Book 96, 2022

[chez_jae]

Pulling His Wishbone by Julian Clearwater

My rating: 2 of 5 stars



Have just finished reading Pulling His Wishbone by Julian Clearwater. It's a Thanksgiving themed male/male romance. Main character is millionaire real estate mogul Dustin.

Dustin returns to his hometown to buy and demolish the local steel mill and make a killing off developing the land. He feels somewhat bad that the mill is the main employer in town, but he reckons the locals can get jobs elsewhere. Dustin hadn't counted on the feelings that reconnecting with his childhood friend, Riley, would stir in him. In a burst of generosity, Dustin plans a large Thanksgiving celebration for the town. Afterward, he and Riley share an intimate interlude. Confused by his feelings, Dustin pulls the trigger on the real estate deal. When everyone learns about it the entire town is dismayed. Riley, especially, feels betrayed, and now Dustin is desperate to fix everything before he throws away the only good thing he's ever had in his life.

The story was meandering along in an okay fashion, right up until the hotel keeper let himself into Dustin's suite and took it upon himself to go through Dustin's phone, thus learning what Dustin was really doing back in town. At that point, I mentally noped out, and it only got worse when Dustin went from cool, reserved millionaire to a scrambling hot mess, trying to fix everything because he suddenly realized he was in love with Riley and had been all along. It was a yawner, frankly. Characterizations were not done well, in my opinion, if only because both Dustin and Riley spent a good amount of time acting like teenage girls. Nothing against teenage girls--I was one, once--but I don't like seeing grown men act that way. Meh.

Favorite line: "I don't need your sympathy stuffy." // "It's not a sympathy stuffy. It's a peace...puffball."

And, to add insult to injury, here's the 'holding my breath' line:
Dustin felt oddly exposed beneath his gaze, and released a breath he did not realize he had been holding.

Reading this was a boring waste of my time. Two stars, and that's being generous.