This Little Whatever by Nicole Forcine

ThisLittleWhateverLGTitle: This Little Whatever

Author: Nicole Forcine

Genre:   Contemporary

Length: Novel (268 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (September 5, 2013)

Heat: Explicit

Heart: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts Loved it

Reviewer:   Mandingo

Blurb:   Jonathan Mendoza used to live an even crazier life, partying with his tight-knit travelling performance troupe whenever he wasn’t on stage belly dancing. When his sick mother begged him to change his lifestyle, he agreed to try to live sober, but that change is hard. Neither is it easy to stop staring at Dean Winters after he nearly knocks the man over before a performance. 

A former recluse, prone to panic attacks after surviving a traumatic accident, Dean isn’t Jonathan’s usual type. Still, Jonathan is irresistibly attracted to him, and decides to cure the itch with a one-night stand. But that night, he’s shaken by Dean’s kindness and consideration—something he’s not used to in a lover or a friend. His best friend, Rachel, who co-owns the troupe with Jonathan, sees Dean as a threat to their friendship and to the troupe—the dream they’ve worked together to build. She reveals a cruel and possessive streak that could do much greater damage on both fronts, and Jonathan realizes he will have to choose between the nomadic life he’s lived and the man who is stealing his heart.

Purchase Link:   http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4162

Review: This is Jonathan’s story.   It is narrated in his voice.  Ms. Forcine’s development of Jonathan’s character is impeccable. In him, we find a flawed, drug and alcohol-addicted person, who for the sake of his mother, has decided to go into recovery without seeking the support of his dance troupe, whom he thinks of as family.  This illustrates the strength of Jonathan’s character and his ability to overcome many types of adversity.  Jonathan is then introduced to Dean, an equally flawed character who has panic attacks.  While the reason for his panic attacks is not explained until quite late in the story, these two damaged men collide and there begins the roller coaster ride.  Over the course of the novel, we learn that Jonathan is so much more than we first see through his relationship with Dean and other secondary characters. He is at his core, good, decent and honest.  Instead of a man who is slowly unraveling due to personal crisis, we find a man who battles adversity to find his own redemption through love and acceptance.  We feel this through the beautifully crafted character sketches of Ms. Forcine’s. This allows the reader to bond with both Jonathan and Dean and to root relentlessly for them to succeed. 

 

When one reads a novel, one wants to be transported and be able to feel like we are walking side by side with the characters, feel, and experience what the characters are feeling and experiencing. Ms Forcine makes the reader anticipate the HEA of her heroes. Instead of a simple road to happiness, she has done a wonderful job of taking the experiences of drug addiction, loneliness, self-flagellation, severe anxiety, dysfunctional friendships, betrayal and crippling fear, to show us  how Dean and Jonathan save each other in the most beautiful and rewarding way. While doing this with her plotline, we experience great descriptive visuals of the setting and environment, which only enhance the tale she is weaving.

 

If it sounds like there is a lot going on in the story – there IS. Is it handled well? DEFINITELY! At no point does the reader feel overwhelmed or the need to suspend their belief at what is happening. Everything is real and believable. And you can actually foretell some of the things to come, but Ms Forcine handles it with such aplomb that it is not overly predictable and pedantic. Now truth be told, there is a high degree of predictability in the story, but it is so well written and crafted that you actually enjoy reading and experiencing what the characters are experiencing. The reader is allowed to tag along with Jonathan and Dean through their interaction with secondary characters in the book who are also so well written that they drive the story seamlessly forward. 

 

Thank you ,Ms Forcine, for taking all the key components of a great story: plot, setting, characterization and the rise to conflict and eventual resolution and then weaving your characters through the plotline for a very entertaining and satisfying story.