If your goal is to make me want to toss your book out the window within the first few pages, the key is to start it with a description of a woman wearing metaphorical devil horns because it's "that time of the month". Yes, hormonally driven mood swings can occur during a woman's cycle, but turning her into a stereotypical, fire-breathing harpy for shit and giggles is usually not a sign of good things to come.I did continue reading because I was already a quarter of the way through this short story and I have to admit that Zathyn Priest has a way with words. There were many, many laugh out loud moments for me which earned the book back some of the stars it lost. I liked Alex and his awkwardness (I am still the awkward fat girl so I related a little too much with him probably) but found his moods swung more than the hormonal receptionist's, whose characterisation continued to frustrate me. (She went from Godzilla with rage issues to sickeningly sweet and motherly in the blink of an eye. Those darn hormones. Grrr.) I liked Ric and his reaction to seeing how his actions had effected Alex even years later, but I didn't buy Alex going out with him or falling into bed with him so soon. On a positive note, 'Fuck-knuckle' is set to become part of my repertoire!I would have loved this if the only woman in the story hadn't had her reproductive system used as light relief, and if it had been longer, giving Ric and Alex time to get to know each other as adults before falling into bed with each other.
