Perfect Day (Wyatt & Graham, #1) in Q&A with Josh Lanyon

May 28, 2012 Ami rated it really liked it

Shelves: mm-short-stories, 4-and-half-stars_rating

4.5 stars
Sometimes you cannot help to fall in love with someone who is wrong ... like one who can't love you back. Wyatt has been seeing Graham, who lost his partner three years ago after hit-and-run accident. Graham hasn't been over Jase -- but Wyatt can help to fall in love with him anyway. He tries to not say it, because he knows what to expect. But over a heat of the moment, those three little words are said anyway ... But Graham cannot return Wyatt's affection, right? So what should Wyatt d 4.5 stars
Sometimes you cannot help to fall in love with someone who is wrong ... like one who can't love you back. Wyatt has been seeing Graham, who lost his partner three years ago after hit-and-run accident. Graham hasn't been over Jase -- but Wyatt can help to fall in love with him anyway. He tries to not say it, because he knows what to expect. But over a heat of the moment, those three little words are said anyway ... But Graham cannot return Wyatt's affection, right? So what should Wyatt do next?

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When he wrote about this little story in his blog, Josh Lanyon said, "But it’s such a simple story. Really…not much happens in it at all.. I say, PHOEEY, WHAT AN UNDERSTATEMENT!! I feel so moved with this story, a lot more than some of the longer novels I have read so far.

Within 8,000 words, Josh was able to capture such complicated nuances about love and acceptance and closure. It's not an easy feature, which makes this story (borrowing one reviewer's words) a close to perfection. Even when the scene is only Wyatt and Graham are going camping in such a perfect day, but we get everything we need to know, written amazingly from Wyatt's first person point of view. We know how they meet, how Wyatt fall in love, his insecurities since Graham's doesn't return his love back and inner contemplation about what he should do next.

However, at the same time, we also understand why Graham clings so hard to the notion that he "shouldn't" move on, the survivor's guilt, the fact that he can be happy but not with Jase, anger over Jase being taken away from him in a blink of an eye, and later his contemplation about what Wyatt could mean for his life.

The only reason for me not giving it 5-stars is a later bit of "deus ex machina" plot; an unexpected intervention that leads to the final conclusion. It's quite a common plot for this kind of issue, so I wish it has been explored differently. That's the only niggle that stops it from being perfect, personally.

It's still a thoughtful story, one that makes you care about what's going on with the lives of the characters. I know that Josh Lanyon is taking a sabbatical ... but if he comes up once in awhile with short story as beautiful as this, I truly have no complaint. ...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Suzanne (Doppleganger) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: romance, ebook, favorites

It's hard to believe this was only 28 pages! I'm going to call Perfect Day a 'condensed story' instead of a 'short story', because there's gotta be at least 200 pages worth of plot distilled into this little book. ...more

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May 30, 2012 Didi rated it liked it

Shelves: m-m

The problem with this story is it's way too too short. Which, imho, made the (emotional) connection between Wyatt and Graham not there enough. It's an appropriate title though: an imperfect turned Perfect Day . ...more

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