Sort of Stranger than Fiction (Petit Morts 7) by Josh Lanyon (17,240 words) is a strong installment in the delightful Petit Morts series, now at ten books with the final five soon to be released. The novelettes are written by some of the top names in gay romance today, including Jordan Castillo Price, Josh Lanyon, Sean Kennedy, and Clare London. Each novelette shares the character of Chance, a sexy, enigmatic chocolatier with supernatural powers. Chance travels the world, opening his chocolate shop in a new location and staying long enough to bring lovers together and meddle in their lives, often in an eerie and magical way. Depending upon the author writing each novelette, the supernatural aspect to the story may be prominent or subtle. This particular novelette ignores the supernatural in favor of traditional, realistic mystery elements.

The story opens in a tiny fictional California town where twins Ethan and Erin run a bookstore. Erin also invents icky beverages at their coffee bar while Ethan runs a writing critique group of eccentrics, including a creepy young man Karl who pens gruesome serial killer stories. Karl seems fixated on the shy and virginal Ethan (our viewpoint character), but Ethan has a painfully obvious crush on Michael, the scarred, gruff, and mysterious owner of a karate school in the same strip mall. Meanwhile, Ethan encounters the unsettlingly observant Chance, who has opened his chocolate shop in the strip mall, and Chance encourages Ethan to get to know Michael. But some dead bodies have turned up in the surrounding desert, and it is entirely likely that either Karl or Michael or even Chance could have committed the murders. Who can Ethan trust when he might be the next victim?

Val for AReCafe ( )

I loved it. It was a very good story. Both MCs are very likable and the development of their budding relationship was very sweet without being sappy. There was some humour and some crime/suspense in the back drop. A very good read. ( )

Nice and sweet, this novella is also unexpectedly “innocent”; Ethan has lived all his life in a less than 500 people small town and he believes he is the only gay man among them. Not the ideal situation if you want to have a boyfriend, and so twenty something Ethan is pure like the day mum did him, and he tends to fantasize like a teenager girl on “boys”. Ethan’s latest crush is Michael, the owner of the dojo two doors after Ethan’s coffee bookstore, a former soldier who arrived in town six weeks before. Michael is a mystery, and the wanna-be writer in Ethan like the mystery and the man.

Ethan is so naïve that he doesn’t realize that, not only Michael is interested in him as well, but there is another man who is trying to make a move on him. So from not having any prospect boyfriend, now Ethan can pick, and the lucky guy will see his dream comes true.

Usually this series has some paranormal element, something “magic”; Sort of Stranger Than Fiction is instead an “ordinary” story, just boy meets boy, boy gets boy, and happily (for now) ever after. I think than, in the end, I prefer it like that.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0049H96S2/?tag=elimyrevandra-20