Going Home by Rex Patrick

Portrait of two young boys gay on a black backgroundTitle: Going Home

Series:   Home to Harmony

Author: Rex Patrick

Genre: Contemporary

Length:  Short (49 pages)

Publisher: Rex Patrick (October 22nd, 2013)

Heat Level:  Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥2.75Hearts

Reviewer: Eli/Mandingo

Blurb:  At age twenty-four, Evan Parker was on the way to becoming rich by anyone’s standards. He just didn’t look it, act it, or feel it. He’d left the tiny town of Harmony, Maryland, for William and Mary, and grad school at the University of Virginia, Wharton School of Business. He hadn’t seen Isaac Wells in four years, not since Isaac told him that he didn’t really love him, and probably never had. He’d decided that sex with men wasn’t for him, that it all had been a mistake, a cruel joke, and that he was going to marry Janet Bourne, and live a normal life. 

Purchase Link:   http://www.amazon.com/Going-Home-Harmony-Rex-Patrick-ebook/dp/B00G2UWW5S/ref=sr_1_1?s=digital-text&ie=UTF8&qid=1389145564&sr=1-1&keywords=going+home%2C+rex+patrick

Review: The story premise for this book is VERY good. Unfortunately, it just doesn’t reach its full potential for a number of reasons.  While the character of Evan is outlined with some degree of clarity, the reader doesn’t even get a chance to understand Isaac.  He’s presented as a multi-faceted character, but we don’t know why.  The reader never discovers what makes Isaac tick or why Evan liked him during their previous relationship or why he still carries a torch for him. We don’t really know what Evan does for a living (something in the financial field which makes him very wealthy at twenty-five, but doesn’t require him actually going to a job), and the descriptions of Isaac’s professional life are drawn in broad strokes. The reader doesn’t really know why they should root for Evan and Isaac to be together, since the reader doesn’t know what connects them in the first place.

The story also jumps around a lot and the lack of effective editing sometimes makes the story difficult to follow.  Many times throughout the story, the reader will become confused between real speech and the characters thoughts as well as which character is actually speaking. The conflict and climax of the story sneak up on the reader without any warning, at which point the story seems to unravel through what appears to be a lack of planning and thought as to the steps to make this a believable series of events. Then once the conflict is resolved, the story rushes to its HEA and the reader is left a bit bereft.

So the story premise is great and this reviewer hopes that the author revisits the story and does some serious editing, which would greatly improve the story flow, followed by adding a few paragraphs here or there to round out the main characters and to fill in some missing plot details.  Another five or ten pages and the story will realize its potential and become a much better read.