Lone Star in Q&A with Josh Lanyon

Jul 27, 2012 ttg rated it really liked it

Shelves: m-m, reviews

This is a lovely holiday novella from Lanyon. The story focuses on professional ballet dancer Mitch, who returns to his Texas hometown under the guise of taking care of his deceased father’s affairs, but is really running from the realization that his lover of several years was cheating on him. But once he’s back, he faces more realizations, including a town that hadn’t forgotten about him, and a first love that wasn’t as over as he thought it was.

I’m a big fan of Lanyon’s works, including his C This is a lovely holiday novella from Lanyon. The story focuses on professional ballet dancer Mitch, who returns to his Texas hometown under the guise of taking care of his deceased father’s affairs, but is really running from the realization that his lover of several years was cheating on him. But once he’s back, he faces more realizations, including a town that hadn’t forgotten about him, and a first love that wasn’t as over as he thought it was.

I’m a big fan of Lanyon’s works, including his Christmas stories. (Beside Lone Star, the others are Icecapade and The Dickens With Love.) I like how Lanyon mixes his straight-forward, non-fluffy style with the warm themes often found in a holiday romance. (Love, redemption, forgiveness, home, family, and new beginnings.)

Lanyon’s storytelling usually mixes mystery with romance, so Lone Star really stands out for being a “straight-up” romance story (no crime to solve this time!) that follows two men reconnecting after years of separation. A lot of poignancy is added as Mitch comes to terms with his father’s death (and his father’s bitter feelings towards Mitch coming out and wanting to be a dancer), and also his struggles to understand his reignited feelings for Web (and the fears tied with it.)

At 26,000 words, it is a pretty fast read, but a very nice and warm one. (I may have been watching too much Longmire, but I kept picturing Web as a younger version of Robert Taylor, which was pretty yummy actually.) I really liked Web, and I liked how his easy-going nature seemed to balance and temper Mitch’s more high-strung and worried personality. It was easy to see that they had years of experience with each other, even with the twelve year gap between meetings.

For fans of Lanyon’s work, or for fans of contemporary m/m romance in general, this story may very easily warm up your holiday spirit.

And for those who have already read it, there is a nice Christmas Coda with Mitch and Web over at Lanyon’s blog. ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Jan 05, 2012 Melyna rated it liked it

Shelves: m-m

3.5/5.0 I enjoyed the story. My only complaint is the use of ya'll. (you all) I live 30 miles from Llano and enjoyed knowing the places he referenced in the story but the use of that word was not true to the region - well not for me anyway.
Other than that I think Mr. Lanyon weaves a wonderful tale and I look forward to reading more of his work. ...more

3 likes · Like · see review

Dec 11, 2012 Nightcolors rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, ebook, music-art, lgbtqi, contemporary, 2012, short, holiday

Read for m/m team bingo special holiday theme challenge.
3.5 - 4 stars. Hard to rate because I liked it a lot, but the story ended rather abruptly, I thought.

Like · see review