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Taste Test
Taste Test: Alberta Bound
Alberta. This western Canadian province is known for its scenery, its natural resources, and its people. In these three Alberta-based stories, a cowboy with a once-yearly Calgary Stampede date finds out his affair could end up more permanent than he'd ever expected. A disgraced champion figure skater learns that you can go home again, even to a rural town near Red Deer. And a Canmore photographer starts to move on after the untimely death of his long-term partner, even if his obsession might get in the way.
- GenresM M Romance
25 pages, ebook
First published September 1, 2009
10 people want to read
About the author
G.S. Wiley
60 books15 followersG.S. Wiley is a writer, reader, sometime painter, and semi-avid scrapbooker who lives in Canada.
Visit G.S.'s web site at http://wileyromance.googlepages.com/.
Visit G.S.'s web site at http://wileyromance.googlepages.com/.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 18, 2010
3.5 stars
This collection of three short stories from Wiley is wonderfully written, engaging, evocative, and interesting. The strong writing and enthralling characters carry the various stories that are unfortunately, not very romantic. The lack of explicit sex is not a detriment and instead allows the characters and their emotional development to mature, yet none of the stories are very romantic. There is a very vague potential for happiness and romance within each of the stories, but there is a definite lack of solid happy endings to all three of the stories. This may disappoint more ardent romance fans and thus the anthology is likely to appeal more to fans of Wiley’s writing.
The first story is set in the 1970s between a cowboy and a ranch worker who meet up once a year when the cowboy rolls into town for the rodeo. This is a well-written story that brings to life the time period and setting well before the story mentions the actual date. The clever use of details tips the reader to the fact that this isn’t a modern, present day story while the confirmation clarifies any lingering confusion. The characters are well developed and spark with chemistry even amid their one brief meeting. The sadness inherent in their situation, the time frame, and opposing lifestyles is not completely dissipated by the hope of a more permanent solution but it does offer a glimmer of possibility.
The second story is about a figure skater who fell recently at the world championships, despite extensive training, and goes back to his hometown to see his family and find his strength in skating once more. This isn’t a romance so much as one man’s love of skating and his joy in the sport. The interaction is between the skater and his stereotypical overweight best friend from high school. Two outcasts who banded together and became friends reminiscing lightly is the majority of the dialogue. The scene is well crafted and the characters are infused with a realism and life that brings the story to life. There is no romance between the friends, both dating other people and the best friend isn’t gay, but the bonds of friendship survive, however tenuously. Again, this isn’t a romance but it is a lovely story with beautiful scenery brought to life.
The last story is about a man grieving for his dead partner, obsessively taking photographs as his way of coping with his grief. This is another well-written story easily translating the deep pain of loss along with a great network of supporters. Here, friends and family acknowledge the loss but also that the man needs help and therapy to move beyond his grief. At a support group, a chance encounter brings the potential for romance and more. However, again this is a well-written story but with very little romance. The short story ends with the possibility for romance and the hope for such, but without a strong happy ending that readers may prefer ~ especially given the publisher.
Each story is evocative with engaging prose and well-crafted characters. The emotion in each tale leaps off the page with Wiley’s deft writing and creates a lovely little anthology of short stories. The lack of explicit sex and strong happy endings may not be to every reader’s taste, but for me the solid writing and characters kept the anthology worth reading and interesting. Fans of the author will enjoy this anthology and those new to Wiley should take a chance on a great group of stories if you don’t mind the lack of happy ever after.
This collection of three short stories from Wiley is wonderfully written, engaging, evocative, and interesting. The strong writing and enthralling characters carry the various stories that are unfortunately, not very romantic. The lack of explicit sex is not a detriment and instead allows the characters and their emotional development to mature, yet none of the stories are very romantic. There is a very vague potential for happiness and romance within each of the stories, but there is a definite lack of solid happy endings to all three of the stories. This may disappoint more ardent romance fans and thus the anthology is likely to appeal more to fans of Wiley’s writing.
The first story is set in the 1970s between a cowboy and a ranch worker who meet up once a year when the cowboy rolls into town for the rodeo. This is a well-written story that brings to life the time period and setting well before the story mentions the actual date. The clever use of details tips the reader to the fact that this isn’t a modern, present day story while the confirmation clarifies any lingering confusion. The characters are well developed and spark with chemistry even amid their one brief meeting. The sadness inherent in their situation, the time frame, and opposing lifestyles is not completely dissipated by the hope of a more permanent solution but it does offer a glimmer of possibility.
The second story is about a figure skater who fell recently at the world championships, despite extensive training, and goes back to his hometown to see his family and find his strength in skating once more. This isn’t a romance so much as one man’s love of skating and his joy in the sport. The interaction is between the skater and his stereotypical overweight best friend from high school. Two outcasts who banded together and became friends reminiscing lightly is the majority of the dialogue. The scene is well crafted and the characters are infused with a realism and life that brings the story to life. There is no romance between the friends, both dating other people and the best friend isn’t gay, but the bonds of friendship survive, however tenuously. Again, this isn’t a romance but it is a lovely story with beautiful scenery brought to life.
The last story is about a man grieving for his dead partner, obsessively taking photographs as his way of coping with his grief. This is another well-written story easily translating the deep pain of loss along with a great network of supporters. Here, friends and family acknowledge the loss but also that the man needs help and therapy to move beyond his grief. At a support group, a chance encounter brings the potential for romance and more. However, again this is a well-written story but with very little romance. The short story ends with the possibility for romance and the hope for such, but without a strong happy ending that readers may prefer ~ especially given the publisher.
Each story is evocative with engaging prose and well-crafted characters. The emotion in each tale leaps off the page with Wiley’s deft writing and creates a lovely little anthology of short stories. The lack of explicit sex and strong happy endings may not be to every reader’s taste, but for me the solid writing and characters kept the anthology worth reading and interesting. Fans of the author will enjoy this anthology and those new to Wiley should take a chance on a great group of stories if you don’t mind the lack of happy ever after.
Displaying 1 of 1 review