Thursday, August 27, 2015

Salty Aftertaste - Reviewed by Trix

By Jason Lloyd
Ginge Publishing

Beaches, boys, and bad decisions...

In this nonfiction tale, Jason and his hilarious and crude motley cast of friends leave their mundane suburban jungles and flock to the mecca that is Rehoboth Beach, Delaware for vacation. They are in search of a little rest and relaxation; aka beach, bars and boys, lots of hot boys.

Jason is just looking for a little attention. He just wants to feel wanted and a little summer passion would not hurt either. Jason is the self-proclaimed hopeless romantic of the group. Will he find his summer love or is romance really scarce?

Kevin is the complete opposite of Jason. He feels that romance is only alive in stories. Kevin's love for a teenage drama goes too far and his obsession turns into more than he expected. Did Kevin finally stumble upon some romance or does his fascination finally get the better of him?

Bobby is looking for a connection. Any kind of connection. He meets a new guy every night and shares his bed every night with a different guy. What is really going on behind Bobby's bedroom door? Will he ever be able to fill this insatiable void for closeness?

Benjamin sneaks out every night. He disappears into the night and reemerges the next morning as if nothing had happened. He is quiet about his extracurricular activities. Where does Benjamin go? What is he doing?

In this beach oasis, where there is an endless sea of sexy men with perfect bodies, will Jason and his friends actually find love or just one night stands? One thing is for certain, it is an epic vacation that none of them will forget.

Trix’s Review:
3.25 stars

While the story takes place in the present day, it definitely evoked the feel of a lost '80s summer buddy comedy to me as I read it. Lloyd sets an authentic mood, and the bantering boys' frenetic search for Mr. Right Now in seemingly laid-back Rehoboth Beach is often lighthearted fun. On the other hand, SALTY AFTERTASTE also has a lot of the things that bug me about vintage teen comedies: namely, the ads would prepare you for a sexy time, but the raunchiness would emerge as gross-out humor (bathroom as much as bedroom) instead. (It's all basically guys talking a good game and joking around, but I definitely learned more about their bodily functions than I needed to know.) There's very little on-camera sex (not a good or bad thing, just something to be aware of), and no real romantic resolutions. The editing is an issue at times; verb tenses shift a lot, and sometimes the story feels a little bit stream-of-consciousness for my taste. A couple of red herrings had me fearing some major plot curveball at the end, but things generally stay breezy here. I'm not sure I feel the need to revisit SALTY AFTERTASTE, but Lloyd's wisecracking intrigues me enough to make me try another story of his. 

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