3.5 Stars ( )

I need to read this one again before I am sure about rating it. It went in such a different direction than I was expecting that I can't decide whether I liked it or not. 3 Stars for now, but it may go up - parts of it were hilarious, and the new direction was pretty interesting. ( )

I thought this was a perfect little short story. Good balance of characterisation, an interesting premise and enough action and sex to round it off.
With many short stories, I feel that the setup is great, but that's all there is. This one had a good balance between setup and resolution. Sure, there could have been more of all aspects, but we had enough to cover the story that JCP wanted to tell.
Some reviewers were thrown by the twist, but let's face it, the whole Chance and the chocolate shop concept is fantastical, so why not continue the theme? ( )

This is probably the strangest in the Petit Morts I read till now (but I have still 2 to read, so maybe it will be not in the end): Chance, the owner of Sweets to the Sweet, is again playing matchmaker, and this time he decides that Emmett, the thirty something lonely man who is loosing his girl best friend to Paris, needs the companionship (friendship, love, or whatever) of Sam, the twenty something handyman; the official reason is that Emmett has a very old and decrepit house that needs maintenance, the real reason is that both of them, Emmett and Sam, are perfect together.

Emmett is not a daring man, he has always dreamed to do something special in his life, but in the end, he is setting himself for a boring, and lonely, old age. He is the perfect friend, the perfect uncle, the perfect son… but he is not, and has never been, the perfect lover; not since he is not a good man, but since, probably, he has never dared to try. Sam on the other hand, is yes a bit shy, but maybe he has still the carelessness of being young; and maybe, when it will be the moment to deciding of giving a completely turn to their life, the fact that his actual life is not so great, and that he has never to loose, will be of help in his decision.

The author decided to give an unexpected paranormal twist to the story, and it’s a good and light one, but basically the story was already a sweet one. Emmett and Sam are like those average men who alone are nothing special, or at least not someone you will notice on a street, but together are a perfect, and enviable, couple; even without the paranormal twist, they would be happy and perfect together. But, after all, they are living in Kansas, and we all know that in Kansas everything is possible, don’t we?

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1935540122/?tag=elimyrevandra-20