“Yes. Let’s do that. Exchange numbers, go on another date. Yes.”
In a word: Read the thing.
The Summary: (from Goodreads) Every time it seems like things are looking up for Eugene Kraft, disaster hits. Bankruptcy, a bigoted sibling, and a back-breaking accident have all left him with little money and less faith in the universe.
His last-ditch effort at peace is the small lakeside property where he is building a tiny house from recycled materials. If he can get it livable before the cold sets in, maybe he’ll be okay. Hopefully Cullen, the foreman on the construction site next door, won’t notice Eugene pilfering discarded materials from his dumpster.
When Cullen stops by to talk to Eugene, he’s sure the gig is up—but all Cullen wants is a date. Can two things go right in Eugene’s life? At first it seems possible. Projects on Eugene’s house are getting completed by what he dubs “construction elves” while he’s off site. But like Eugene predicted, his good fortune can’t last, and soon he has a tough choice to make: give up his home… or the man of his dreams.
[available for purchase from Dreamspinner Press, Amazon.ca, Chapters, and Barnes & Noble; also available as part of the Dreamspinner Press 2017 Advent Calendar set]
- So I just needed this to be longer. I NEED MORE OF THIS OKAY???
- Eugene is a stubborn SOB who is trying to build a house nearly completely out of used building material. Handily there’s a house being remodeled right next door so he has a fairly good supply to work with. Though this aspect honestly reminds me of the time my brothers tried to do something similar when they were younger. Though what they mostly had to work with was pallets so what they built wasn’t exactly livable, but was still pretty cool.
- Though Eugene does have far better luck in that department.
- This story takes place in Canada, and I knew this for sure even before Eugene names the town of Sudbury because he mentions very early on that the guys working the construction site show up every morning with coffee from Tims.
- Also Eugene ends up in the hospital at one point and, even though he’s basically broke, he never once worries about medical bills. Canada♪
- Cullen is pretty great, but I feel like we don’t get much insight into him since the story is pretty short and is definitely Eugene’s story. I liked him, though, great guy.
- Actually pretty much everyone in the story are great guys and they all get along well with each other.
- Except for Eugene’s older brother Steve (who isn’t actually in the story) who is a bigoted twat who basically created the majority of Eugene’s money problems. I’m not actually sure why Eugene never tried to sue him for all the shit he pulled, surely he’d have legal grounds there?
- Eugene’s ‘pet’ crow was an odd but still funny addition to the story.
- This story is great and I really enjoyed it. It gets especially heartwarming and sweet near the end. Great read.
[Eugene and the Box of Nails was published December 1, 2017, by Dreamspinner Press; it is available only as an ebook]
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