Friday review

Last month, Alex Barrow’s whole life imploded—partner, home, job, all gone in forty-eight hours. But sometimes when everything falls apart, better things appear almost like magic. Now, he’s back in his Michigan hometown, finally opening the bakery he’s always dreamed of. But the pleasure of opening day is nothing compared to the lonely and beautiful man who bewitches Alex before he even orders.

Corbin Wale is a weirdo. At least, that’s what he’s heard his whole life. He knows he’s often in a fantasy world, but the things he feels are very real. And so is the reason why he can never, ever be with Alex Barrow. Even if Alex is everything he’s always fantasized about. Even if maybe, just maybe, Corbin is Alex’s fantasy too.

When Corbin begins working at the bakery, he and Alex can’t deny their connection any longer. As the holiday season works its magic, Alex yearns for the man who seems out of reach. But to be with Alex, Corbin will have to challenge every truth he’s ever known. If his holiday risk pays off, two men from different worlds will get the love they’ve always longed for.

“Corbin,” Alex murmured. And he imagined that Corbin had been right when he said that a name gives power over the named. He imagined that he could speak Corbin’s name over and over until the man was his. “Corbin,” he said again, leaning closer.

Sometimes, I’m contrary when it comes to popular things like books or movies or TV shows. If everyone adores something, I tend to steer clear of it. I don’t really know why, maybe it’s an innate need in me to be different from everyone else and like more obscure things. Things that not everyone know about and that aren’t praised as though they’re the next big scientific discovery like life on earth.

So when everyone was gushing about The Remaking of Corbin Wale last year, I bought it…and didn’t read it. It’s been sitting on my virtual book shelf all year, collecting cyber dust, feeling unloved. Until a few days before Christmas, when I scrolled through my book folder in Dropbox to find something to read, and chose Corbin Wale.

And was completely blown away.

Corbin Wale is truly one of the most unique characters I’ve ever read. He lives in his own world, something that the rest of the world makes fun of him for, bullied him for in school and even as an adult. Adults in school told him he’s mentally ill, but he’s really not. He’s just different. Not raised as other people, he’s raised without boundaries and without rules, and doesn’t conform well to the rules when he encounters them. He’s been taught to believe in magic, and he knows it’s real.

Alex is just what Corbin needs. He’s instantly drawn to Corbin and it’s much more than attraction. And where other people are rude to Corbin and dismiss him as crazy, Alex listens and believes in him. He’s patient and takes his time wooing him, afraid to scare him off.

The Remaking of Corbin Wale is 218 pages of pure magic. The language, the characters, the plot, everything is crafted with skill. The simplest words are woven together in a magical way that tugs at my heart and make me cry or smile or despair. The book is so full of emotion, I couldn’t keep it inside. “Get me my cuddly elephant,” I sobbed to my husband when my heart poured out of my eyes, and when he gave it to me, I hugged it tightly until I finished the book.

Panic gripped Alex as he stared at the empty space and his own outstretched hands. He didn’t know what he’d done, but it had ripped Corbin from him, turning intimacy to distance, and pleasure to fear. He’d reached for something gossamer, and he’d shredded it with rough hands. The most beautiful kiss he’d ever shared had turned to dust in his mouth.

The story is beautiful, the writing is beautiful, and the characters are beautiful. I’m sorry that my words aren’t enough to convey how deeply I loved this book, you just have to trust me when I say I give it my warmest recommendations.