Aloes by Chris Quinton

Title: Aloes
Author: Chris Quinton
Publisher: Manifold Press
Length:: Novel/246 pages
Buy the book: Publisher

Blurb:

A fluke accident puts Perry in a coma. When he awakes, his scrambled synapses have given him a talent; he can tell truth from lies simply by their flavour. This, plus the new client who is far too attractive for Perry’s peace of mind, the client’s contentious family and the dilapidated old mansion Perry has to restore for him – not to mention anonymous threats which escalate to attempted murder – all ensure that Perry’s life will never be the same again!

Review:

So I was very excited to read this one, and I was not disappointed. I found Aloes refreshing, super sweet, emotional and sometimes downright hilarious. The idea behind it I found very original, you might think the story line could become cheesy, but that never happened, Miss Quinton keeps it fresh from beginning to the end. Throw in a romantic love story, a cheating bastard, interesting characters and a bit of a attempted murder mystery and you have yourself, one very exciting read.

Peregrine Latimer, prefers to be called Perry and who the hell could blame him. Perry thinks he has got it made, a wonderful job as an architect, and equally wonderful life partner. The man he thinks is the love of his life and why wouldn’t he be, they have been friends since the  4th grade, a friendship that progressed to being lovers and their lives seems pretty much perfect. Until he gets home and catches his lover with a *twink*, then his foundation takes a tumble for the worst. The man he thought he knew and loved betrays him in the worst way possible and what felt perfect a few moments ago, has now become the very thing that might destroy him.

So with this new reality, Perry is facing a series of emotions; the sadness, anger and guilt. Could this possibly be his fault, and how long has the cheating been going on. All this is churning inside him which causes him to become a bit stressed, that leads to the mother of all headaches.  So hoping to escape in some hard medication, Perry takes some pills without realizing it’s the wrong meds. He has an allergic reaction, passes out, bumps his head in a few places and almost bled out to his death. Luckily he was on the phone with his boss, who pulled a quick rescue and got him to the hospital just in time.  Perry awakens in the hospital with a hairline fracture, a new project and a neat little gift.

This is where the story became interesting for me, Perry’s little gift leaves him able to distinguish lies from truth. With lies the taste of aloes appear on his tongue, and aloe is known for its very bitter taste.  So now Perry has to figure out if he is crazy, or is this trick a side effect from hitting his head a few times too many or could it possibly be something more serious. This new trick helps him figure out how long his partner was cheating and how sincere is his apology, well… this makes Perry decisions easy, its time to move on from the only man he has ever known.

This is all told through Perry’s POV, and we watch him has he grows as a character. How he throws himself into his work restoring a house and the feeling that the new client is stirring inside him. Its almost poetic the feelings that Perry expresses, how does one move on from a bad break-up and find the will to trust again. Well Miss Quinton makes it a little easy by introducing two love interests, both very likable and all man, Joe and Drew. Who he will choose is pretty much clear, but it was fun to watch him struggle with his desires. Plus the mystery aspect of it all was a nice little twist that created a few finger biting moments.  It added a little something special to the storyline and used Perry’s gift to the fullest. Someone wants him to stay away from Drew and they are pulling out all the stops to see that it happens. With threatening letters, creepy phone calls and attempted murder, now Perry and Drew has to figure out the whys and who.

I enjoyed that Perry didn’t just jump into bed with the first available guy, he actually had thoughts and decisions on how he wanted to progress, no rebound sex was going to make anything any easier, so he thought about it before moving on to anything sexual. The sexual aspect of the book is not very sexual, where there is actual sex scenes its not very explicit but very sweet. I found that it only made the book that much better, not all the time do we need a play by play of where all the parts goes.

Overall and entertaining read with engaging characters and one hell of a lead male, I loved Perry and I also love the guy he chooses. A well thought out story about new beginnings and finding love in the most unlikely places. Plus you get a mini education in house restoration, that was not boring at all. The ending threw me for a loop, I kept looking at my computer saying “this can’t be it, where’s the rest of it”. I am hoping the ending might lead to a sequel or something because I am curious as to what will become of Perry and his new lover. So Quinton please hook us up, I want more.