Title: I Take Thee
Author: Zoe Nichols
Publisher: http://www.torquerebooks.com
Genre: Contemporary GLBT (M/M)
Length: Short story (17 pages, 7300 words)
Rating: 4.50 stars out of 5
THE BLURB
Sid has been waiting for his boyfriend, Jake, to get out of rehab for five months. He’s planning a celebration, knowing Jake will want to get right back to his old ways. Jake surprises Sid, though, with a clean slate and a bended knee. Can Sid deal with trying to get clean and plan a wedding, or will he find it impossible to change?
THE REVIEW
Sid was so happy waiting to welcome Jake home from rehab. He had joints and a stash of drugs that he had been saving for their celebration. Everything was on track and he was smoking – literally – when Jake walked in the door and crashed the party!
It seemed that while in rehab Jake had decided to stay clean and he wanted two things – the first was that Sid would quit the drugs, and his second wish depended on the success of the first. He asked Sid to marry him but the marriage would only take place if he quit. Sid was devastated. He had been on drugs since he was 15 and he was now 28. He didn’t know a world without drugs and he couldn’t quit, could he? On the other hand, if he didn’t he would lose Jake and his life would be over. Which was worse?
When I started reading this book I never expected it to take me on such a journey. I had read a couple of short stories by Zoe Nichols before, but they didn’t prepare me for I Take Thee. This story had so much depth that I could feel Sid’s heart breaking when he realized the consequences if he didn’t quit drugs and get clean. What followed was the reason why I love to read. In 17 short pages I Take Thee did what a lot of writers can’t do in 70. This book demonstrated what excellent writing is all about: The emotion, the pain and ultimately the joy of loving which transcends everything. Kudos to Zoe Nichols for a wonderful story.
The proceeds from this Wedding Sip will be donated to gay and lesbian legal defense funds supporting the rights of gay marriage.
Holy heck, I forgot all about these. I got the whole set, but only read Josh Lanyon’s and Sean Michael’s stories. Must go find file.
You know its bad when your TBR stack is so deep, you don’t even remember what’s in it anymore.
Hi Emmy
I can relate to the size of the TBR pile and in my case I not only have to read the stories but I have to review them as well, yes even the terrible stories (thanks to you). *g*
I have read about 1/3 of the stories and can’t review them all because there are 21 of them, but I have reviewed this story by Zoe Nichols because I thought the writing was remarkable. I also reviewed First A Dance by Dakota Flint which I also loved, again b/c of the writing! Here’s the link to the review
http://reviewsbyjessewave.blogspot.com/2008/10/first-dance.html
I haven’t read that one yet but I’ll keep an eye out for it. Its hard to keep them all straight for me. LOL
Hi Tam
When I bought the Wedding Sip package I really didn’t expect this quality of writing. Some of the stories are terrific and I Take Thee is one of them.
I’ll confess I haven’t loved all of the ones I’ve read so far, but with 21 stories I suppose that would be pretty fantastical to like all of them equally. Still its kind of fun to read alot with a theme like that and the different take on the theme, not necessarily all of them about the main character getting married, but involving marriage somehow.
Hi Wave,
Excellent review as always. I also loved this book, and totally agree with you that it packed a lot of great story into such few pages. Definitely one of the best of the Wedding Sips 🙂
Lily
Thanks Lily. I appreciate the comments. Sometimes I wonder if it’s just me when I have strong feelings about a book and it’s great to get validation from you.
Tam I haven’t read them all because I bought the Wedding Sip because it supported a great cause and to enjoy at my leisure. I’ll probably finish them up over the holidays.
I had decided not to buy this one since on the Torquere website I counted at least 3 spelling, punctuation, and grammar errors just in the opening paragraph of the excerpt sample. It didn’t look as if it had been edited.
Hi
TQ has a reputation among readers of not being “excellent” in the editing department, but I buy their books bc a lot of my favourite authors (Sean Michael, Chis Owen etc.) use this publisher.
This story, “I Take Thee,” shone despite the errors which is why I posted the review.