Day 19
Reviewed by Dennis
TITLE: Coming of Age
AUTHOR: Venona Keyes
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 32 Pages
BLURB:
Akiyoshi ‘Aero’ Kurokuma, author of the wildly popular manga, Ecos, lost his assistant when his best friend retired. After Aero collapses from exhaustion four years later, he is forced to run a contest for an assistant. Placing impossible rules on the contest, Aero is sure no one can win. But a winner emerges: a young man from America, Daniel Beck. The first time he lays eyes on Daniel, Aero realizes he’ll have a hard time hiding his attraction. Daniel is a perfect assistant, but it doesn’t help Aero see past the twenty-year age difference between them. It will take all of Daniel’s charm and the prayers offered at the shrine to make Aero take a chance on the romance they both want.
REVIEW:
Venona has a cute story about a May – December relationship between Aero the author and artist of the popular manga (comic) Ecos, and the young Daniel who has been infatuated with Ecos ever since he was a young child. While growing up, Daniel wrote to and corresponded with Aero. Sota, Aero’s oldest friend and ex-assistant decides that Aero needs a new assistant and comes up with the idea of creating a contest to find one. When they find the winner they discover it’s the young child Daniel but he is no longer a child but a young attractive man.
The story is cute, short and has a lot of potential but it never really grabbed a hold of me. I think the thing that lost me was not really knowing what a manga or some of the other terminology used and not really being told what it was but rather having to just figure it out by reading further into the story.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
It is a cool premise…
Sounds like an interesting read.