Sharing Links and Wisdom: Nate and the New Yorker Review Tour

Wednesday, June 22, 2016

Nate and the New Yorker Review Tour

Blurb:

Cameron has it all. He’s rich, lives in Manhattan, and even has a cross-dressing butler. But then he meets Nate, an Australian who’s bitter about love. Cameron is determined to turn this realist into a dreamer by sharing his world of classy restaurants, Broadway shows and fabulous parties. And while Nate’s friends see the makings of a fantasy romance, it’s Nate who has to learn that in order to open his heart, he has to face a painful secret.

Excerpt:

“I think Prague is for lovers,” said Ben. He’d just complained about how milky the coffee was in the Czech Republic, and now this. “Yeah. Prague is the place you take your one true love.”

“Then what’s Paris?” I asked.

“That’s easy,” replied Lucy. “Paris is where you have a steamy affair.”

“Then I guess Amsterdam is for singles to get up to mischief,” I added.

My friends stared into space as if they were pondering the meaning of life, while their goulash was getting cold. I looked at my food. The enticing mix of hearty cuisine slopped on my plate had me slobbering like a mutt. My knife cracked the surface of my deep fried potato rosti, and as my fork made its way to my lips, it had to stop so I could take in the odor of this salty indulgence.

“Really, Nathan!” Lucy glared at me as if she was watching some kinky sex act even she’d disapprove of. “Just eat the bloody thing. I swear sex and food stimulate the same part of your brain.”

I crunched hard, making sure my grin reached both ears. She rolled her eyes and shoved a huge chunk of carrot and beef in her mouth before smirking. Strange violin music came from above. As I glanced up at the tinny speaker, the middle-aged waitress who looked as if she should cut down on sampling the food, sidled up to me.

“You like?”

She pointed to the speaker. I wanted to say it sounded like someone was murdering that musical instrument, but I decided to keep my mouth shut.

“My son. He practice music. Good, eh?” The three of us nodded. “I make louder.” She marched away proudly.

“Eat quickly,” said Ben. “That music sounds like someone is strangling a cat.”

“I never pictured a woman her age wearing lilac,” stated Lucy.

“Well, we are away from the tourist spots,” I said. “You have to expect local charm when we eat in this district.”

My Review:

3 stars

This was definitely an interesting read for me, one which left me with mixed feelings about this book. First, the story required quite a bit of suspension of disbelief, which I wasn’t really expecting to have to do since I thought this was a contemporary romance. For example, I definitely wasn’t expecting a ghost to randomly join the story when there was absolutely no mention or hint of it coming. Second, the writing style threw me a bit. While I enjoyed some of the banter between Cameron and Nate, at other times it just threw me or made me roll my eyes. This kind of prose worked in other stories Klehr’s written, but it just didn’t really work for me in this one. There was also times where I became confused over who was speaking, which drew me out of the story.

On the other hand, once I did suspend my disbelief, it was a zany ride through this fairy tale romance. The secondary characters were interesting and engaging (Roger/Rowena are my personal favorites), the romance plentiful, and there were few sexual scenes, which actually worked well with the story and gave it more of a fairy tale feel. Plus like I said, some of the banter between the charactrers made me laugh, and helped add to the zany ride. All in all, my issues with the book aside, I still enjoyed reading it, the same way I enjoy watching those corny yet lovable B-movies. If you’re looking for a fun summer read and you enjoy those B-movies, I would recommend picking up Nate and the New Yorker.