Dreamspinner Presents: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5867
Blurb
It will take all of Daniel’s charm and the prayers offered at the shrine to make Aero take a chance on the romance they both want.
Akiyoshi ‘Aero’ Kurokuma, author of the wildly popular manga, Ecos, lost his assistant when his best friend retired. After Aero collapses from exhaustion four years later, he is forced to run a contest for an assistant. Placing impossible rules on the contest, Aero is sure no one can win. But a winner emerges: a young man from America, Daniel Beck. The first time he lays eyes on Daniel, Aero realizes he’ll have a hard time hiding his attraction. Daniel is a perfect assistant, but it doesn’t help Aero see past the twenty-year age difference between them. It will take all of Daniel’s charm and the prayers offered at the shrine to make Aero take a chance on the romance they both want.
Review
In this short story we learn a lot about Japanese culture and some really interesting bits about the New Year and Manga. There is a teeny tiny romantic moment when Aero finally succumbs to the seduction attempts made by the much younger Daniel, but most of this is a little cultural lesson with a dash of romance.
I would have given it more hearts if it’d been longer. It felt like we got an info dump and the lovely story was just beginning –and then it was over. I really, really wanted to see more of Aero and Daniel together.
2.5 of 5 hearts
