10 Things That Never Happened by Alexis Hall
Published by Sourcebooks Casablanca
Publication Date 17th October 2023
Book Description:
FAKE AMNESIA. REAL FEELINGS? REAL PROBLEMS.
Sam Becker loves-or, okay, likes-his job. Sure, managing a bed and bath retailer isn't exactly glamorous, but it's good work and he gets on well with the band of misfits who keep the store running. He could see himself being content here for the long haul. Too bad, then, that the owner is an infuriating git.
Jonathan Forest should never have hired Sam. It was a sentimental decision, and Jonathan didn't get where he is by following his heart. Determined to set things right, Jonathan orders Sam down to London for a difficult talk...only for a panicking Sam to trip, bump his head, and maybe accidentally imply he doesn't remember anything?
Faking amnesia seemed like a good idea when Sam was afraid he was getting sacked, but now he has to deal with the reality of Jonathan's guilt-as well as the unsettling fact that his surly boss might have a softer side to him. There's an unexpected freedom in getting a second shot at a first impression...but as Sam and Jonathan grow closer, can Sam really bring himself to tell the truth, or will their future be built entirely on one impulsive lie?
My Thoughts:
I bought this book purely because the first page had me chuckling out loud in the middle of my local Waterstones store, much to the embarrassment of my daughter. The sentence in particular that caught my eye: "It probably says good things about modern Britain - or maybe just about modern Liverpool - that when I was growing up, I got way less shit for being gay than I got for being named after a hobbit." - I mean, that's got to pique your interest, right?!
Sam's job is unfortunately far less interesting than his name, but the story that Alexis Hall has created about being in the employ of Jonathan Forest, aka His Royal Dickishness, had me chuckling along throughout its entirety. Where Sam has a serious lack of a support network in his life, Jonathan has more than enough unwanted familial attention, much to his annoyance. The balance is reset during a visit to Jonathan's "flagship" Croydon branch of Splashes & Snuggles with a misunderstanding which ends in a Nexa by MERLYN 8mm Sliding Door Shower enclosure. A visit to A&E and a journey to fetch Sam's rather quirkily featured cat, Gollum, mean that Sam and Jonathan - and indeed the whole of the Forest family - end up spending far more time together than any of them could have envisaged.
This is a book I would have loved to have closed the door, wrapped myself in a blanket, and immersed myself in from cover to cover. There are some deeper issues along the way, but these are handled without getting too heavy - the Liverpudlian humour lifts the whole story, and the outcome is spot on. The characters are fabulous, from incompetent Brian and New Enthusiastic Chris at the Sheffield store, to Jonathan's nana Pauline and her new toyboy boyfriend Ralph , plus just about every member of the Forest clan. There's plenty going on in the run up to Christmas whilst Sam does his best to keep up with the fake amnesia condition which caused him to be there in the first place.
If you'd have told me that my first book of 2024 would have been a gay romance novel, I would have doubted you very much, but I'm so pleased it was as it has been a huge hit. I absolutely recommend you give Alexis Hall's novels a try if you haven't already. Writing humour is an art in itself and to keep it going through a whole (almost) 400 page novel is an exceptional talent. Thank you Mr Hall, you have a new fan right here.
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