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Blurb
What if youth wasn’t wasted on the young?
On the eve of his fortieth birthday, Ian Parker is looking for a reboot. He may be the proud owner of a trendy coffee shop in Austin called La Tazza Magica, but his love life has been MIA for years. During a trip to Denver with his best friend, Mark, Ian buys an enchanted chocolate from a mysterious candy store—then wakes up from a nap two decades younger. After the initial shock, Ian realizes a quirk of the universe has given him a second chance and, with Mark’s help, he devises a plan to start over.
With a new lease on life, Ian sets his sights on handsome architect Bartley James, a regular customer at La Tazza. He pursues Bartley as Ian’s twenty-one-year-old alter ego, Ryan, with decidedly unexpected results. Joining Ryan on his adventures are Matthew, the dreamy new barista, Jeremy, the geeky high-school math teacher, and Sam, the pizza delivery boy. Even as misunderstandings and expectations collide, Ian remains determined to right his past mistakes and find his off-ramp to happiness.
Review
I would strongly recommend that you read these books in order to fully appreciate the nuances. Brad does an amazing job of creating this “alternate” world with the Walsh brothers and laying out that time is very non-linear and to ignore all that history is silly.
Sure, technically this is a stand alone – but why? Just read the others – they’re great!
In this story we see – again – people making small decisions that have huge implications which can affect their lives (and other’s lives) and lots and lots of trivia.
I think that you are either a fan of the trivia – in this case old porn – or not – and the rapid-fire game-playing will either charm or repel you.
I find Brad Boney’s writing to be fascinating and I love his alternate world-view and though I wish he’d had a different game plan – one where our MCs spend some actual time together – I always enjoy the time I spend on his books.
This was not my favorite in the series – but still an excellent book.
4 of 5 hearts
