Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: Jocular Press

Genre: Gay Romance 

Tags: Short Story, Emotion. **TW mentions of DV 

Length: 55 Pages 

Reviewer: Kazza

Purchase At: amazon, BookBub 

Blurb:

The sweetest summer love can have an edge of sour

Brighton in the summer is a great place to be for a young, gay man looking for a good time with no strings. Art student Joe is spending his vacation working in a fish-and-chip shop with a succession of cringey punning names, and enjoying casual, fun hook-ups. But something makes him want to take it slow with one regular customer, the quiet, gorgeous Steven.

It’s an exciting and emotional time when Steven returns Joe’s interest, and they begin to see each other more often. Steven is still reserved, and Joe isn’t practised in being boyfriend of the year—but there’s no mistaking the mutual attraction. Joe finds himself, for the first time in his life, wanting more from a relationship, and prepared to be what Steven needs.

The trouble is, Joe may not have all the facts to hand. Despite their growing love, Steven’s shy smile hides a dark secret, and his past is about to overshadow their sweet times together. Maybe they’ll both need to find the strength and care to have a future beyond this summer.

Author Note: this story has fun and a romantic happy ending, but there is also angst and struggle along the way, and it covers the themes of abuse (off-page, and not from the main character). Readers should bear this in mind if they may be triggered or distressed by these topics.

Review: 

I’ve read quite a few books by Clare London over the years and a number of those are shorter novellas. She never lets me down. Just over a year ago The Tourist became a favourite of mine. It was a novella and really well written by London, just like the well named Salt & Vinegar.

Joe is an Art History student who also works with his twin sister, Mandy, at one of the local fish and chip shops in Brighton. I’d say the name but Barry, the owner, keeps changing it. It costs a lot to change your business name, just saying, but whatever, the names are brilliant and kept me laughing throughout.

Joe has noticed a reserved, soulful guy that regularly comes in for the same order, one portion of chips with extra salt. While Joe is more about hooking up and having some fun, Mandy sees Joe’s interest and encourages him to have a proper crack at ‘chips, extra salt guy’. Maybe go out and have more than some fun with him and see where it leads. His name is Steven and they do indeed go out, going to a less popular pub, taking walks, connecting in quiet yet seemingly intimate ways. Joe is the primary voice and he is the one who talks about now, about the future. Steven is the one who tends to listen or ask Joe about himself. Then there is a little more via intimate body language. Steven actually doesn’t say much of anything about himself of any depth. It’s funny how some people can be quite surface level in their verbal communication, often for reasons, others missing the nebulous quality to it because what they want to see takes over and kind of fills in the missing data, at times incorrectly. I mean, Joe knew Steven was reserved but he put it down to him being shy and didn’t push. Didn’t ask more because he felt Steven’s detached communication was him being quiet.

This period of time when they are together is measured in weeks but also in shop names.

Over the following weeks, I saw Steven most nights. Fish You Were Here gave way to The Breakfast Chub, Eel Be Seeing You and finally A Tail of Two Fillets.

Then, one day, Steven comes in to the shop with a different aura or unusual demeanour and orders more – a second serve, with vinegar, and mentions it’s for another man. The bottom falls out of Joe’s plans and the feelings he has developed, the connection he thought was mutual between him and Steven.

Steven stops coming to the fish and chip shop and Joe is angry with him because he feels like a fool, how did he not know Steven had another man? And he misses him. The time can once again be measured in weeks and in shop name changes, including the awesome Trout and Proud.

Joe and Steven do reconnect a couple of times and Steven eventually shares his story because Steven needs to know the truth instead of his mind filling in missing pieces. When Steven says they can still see each other, Joe isn’t having that. He doesn’t want to be a secret. Once he knows even more, he doesn’t feel he has the ability to help Steven fully in the headspace that he’s in. Bless Joe for knowing the difference between enabling and help. Bless Mandy for having helpful resources so Steven can have a chance at sorting it out.

This 55 page story packs a lot in. Could it have been a longer story? Sure, and I would have read that, but it didn’t need to be. These 55 pages touched my heart, and that means it gets all the stars because that’s all a book can ever do to make me love it – move me in some way, and Salt & Vinegar did just that. 5 Stars!