SUNBURNS AND SUNSETS

SUNBURNS AND SUNSETS by Brigham Vaughn

Pages: 37

Date: 16/05/2014

Grade: 5-

Details: Story

Own / Kindle

The blurb:

“Best friends, Eric Carver and Kris Strider have always shared everything. Except for Eric’s growing attraction to Kris. On a camping trip to celebrate the end of the school year a sunburn leads to fooling around and neither are sure what it means. Kris is certain he likes girls but his sudden attraction to Eric can’t be denied. He’s completely fine with his best friend being gay, but now that he knows Eric wants him, he isn’t sure what to do about it. Eric thought all he wanted was to fool around with his friend, but when it starts to feel like something more, he isn’t sure what to do. Are his feelings for Kris worth risking twelve years of friendship?” 

My thoughts:

Brigham Vaughn is an author I discovered about a month ago when I read and loved ‘The French Toast Emergencies’. So when another of her stories became available on Amazon today I had to pick it up immediately. They say first impressions are important and often accurate; this book proves that. This author has the amazing and quite enviable ability of bringing two characters to fully fledged life in a small amount of pages with well chosen, beautiful and effective words.

‘Sunburns and  Sunsets’ is a wonderful and charming friends to lovers story. Kris and Eric have been friends for years. When Eric came out to Kris he accepted the fact without a second thought; the friendship didn’t change at all. The only thing Kris doesn’t know is that Eric had been attracted to him for a few years now. But, convinced that Kris is strictly heterosexual, Eric has been keeping those feelings hidden away.

When then the two young men go camping together for a week a mild case of sunburn leads to sexual exploration. And while it is definitely a case of all his dreams coming true for Eric he can’t help worrying that this is just a game for Kris and something that might affect their friendship once the week is over.

In thirty-seven pages Brigham Vaughn managed to give me a clear picture of Eric and Kris and their friendship. Not only that, she made the transition from friends to lovers believable and sweet. The issues both men try to figure out for themselves once their relationship changes were realistic and I loved that their years’ long friendship was strong enough for them to deal with those worries. The transition in the men’s relationship felt natural and unforced. Given the length of the story that is one achievement I’m really impressed with.

This is definitely a feel-good read. There is some angst but nothing too elaborate. The writing was beautiful and flowed with ease. All in all, this book confirmed what I already suspected when I finished ‘The French Toast Emergencies’; I’ve found myself another ‘must read’ author.