Review: Housekeeping by Kim Fielding

Reviewed by SinChan
Housekeeping by Kim Fielding 
Dreamspinner Press
Short Story: 98pgs
3 Pants Off

Blurb:
When Nicky Hauser walks in on his restaurant-owner boyfriend having sex with a waiter, Nicky loses his lover, his job, and his home all in one night. Although he’s nearly thirty, he’s never settled on a true career, and he has nothing to show for his years with Tom. Depressed and unable to find work, Nicky ends up couch-surfing with friends until he lands a house-sitting gig for a wealthy family.

When Nicky’s clients discover that he loves to clean, demand for his services skyrockets. Word of mouth leads him to Spencer Cartwright, a busy computer consultant and a slob. Spencer and his wife divorced when he came out, but he’s never found the time or courage to settle down with a man. As Nicky sets Spencer’s house to rights, the two men find friendship. But Nicky’s past experiences make him wary of risking everything on love.

Review
The story mainly focuses on Nicky. He is at an all-time-low when his boyfriend cheats on him and he loses his job and house. He gets back on his feet with house sitting. Much later in the story, when Nicky has built a reputation among rich house owners as a house sitter, he gets together with Spencer. However, he is still too jaded because of his previous boyfriend, Tom, to try for a new relationship with Spencer.

Tom actually plays a big part in the story. However, the character is not fully developed. We don't know his side of the story regarding his past relationship with Nicky. The character himself is not really important but his role as the ex is critical and so he's mentioned a lot. I feel that if a character gets referenced a lot in the story, it's worthwhile to make the character three-dimensional with his own back-story.

I love that these are very ordinary characters with ordinary lives. Nicky is a very realistic character that many people can relate to. He struggles to find a direction in life and a career path. He has simple interests but none of them are extraordinary talents. Spencer doesn't stand out either. He's an all-around nice guy, but the story doesn't give a lot of his background info. There's not a lot of heavy feelings or drama in the book even though there could have been. It's a slow, romantic build up of Spencer and Nicky's relationship, which makes this story a cute fluffy read.

Overall, this is a sweet, romantic, short story that's a bit out of the norm with little character development but is still wonderful to read on a slow day.

3 Pants Off