Charlie Larkin has always wanted to own a vacation house, so when he gets a chance to buy a lakeside cottage he jumps at it.  He decides to spend some time cleaning the place up.  On the first day, his boyfriend Kenneth drops a bombshell on him he’s not sure he wants to get past.  Then he meets his sexy, mysterious neighbor, Booker, and he knows things are over with Kenneth.  He’s not counting on Booker’s secrets and Kenneth’s reluctance to let him go…

Bastards and Pretty Boys is a solid, enjoyable novella about second chances, unexpected connections, and the difference between love and obsession.  Charlie, with the good looks he doesn’t even notice, uncertainty about his life, and desire to find his place in the world, makes a very appealing hero.  I couldn’t help rooting for him, even when he started a relationship with Booker before fully breaking off the relationship he had with Kenneth.  It helped that Kenneth wasn’t much of a boyfriend, and was clearly very wrong for Charlie.  Mysterious, sexy Booker, with his dark secrets, was also a likeable hero.  His honesty and kindness toward Charlie made me root for him to move on from his past.  Much of the conflict in the story comes from Booker dealing with his past, and trying not to involve Charlie.  I liked the way they worked together, and their plan to solve the problem was actually pretty clever in its simplicity, although I’m sure they could have found a more by-the-book solution.