High school reunions usually evoke one of three reactions in people: total dread followed by a determination not to go, total enthusiasm and a "can't wait to go" frenzy of preparation, or disbelief it can have been that long and a memory of a particularly loved or hated person. Conrad the hilariously snarky narrator of this story, belongs to group number three. From the first sentence his memories, comments, and thoughts on "what to do" pulled me in, and I loved he unusual turn of events once he was at the reunion. Oh, and the man-on-man action? Totally hot!!!

If you like reunuion stories and prefer them with a twist, if you enjoy a snarky narrator, and if you're looking for a read that is as short, funny, and hot, then you will probably like this short story as much as I did. It's one of the best takes on a high school reunion I have ever read.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review. ( )

The twenty-five years in Rob Rosen’s delightfully snarky Twenty-Five Years are those between eighteen-year-old high school seniors and the forty-three-year-old graduates they become, attending a hopeless twenty-fifth reunion in the school gym. (The years in this story fall between 1989 and 2014.) Conrad decides to attend the reunion only to see what’s become of the man he fell in love with in high school and still can’t get out of his mind: president-of-the-class Todd Smith with his “runner’s calves, swimmer’s ass, and Adonis’s face.” Conrad and Todd shared one mutually satisfactory moment of mutual masturbation. After that, though, Todd abruptly cut Conrad out of his life.

The reunion at least brings Conrad some sweet revenge. He has kept his body youthful. “I still have all my hair, a narrow waist, few wrinkles, and a healthy bank account.” The years haven’t been so kind to his former classmates. “I grinned at their misfortune.” As for Todd, “There was aging badly and then there was this.” No wonder Conrad, despite his endless searches, hasn’t found any photos of Todd on the Internet. Conrad is admirably honest about these matters: “Call me shallow, but it’s much easier to tread in that end of the pool.”

The reunion brings another revelation. Gary, a member of the chess club Conrad presided over, shows up. “I was happy to see him. Happier still that the years had been kind to him too.” Gary admits he also had a crush on Todd, but he wanted another classmate even more. And the locker room where the long-ago tryst with Todd took place is just down a darkened hallway from the gym.

What a lovely story! ( )