really, this is always my preference), or for it to have still been from Mike’s POV and maybe added more to the coming to terms with his sexuality and gender.

Also, as lovely as the cover is, who exactly is it supposed to be? It certainly isnt the blond surfer dude, Jason. But it also isn’t a Latinx with a pretty, delicate face (it may be pretty, but it certainly isn’t delicate) and shoulder length, curly hair.

[~✡~Dαni(ela) ♥ ♂♂ love & semicolons~✡~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a strange, morose story with bizarre dude-bro, frat-boy dialogue, even though the MCs are 30.

I say "morose" because this author's prose is stark and bleak. Every Vivancos book I've read feels depressing, this one included.

Mike's internalized homophobia is severe. His father did a number on him, yet he continues visiting his dad every couple weeks. Why subject yourself to such abuse?

Jason is so good to Mike, even as Mike freaks out time and again.

Mike likes to dress up in soft, pretty clothing, another thing that makes him feel ashamed.

I saw Mike as gender fluid. He feels comfortable in a male body but doesn't like society's definition of how men are supposed to look and act. Mike longs to embrace the feminine, and Jason is fully on board.

This book is Mike-centric. Jason is a rather one-dimensional character and serves as Mike's foil.

I enjoyed this story for the most part, although the ending was weak. The dogs were cute though!

[Kirsten · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heartbreakingly good.
All the swoony, pretty pain
of knowing your self.

[Peppa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh wow yes this book was really good!! I was a bit unsure at the beginning because I had a bit of a hard time to get into it but I’m so glad I didn’t stop reading because this was really beautiful!!

This book is all about Mike—a grumpy wood-worker who’s used to keeping his head down in a small town where everyone has expectations and Jason, a bright, upbeat city boy who blows in and basically turns Mike’s world upside down.

Mike has learned to hide who he really is, but Jason’s sunshine personality makes it impossible for him to stay in the shadows. I loved watching their dynamic unfold. the grumpy, closed-off local vs. the sweet, open-hearted newcomer. It’s such a tender, slow-burn romance about learning to be brave, show the world who you are, and trust that you’re worthy of love.

[Timshel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Maybe a bit too short, but lovely.

[BeckieLouLou · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.25 stars.Sweet, tender novella. A brief look into the lives of two fellas trying to figure it out, slice of life, low drama, low angst, ends in a HFN with plans in the epilogue for an HEA. The acceptance and care that the MC shows is so lively, well written.

Contemporary, small town, unsupportive family, m/m, lingerie.

[patrícia · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐
This was super sweet and beautiful. Booth and MC are so adorable and perfect for each other.

I struggled a bit to connect with them; the third person and the single POV didn't help. The theme itself deserves more pages honestly, I didn't know enough to understand the whole journey. 

[Ellie Ellie · Rating 4 out of 5]

At night, he’d curl under his thin sheet with the summer air everywhere around him, and his stupid heart would get away from him, replaying little moments of the week, chasing after Jason in his memories like a fool.

This short novella packs a lot in a few pages in a way that feels organic and not heavy-handed. On one side, we have a sweet, small-town romance between Mike (the POV character), a local grumpy wood-worker, and his new neighbor, sunshine city boy Jason. Seeing their relationship develops was a delightful experience, as they go from strangers to friends to lovers at a rhythm that felt natural and still managed to maintain natural tension even after the confessions. Those two really cared for each other and the book is full of tender, swoony moments.

Alongside the romance, we get to explore Mike's feelings about sexuality and gender in a way that feels purposeful but doesn't weigh down the overall tone of the story. At the start of the book, I thought this would be heavier than it ended up being. It's not exactly fluffy, as it deals with a lot of serious subjects, and at the beginning of the book, Mike is sad and lonely. But his satisfying personal journey and the sweet, tender romance made this book an emotional one, but in a feel-good, heartwarming kind of way.

Marina Vivancos's prose is lyrical and creates a dreamy vibe that was just perfect for this small-town romance. Some of the descriptions and inner monologues surrounding Mike and Jason's boat escapades to their little island were so well-written and evocative that I had to immediately re-read those passages. Here's an example of a part I loved:

They swam around each other, a mating ritual of water and body, before a playful shoving match ensued. Mike thrilled at the slide of bare, wet skin against his, at the way Jason’s blue eyes shone in the sun. His hair was plastered across his forehead, smile goofy, and Mike wanted to kiss him so much it was like a bruise he couldn’t stop worrying. 

I really liked that not everything in Mike's life is resolved by the end of the novella. It doesn't feel unsatisfying or forgotten, because those issues were explored. Mike himself comes to the conclusion that he can allow himself to be happy even if the future is uncertain. As the reader, you feel optimistic that things will turn out OK, because Mike grew so much and has the tools to deal with those complex issues.


Read this review and more on my blog: https://horsetalkreviews.blogspot.com/