More Than Everything

by Cardeno C.

MORE THAN EVERYTHING is a sexy, heartbreaking, romantic and fun story told through scrapbooking, of all things.

Charlie decides to start a scrapbook of his life and, in doing so, shares the stories that got him to where he is currently. The scrapbook starts from Charlie's teenage years with his first love, Scott. Their relationship grows and develops and, as most teenage romances do, falls apart.

A little later in life, Charlie is lucky enough to get a second chance at love with Adan. Their relationship is more mature but not as pure and simple as Charlie's relationship with Scott. This second relationship, sadly, is also doomed and fated to end. Charlie considers himself lucky that he had two chances at love in his life, but is also a tad bitter that both chances came at such a young age for him.

Years later, when Charlie discovers that Scott and Adan have found their way to each other and are in a committed relationship, he is crushed. What he doesn't realize is that neither Scott nor Adan has ever stopped loving him and they have a plan for their relationship.

The perspective of this story was unique, but sometimes distracting for me. There is a steady jump back and forth between real time and the past, and the narrator changes between the three main characters in the past scenes. Other than that, I found this story completely and utterly enjoyable. It had a lot of elements that make stories enjoyable for me--strong but flawed characters, deep emotions, non-traditional relationships, and lots and lots of love.

There are some interesting and challenging family dynamics that play a large part in defining who these three men are as adults. Charlie, Scott and Adan all take unique journeys that lead them to a strong, though unexpected, endpoint. I enjoyed the characters and the story immensely.