A Christmas Cactus for the General (Angel Martinez)
Teer is an Irasolan General who gets exiled to Earth (and he lands in Anchorage) because he fails his mission. Earth is so much different than his planet, but Teer learns to adapt and live among humans. He gets a work as a florist assistant at Benson's where every Friday, one customer comes to buy purple hyacinth ... Bruce is a seaplane pilot who lost his partner in an accident. He comes to Benson's to buy flowers to be put on his partner's grave every Friday and becoming quite aggravated with the pansy twink behind the counter....
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Stupid little story, made me teary eyed!!
I am not a fan of sci-fi related story but I am quite familiar with Angel Martinez's writing and this story was recommended by my friend who practiced 'tough love' when it came to rating books (*wink at Irene*). Well, I guess the joke was on me because I ended up LOVING this story so much!!
I loved Teer so much -- I was emotionally sympathized with him and I could feel his loneliness. He's a general in his planet and here he is, in a place that is totally different with how home used to be. It's strange place, full of water, customs that are so different, and Teer also needs to learn about human. It must be quite a struggle for him! I could imagine Teer in his apartment, watching TV and browsing the Internet, learning things that puzzle him so he will not make a mistake. I was championing for him so much (I could totally understand why Teer's boss, Molly, seemed to be very protective of him). Even if Teer is a General and he could definitely protect himself, but still, I fell in love with this little alien.
Bruce at first was totally being grumpy and rude towards Teer (I didn't really understand why, though) but then they struck friendship. I loved the slow-burn romance here; again, it started with friendship since they both connected in that 'lonely' level of their lives: Teer being an exiled alien and Bruce being practically a widower.
I liked that Bruce found out about Teer being an alien early in the friendship though, because it eliminated the drama of him finding out later. I loved reading that part of Bruce trying to teach and introduce Teer to new foods, different customs (Teer learning about being able to bring home the leftovers from restaurant was adorable), and later the way to make love with one another. And of course there was that one scene near the end that just almost made me cried (like I said, stupid little story *sniff*)
If there were a couple of little things that bothered me it would be Bruce's rudeness towards Teer in the beginning. At first I thought it was because he was in the closet, and he hated Teer for being 'too blatant' with his colorful clothes and gloves. But then I found out that he didn't exactly hide his sexuality. So was it because Bruce already attracted to Teer and he didn't want the little 'guy' to get gay bashed or something? It was one small thing that just confused me a bit.
AND, I also couldn't wrap my brain around one thing ... it had to do with Teer's being an alien [ (show spoiler) ] ... my brain just creeped out!! I know, it shouldn't be a problem, but my brain works differently than you guys who like/enjoy these things *lol*
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Stupid little story, made me teary eyed!!
I am not a fan of sci-fi related story but I am quite familiar with Angel Martinez's writing and this story was recommended by my friend who practiced 'tough love' when it came to rating books (*wink at Irene*). Well, I guess the joke was on me because I ended up LOVING this story so much!!
I loved Teer so much -- I was emotionally sympathized with him and I could feel his loneliness. He's a general in his planet and here he is, in a place that is totally different with how home used to be. It's strange place, full of water, customs that are so different, and Teer also needs to learn about human. It must be quite a struggle for him! I could imagine Teer in his apartment, watching TV and browsing the Internet, learning things that puzzle him so he will not make a mistake. I was championing for him so much (I could totally understand why Teer's boss, Molly, seemed to be very protective of him). Even if Teer is a General and he could definitely protect himself, but still, I fell in love with this little alien.
Bruce at first was totally being grumpy and rude towards Teer (I didn't really understand why, though) but then they struck friendship. I loved the slow-burn romance here; again, it started with friendship since they both connected in that 'lonely' level of their lives: Teer being an exiled alien and Bruce being practically a widower.
I liked that Bruce found out about Teer being an alien early in the friendship though, because it eliminated the drama of him finding out later. I loved reading that part of Bruce trying to teach and introduce Teer to new foods, different customs (Teer learning about being able to bring home the leftovers from restaurant was adorable), and later the way to make love with one another. And of course there was that one scene near the end that just almost made me cried (like I said, stupid little story *sniff*)
If there were a couple of little things that bothered me it would be Bruce's rudeness towards Teer in the beginning. At first I thought it was because he was in the closet, and he hated Teer for being 'too blatant' with his colorful clothes and gloves. But then I found out that he didn't exactly hide his sexuality. So was it because Bruce already attracted to Teer and he didn't want the little 'guy' to get gay bashed or something? It was one small thing that just confused me a bit.
AND, I also couldn't wrap my brain around one thing ... it had to do with Teer's being an alien [ (show spoiler) ] ... my brain just creeped out!! I know, it shouldn't be a problem, but my brain works differently than you guys who like/enjoy these things *lol*
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