Review: Shiny Things by Amy Spector

Author: Amy Spector

Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing

Pages/Word Count: 67 Pages

Rating: 4.5 Stars

Blurb: A story from Boughs of Evergreen: A Holiday Anthology (proceeds go to The Trevor Project).

At sixteen, Nathaniel Avery was shipped off to live with an aunt in hopes of quelling a budding relationship between him and another boy. Ten years later, a frantic call from his younger brother and his father’s failing health, brings him back home.

Two weeks before Thanksgiving and the most important day in Vincent Cooke’s career, he nearly collides with the grown version of the boy he never really forgot.

Will a gallery renovation, the holiday season and the art of a mad genius help them to rebuild a friendship and rekindle a romance?

Review: Shiny Things is a gorgeous story. A beautiful slow burn. I really love both friends-turned-more, and second chance stories, and Amy Spector does such a fantastic job of weaving together both of those things here.

Nathaniel Avery gets called back to his childhood home in Ohio to help his younger brother deal with their ailing father, and their father’s business. While working on a renovation project for a local gallery, Nathaniel runs into Vincent Cooke, who was his tenth-grade biology partner and best friend. Vincent was also the boy with whom Nate shared a steamy kiss, which was unfortunately witnessed by his father. Because of that kiss, Nathaniel’s small-minded father shipped him off to live with his aunt, and managed to keep him out of Vincent’s life…until now.

Vincent and Nathaniel end up spending a lot of time together while getting the gallery ready for a big show, and over the course of that time, they learn a lot about forgiveness, getting back a friendship they once both thought was lost, and discovering that their attraction to each other had not faded. First loves are special. They can never be truly forgotten, and sometimes, given the opportunity, they can come back to you. Nathaniel also has the chance to get to know his brother Caleb again, and gets another kind of second chance with his father. There are some wonderful moments surrounding Thanksgiving and the gallery show opening that are soooo touching and swoony. Loved, loved, loved it.

Another lovely story from Boughs of Evergreen: A Holiday Anthology, the proceeds of which go to the Trevor Project. So, grab a copy! And you can read and re-read Shiny Things by Amy Spector. I thoroughly enjoyed this sweet, feel-good holiday read! :)

You can buy Shiny Things here: