Like Chance I was a little worried about handing Ryan over to JP. JP is not a horrible person - he is selling fake love potions, not fake antibiotics - but he is sleazy and flighty. But I came away thinking Chance and I were both underestimating Ryan. He is sweet and does get taken advantage of, but never because he is fooled or tricked - he sees very clearly and decides to allow it to happen. I would have loved even another paragraph about their future together, but I do trust that Ryan will be setting the direction of their life together. ( )

This is basically the story of Ryan and JP, but I think that Chance had an interesting development in it. Chance is the thread of all five stories, his candy shop Sweets to the Sweet is the place where everything starts and ends; it’s a magical place that appears when people need it and disappears when the mission is accomplished and Chance is needed somewhere else. Moreover Chance is teasing with a lot of guys, but he is not for them, he is the matchmaker and for all of them he will find the right partner; he is kind and sweet, always caring for the destiny of the men eating his candies. Only that this time Chance is not at all kind, he is almost rude and he seems to not like at all JP: I’m not sure if he helped him with Ryan since he wanted to help Ryan himself, or since he wanted for JP to go away from Brightside, the little town where Chance landed with Sweets to the Sweet.

JP is like one of those fake healers populating the border towns at the end of the XIX century; they arrived with glitters and fanfare and most of the time they went away with more coins and some broken hearts behind. But while JP is fake, Chance is all true, and I think he doesn’t like for another seller of dreams to pouching on his territory. I had the feeling that Chance helped JP to not have his townsfolf being disappointed by JP’s promises.

In the spat between Chance and JP, Ryan has nothing to do; he is only a young man with little dreams, but even if they are little, there is no space in Brightside for them. When JP arrives in town, Ryan is not expecting big changes, but at least he is hoping for a little distraction: the summer is almost at the end, and why not having a last days of summer fling? JP is handsome and sexy, and once he will be gone, no one will question Ryan. But as I said, Chance has other ideas, and while he is protecting Brighside’s people from JP, maybe Ryan is the only one who doesn’t need to be protected by JP, maybe JP is the right care for him. After all, JP is a seller of dreams, and Ryan needs to buy a little more of them, what he has is not enough to fulfil his young life.

In a way, even if Spanish Fly Guy has an happily ever after, as the other in the series, I think this one was the darkest and also maybe the more disturbing: Chance showed a side that was almost scaring.

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

3.5 Stars ( )