Never

Tara Lain

Nov 2017 · Dreamspinner Press

About this ebook

A Pennymaker Tale

Wendell “Wen” Darling lives in a world of shoulds and musts. Left to care for his brother and sister by his dull drudge of a father and wacko irresponsible mother, he suppresses his creativity, slaving in an ad agency seventy hours a week, letting his no-talent supervisor take the credit.

Then his bosses blow the campaign for their biggest client and Wen gets a chance to shine—but only if he can find the artist who painted a wild, glorious wall of graffiti in the subway. Hiding behind a pillar at 2:00 a.m., Wen comes face-to-face with the scarlet-haired, elven-faced embodiment of his divergent opposite—Peter Panachek, the flighty, live-for-today painter, singer, and leader of the rock group the Lost Boys. Everything Wen takes seriously, Peter laughs off, but opposites attract, even if their kisses always lead to battles. Peter’s devil-may-care persona hides a world of secrets, self-protection, and hidden fears, until the day a drug dealer, Vadon Hooker, threatens everything Wen holds dear. Guided by the mysterious Mr. Pennymaker, Peter has to choose between facing responsibility or burrowing even deeper into Neverland.

Ratings and reviews

This is a lovely retelling of the fairy tale of Peter Pan. It is always difficult to rewrite a well-known fairy tale. You don’t want to lose the essence of what the story is about, but you also want to give your own, and in this case, modern twist to it. Tara Lain managed all that perfectly. Reading her story, I got snippets of the classic inside my head. At the same time, I found new and surprising elements. The old adage of opposites attract is certainly true for Wen(dell) and Peter. Wen has brought up his younger sister, Michaela, and younger brother, John, from a very young age. His memories of being around his mother are ambiguous. He loved her free nature and spirits, but those were also the things he hated the most as she shunned her responsibilities towards her family. As a result, Wen does his utmost to do better with his siblings and has grown into a responsible, steadfast man. Peter is his opposite. Artistic, free-spirited and living every day as it comes. He doesn’t want to be tied down or taken care off. He is his own man. Tara Lain did a wonderful job bringing these characters to life. They started at the other end of the street, but slowly they met in the middle. Through Peter, Wen learns there is more than his job and making money albeit it for feeding his siblings. He can loosen up once in a while. Peter discovers that loving someone and taking care of them don’t have to be restrictive and stifling. I really liked their chemistry. Their interactions are not overly sexual, but I felt the connection through their actions and funny dialogues. Among the supporting cast, there are also great characters. John is a riot; Michaela is a very mature sixteen-year-old; The Lost Boys are super together with Samu as my favorite; and Tink? She speaks as quickly as her namesake flies. As always, Mr. Pennymaker appears in the story just at the right time. He is and always will be an oddball, but with his heart in the right place. Everything to help drifters finding their way home to each other. Neverland becomes Everland. This is the fourth installment of the Pennymaker tales. It can be read as a standalone.