It is the second Tuesday of the month already, and that means the Super Duper Review Team has once again come up with a great review! @Gary L has come to let us know about a story that he immensely enjoyed. Why not check it out and come back and let us know what you thought! Also, if you are reading, don't forget likes and comments as they all are greatly appreciated!

No going back
by Robert Hugill

Reviewer: Gary L
Status: Complete
Word Count: 91,937

Since joining GA in 2023, Robert Hugill has posted some 12 stories totalling over a million words. He has rapidly gained a very solid reputation as a great storyteller and possibly his most popular tale has been No Going Back.

 One of the things most commented on is that the author writes using an exquisite English prose. No matter whatever the story, there is a simple pleasure in reading such well-written English. Moreover, as the stories are all set in England or Wales, there are delightful regional words which an older generation might just remember and are there to tease a younger one.

The second thing to stress is that Robert writes about, as one reviewer put it, “Ordinary mature men, with ordinary lives, getting on with the business of living.” (@summerabbacat) There are no billionaires, no luxurious lifestyles to fill the likes of me with envy, no stunning gym bunnies; no, here the emphasis is on how love can be found anywhere, for anyone, including middle-aged men.

We are taken into the very different worlds, at first sight, that is, of Owain and Colin. We hear Owain’s own account of being rejected by his religious family in Wales after coming out, and of how he survived that and flourished. Going home for a funeral he gradually reconnects with his past, and especially with his sister, who has her own journey to make. Interspersed with that, we have the story of Colin the builder, a very much put upon son and brother, who needs to escape from the emotional stranglehold put in place by his mother and sibling and, more importantly, to escape from his self-imposed closet.

Above all, for me, No going back is a delightful romance. The two men dance around their feelings for each other as if they were characters from a Jane Austen ball. There are no fancy clothes, though: just a pair of great blokes. There are moments of ‘will they, won’t they’, which makes the reader want to knock their heads together, but it is all part of the charm.

As one reader put it:

“Two ordinary guys in an extraordinary story make this tale unique.” (@Cane23)

And that sums it up perfectly.

Category: Fiction  Genres: General Fiction, Romance Sub-genres: Drama, Contemporary, Romance, Literary Fiction Tags: Maturing Adult, Middle-aged, Gay, Europe, Coming Out, Light-Hearted, Parents, Contemporary, Friendship, Coming Home, Found Family, Theatre, Small Town Rating: Mature