Dinner at the Happy Skeleton by Chris Chalmers

From Amazon

Dan is the kind of gay man for whom the Noughties might have been named. Warm, witty and serially promiscuous, his heart melts at the sight of a chocolate brown Labrador — but with men, it’s a different matter. He’s thirty-nine and as single as ever, not counting the couple he just met online. An arrangement that looks oddly like it’s going somewhere, until Dan gets fired from his job in advertising.

With time out and a payoff in his pocket, summer presents a world of possibilities; just as the memories surface of the ex he blames for the thinly-veiled chaos of his life.

From London to Ljubljana, a yen for closure sets Dan on the trail of the man who fed his ego into a shredder. Through an eerie encounter at the home of the Olympiad and a sleepover at the Dutch Embassy, run-ins with a fading porn star and the celestial manifestation of Margaret Thatcher, he ultimately confronts his past. Until, with his Big Four-O rapidly approaching, destiny beckons from where he least expects it.

My thoughts

I was given a copy of this to read in exchange for an honest review from the Author via The Book Club on Facebook (one of the best kept secret Book Clubs on Facebook ~ lol).

I gave this a 4 star or 8/10.

This is a genre that I've not read much of before as it's a story that centres around relationships between men. It's a modern style rom-com between men, it also delivers more than that too.

Dan's life is turned upside down when he's fired from his job. Instead of looking for something straight away, he decides to take some time and reflect on his life. At the age of 39, he's single and looking for ... whatever he can get it would seem.

He's a serial dater and user of an online dating website, he's happy to hook up with more than one person at once. He's looking for Mr Right and sadly, he's been wallowing in the shadow of an ex. As memories of the ex come to the front and he appears to be everywhere that Dan is, he has to learn to step out of the shadow and move on, as one never knows when the next love of our life will appear.

Only fate knows this and only fate can set in motion the cogs that need to turn in order for Dan to meet his next love.

Well written, this is a quirky contemporary read. Hugely recommendable this is a great story to escape into.