Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: This is Not a Horror Movie
AUTHOR: Sara Dobie Bauer
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 231 pages
RELEASE DATE: May 13, 2021
BLURB:
Emory Jones loves two things: horror movies and Connor Nichols.
For the past four years, Emory, Connor, and their families have vacationed side by side on Longboat Key, Florida. Eighteen-year-old Emory has pined for his neighbor from behind the covers of Stephen King books, but college boy Connor has never noticed him. Probably because Emory looks like Jack Skellington with good hair.
Emory anticipates another predictable summer of sunburn and disappointment. Instead, he ends up with a mystery on his hands when a beloved beach bum goes missing, and Connor volunteers to help with the search. Turns out it’s not just scary movie cops who are worthless, so the boys start an investigation of their own—leading them straight to an abandoned beach resort.
Despite the danger, Emory and Connor grow closer, but as Emory’s gay dreams start coming true, so do the horror movie tropes he so loves. Even though he knows that sex equals death in slasher flicks, Emory can’t keep his hands off the guy of his teenage dreams.
This is Not a Horror Movie is a 78,000-word new adult gay rom-com… with a monster.
REVIEW:
Emory and Liz Jones and their parents vacation at Longboat Key every summer. Next door, Connor Nichols and his parents vacation the same time every year as well – for the last 4 years anyway. Connor is two years older than the Jones twins who are looking forward to going to NYU in the fall. Emory has gotten a full scholarship and Liz of course can’t let him go off on his own – it’s a twin thing. So they are excited for their new “adult” life in NY to begin, but they have one more summer. Connor is a former football player, blond, buff and Emory’s crush for forever. But Emory’s never come out to Connor and so it’s a surprise when he does and Connor is thrilled about it. Seems like maybe Emory’s unrequited crush is not so unrequited 😉
Emory does have other things on his mind too, though. Leland, the local homeless guy who Emory has befriended, has gone missing and when Connor and Emory go to look for him, they find some evidence that maybe something bad has happened to him. But when they go to the local cops, the sheriff just tells them to stay away from the possibly haunted resort where they suspect Leland has been hanging out. And when they go back to check again, all the evidence seems to have vanished. Emory keeps hearing strange voices though and is sure that he’s seen red eyes looking at him. Despite all of these distractions, Emory and Connor find time to go out on some dates and get to know each other a LOT better 😉
Things continue to spiral as the previous resort owner comes to Emory saying that he knows what’s going on there and how he’s managed to keep everyone away, but now he needs Emory’s help. Connor is having none of this because he’s worried about Emory’s strange behavior at the resort and the force that keeps pulling him back. When Emory, Connor and Liz go to check things out though, Connor is injured which leads to a whole other problem. And the summer Solstice is coming and with it a final confrontation with the monsters that want to use them to gain their ultimate power.
This is the first book I’ve read by this author and it was a complete surprise. I’m not a horror fan, but was intrigued by the blurb of a horror rom-com 😀 Connor, Emory, Liz and their respective parents as well as the assorted secondary characters – Leland the homeless guy, Gerald the creepy Vincent Price look alike, Tabitha the new resort owner and Roberta, the owner of Ella the dog are all great characters. The romance between Emory and Connor is well written and I loved their awkwardness in realizing and acknowledging the change in their relationship and how they are trying to navigate a completely new dynamic. Emory’s lack of self-awareness was endearing rather than irritating. The humor is always there in abundance, but didn’t veer into the silly or absurd. I loved watching the guys go on their first date and I think the lack of graphic sexual scenes was most appropriate for the story that is being told and would have frankly been a real distraction from the story. I was worried that the story would run out of steam before we found out what was happening or that I wouldn’t care what happened to everyone, but actually just the opposite happened. I mean I knew that some characters were bad news from their introduction, but that’s how it works in these types of books 🙂 I absolutely adored Emory and Liz’s twin relationship. They were hilarious together and I really enjoyed Liz’s many hidden surprises 😀 Connor of course was a really good guy and his overprotective nature regarding Emory was completely warranted as Emory did have a habit of getting into trouble. Repeatedly. But all’s well that ends well and I thoroughly enjoyed this fun and clever romp through Longboat Key and the was cheering on our intrepid crew in their battle with the bad guys. Recommended if you’re at all a fan of horror movies, late bloomers and romantic comedies.
RATING: 
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