Dead Boyfriends by John Dodds on 2014-08-08
Genres: Comedy, Paranormal, Romance
Pages: 40
Goodreads
Author Website
Some guys won't take “no” for an answer – even from beyond the grave.
Daisy Wentworth's life couldn't be better. For one thing she works as a gallery attendant who regularly has to deal with abusive visitors. For another, her opinion of herself as a “fat-arsed frump” pretty well summarises the state of her self-esteem. And not only has her latest boyfriend just died but now his ghost, and another three of her deceased lovers' ghosts, have taken up residence in her flat.
Things seem to be looking up when handsome businessman, Carl Simmons, falls for her. The only problem is that the jealous, vindictive, dead, exes are determined that “Mr. Businessman” won't have their girl.
All right, this was my first paranormal romantic comedy. As I feared, it just wasn’t for me. I thought I’d try it out. I’ve been forcing myself to leave my traditional fantasy bubble and have sadly found myself fleeing back to my favorite genre. Only a very, very few select authors have managed to get me to like something that isn’t fantasy. I know I know. I don’t like that side of my reading either. I’d like to be well rounded, so I’m up for trying new stuff. So my indifference to the book isn’t necessarily a reflection on the story or characters or writing. It’s merely the result of my personal tastes getting in the way.
I can’t find too much to fault in the book. Sure, there were some typos I noticed, a few odd sentences, and references to stuff I didn’t know (author is from UK). Regardless and objectively speaking, the story moved along and the characters were decent. But for this reader, it just wasn’t my cup of tea. I’m not interested in ghosts, I’ve never read a romantic book, much less romantic comedy. I don’t even enjoy all the romantic comedy movies out there. Maybe a tiny, tiny handful, but I find them mostly uninteresting. The book lived up to most of those movies. The romance moved along too quick for me. The humor wasn’t my style.
It’s only 40 pages, so it was a quick read and a good way for me to feel out the waters of another genre. I read it without getting distracted, which is a good thing. It did hold my attention. Sadly, I never laughed or smiled, which I thought I might. I admit I have a very warped sense of humor. Furthermore, it takes a lot to get me to laugh aloud, so others might enjoy the humor a bit more than me. To give an idea, I haven’t laughed aloud at a romantic comedy movie, even the few I liked.
With all that said, if you’re one who enjoys romantic comedies, I’d suggest checking this out. It had a bit of cuteness, love, discovery, and growth.
About John Dodds
I am the author of the Kendrick Chronicles crime novels. The first two books, Bone Machines and Kali’s Kiss, are available as audiobooks, produced by Blackstone Audio Inc. They are narrated by Robin Sachs, whose acting credits include Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Babylon 5, Galaxy Quest, Lost Word: Jurassic Park, and much more.
A volume of my short stories, Dr North’s Wound and Other Stories, is also available. All but one of them were published in magazines and websites, including The Horror Express, Fantastic Metropolis and elsewhere. Three of them received honourable mentions in The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror anthology series (edited by Ellen Datlow and Terry Windling). One was published in the Macallan/Scotland on Sunday competition anthology, Shorts V (Polygon), several in the UK magazine, The Horror Express, and one in the anthology, Old Blood, New Souls. Several of my stories have also been appearing in podcasts such as StarshipSofa, Pseudopod, Crimewav and, forthcoming, Tales to Terrify.
Dr North’s Wound came out on the StarshipSofa podcast, and that show was followed by a second one in which I am interviewed: show 177.
In 2011 Melange Books published my anthology of historical and supernatural romance stories, called Warriors and Wenches, under my pen name J.T. Macleod. A further story, Dead Boyfriends (paranormal romance) appears in an anthology by the same publisher, called Paranormal Dreams.
Leading British author Michael Moorcock so say: “John Dodds is one of the most promising new writers I have read for some time. I highly recommend his work.”
I am Scottish, and I live in Bulgaria.
