Sparks is story of second chances, first and only loves, and learning to love yourself.

It’s a story that spans 17 years, and we as readers get to experience the first joys of young love and the sting of loss and to a degree, betrayal. The layout of the story is interesting. The teenage chapters are titled in a different way to the chapters set in 2013, so you instinctively know what time period you’re reading about. And these flashback chapters only last while Hugo and Kevin are getting reacquainted, to about half way through the book.

The teenage story has a feel of innocence that is lacking from the present. And that is only to be expected.

Hugo is jaded after one bad relationship too many. But while his personal life hasn’t worked out, he has followed his dream and is working in theatre. And he’s embraced that femme part of himself that he used to keep locked down.

Kevin is bisexual. In the flashback chapters I really felt for the teenage Kevin, under the thumb of a domineering father for whom he can do nothing right. Where the only time he can be himself is when he’s with Hugo. Hugo might be the actor but it’s Kevin who’s playing a part. And he’s still playing the part 17 years later. As an adult it’s harder to feel sympathy for Kevin. To remain married to a woman he no longer loves simply to please a man who didn’t deserve his respect or love, let alone years of his life. My initial reaction to that was ‘grow a pair, Kevin’. But his dad is dead when we meet him in the present and Kevin is finally making changes in his life. He embraces meeting Hugo again and re-establishing a relationship, but he’s naturally cautious about revealing the nature of the relationship to others. I don’t think this is out of any desire to remain in the closet but more because he’s concerned about the effect it may have on his access to his children due to his pending divorce.

Talking of the children, kids in romance stories are generally a sticking point with me, too perfect, or precocious, but the kids in this story were well-written and realistic.

The character I didn’t like I’m afraid was Summer. First the name wound me up, because, well it was summer and hot and I sometimes thought she was a season. I found she grated on me, the all-knowing fag hag, jumping up and down and getting defensive on Hugo’s behalf. The ‘oh you’re so perfect for me, if only you didn’t love the D’ thing she had going on. I instinctively didn’t like her, and never warmed to her over the course of the book.

The setting of the lake is very evocative. I wanted a house on the lake by the time I’d finished.

This is the first book in a trilogy, so not everything is wrapped up by the end but it’s a great start to chasing their HEA.

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Sparks is story of second chances, first and only loves, and learning to love yourself.

It’s a story that spans 17 years, and we as readers get to experience the first joys of young love and the sting of loss and to a degree, betrayal. The layout of the story is interesting. The teenage chapters are titled in a different way to the chapters set in 2013, so you instinctively know what time period you’re reading about. And these flashback chapters only last while Hugo and Kevin are getting reacquainted, to about half way through the book.

The teenage story has a feel of innocence that is lacking from the present. And that is only to be expected.

Hugo is jaded after one bad relationship too many. But while his personal life hasn’t worked out, he has followed his dream and is working in theatre. And he’s embraced that femme part of himself that he used to keep locked down.

Kevin is bisexual. In the flashback chapters I really felt for the teenage Kevin, under the thumb of a domineering father for whom he can do nothing right. Where the only time he can be himself is when he’s with Hugo. Hugo might be the actor but it’s Kevin who’s playing a part. And he’s still playing the part 17 years later. As an adult it’s harder to feel sympathy for Kevin. To remain married to a woman he no longer loves simply to please a man who didn’t deserve his respect or love, let alone years of his life. My initial reaction to that was ‘grow a pair, Kevin’. But his dad is dead when we meet him in the present and Kevin is finally making changes in his life. He embraces meeting Hugo again and re-establishing a relationship, but he’s naturally cautious about revealing the nature of the relationship to others. I don’t think this is out of any desire to remain in the closet but more because he’s concerned about the effect it may have on his access to his children due to his pending divorce.

Talking of the children, kids in romance stories are generally a sticking point with me, too perfect, or precocious, but the kids in this story were well-written and realistic.

The character I didn’t like I’m afraid was Summer. First the name wound me up, because, well it was summer and hot and I sometimes thought she was a season. I found she grated on me, the all-knowing fag hag, jumping up and down and getting defensive on Hugo’s behalf. The ‘oh you’re so perfect for me, if only you didn’t love the D’ thing she had going on. I instinctively didn’t like her, and never warmed to her over the course of the book.

The setting of the lake is very evocative. I wanted a house on the lake by the time I’d finished.

This is the first book in a trilogy, so not everything is wrapped up by the end but it’s a great start to chasing their HEA.

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Women's lit meets gay romance in this tepid tale of two high school lovers, one who acknowledges his true nature and the other in the closet because of an overbearing father. Since this is ground many other gay romances have trampled, Roberts makes one character a drag performer who hides this side of himself from his lovers. But even that tidbit can't pull this story out of the mediocre.

Hugo Thorson and Kevin Magnus explore their sexuality in secret during their junior and senior years of high school. Because his father is so strict, Kevin also has a public girlfriend on the side, much to Hugo's disappointment. When they head off to different colleges, they swear they'll stay in touch, but don't, drifting apart as many high school friends do.

Now Hugo's a successful actor and director who with a friend is part of a drag act that performs in clubs and at festivals. When Hugo's best friend Summer is dumped by her fiance, Hugo agrees to go to a cabin on Minnesota's Green Lake to help Summer get over her heartache.

There Hugo runs into Kevin again. In the intervening nineteen years, Kevin's gotten married, sired two children, and is in the middle of getting a divorce. True to romance tropes, Hugo and Kevin again fall madly in love, but Hugo doesn't tell Kevin about Miss Cherry Pie, his drag alter ego.

It doesn't take a genius to know that Kevin and Cherry will meet up one day, and this, and not Kevin's children or former wife, will become the deciding factor in whether Hugo and Kevin find their happily ever after.

Both Hugo and Kevin are fairly stereotypical gay romance characters: Hugo embraces his gayness while Kevin works his hardest to hide it. Both have typical parent problems: Hugo's father is dying of cancer while Kevin's is trying to micromanage his spineless son's life.

Read the rest of my review at AAR: http://www.likesbooks.com/cgi-bin/bookReview.pl?BookReviewId=9891 ( )