My Summer of Wes, by Missy Welsh

My Summer of Wes

by Missy Welsh

Published by: Loose-ID, LLC

Word Count: 42, 377

Blurb:

I didn't know. How could I? All through high school, I was beaten up and teased for being gay. But I wasn't gay. Or didn't think I was. Now Wes, the guy across the street who's taken me under his wing and been the best friend I've ever had, won't stop invading my dreams, hell, my every waking thought. Am I gay? Because I'm thinking I'd like to kiss him. Actually, I'm thinking there's a lot more I'd like to do with his mouth and the rest of that tall, confident, muscular body. Ah, man... I'm so gay!

But what if he doesn't feel the same way about me? And, Jesus, what about my parents? And those bastards from school are still around. And I'm supposed to go to college this fall... Shit, I need to sit down. I can't breathe and I'm about to shake apart. Then Wes puts his hand on the back of my neck, gives me one of those encouraging squeezes and his bright smile, and everything's okay again. Yeah, I'm hooked. Oh, boy...


Review:

I try to be constructive when I give reviews and try to leave snark out of it, but it's very hard with this one. This story was about sex. And more sex. And even more sex. If you want a book with 70% sex, 20% characterization and 10% plot, this would be perfect for you.

I like my books with approx. 30% plot, 30% characterization and 40% of everything else that makes a good story (sex, mood, setting etc.). Sex is usually nice in m/m stories, but there's sex and then there's too much sex. Here it was way too much sex. Yes, I know I'm repeating myself here. I began rolling my eyes after the first few times, and not in an oh-so-hot way, but in an oh-not-again way.

It started off well with Mal insecure and scarred after years of bullying. He meets his gay neighbour, they become friendly and at around 30% of the story Mal realizes that he is gay too and the two guys start having sex. Lots of it, with little happening in between. Wes is drop dead gorgeous with his casual commando style. He seems somewhat mature and I liked this character. Mal is okay, nerdy, and I felt sorry for him. This could have been a terrific book if it hadn't been all about the sex.

There's no climax in the story, very little conflict, and almost no build-up. There are love declerations after a week or so of knowing each other (in between the sex). Okay, they're young, but really, it's crush after a week, not love (I don't believe in love at first sight - I DO believe in lust/crush at first sight though). Some of the declerations were also too corny for my taste.

The pace of the story is...well, there's really no pace. It's just sex. I suppose I could say it was slow, because I wanted the story to move on, but it rarely did and when it did there was still mentioning of sex or desire of sex. I get that they're young and horny, so sex should be expected, but the story could still have foused on more things...

Despite this, the text flowed effortlessly. Missy Welsh can write and I'm willing to give another one of her works a chance. I read somewhere that this was her first published book.

I've decided to change my "Heat" rating system after reading this book. If I give it 5 stars, it'll seem like I really liked the sex content. I liked it, it was hot, but it was too much. I've changed the ratings for the other books based on this new system. The rating is now explained like this: Please note that the "Heat" is measured in how much I enjoyed it and if there was too much, too little, or just the perfect amount for the specific type of book I'm rating. Yes, there's such a thing as too much sex in a book and I will give it a low rating in "Heat" if there's too much. I'll give it a rating of 5 if it's just perfect for that specific book (and if it was well written and not too repetitive).

Writing/Voice: 4/4
Characters/Development: 3/2
Plot/Pace: 2/2
Heat: 2 (Way too much sex)
Stars: 2