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Blue Valentine Blues
When Josh put a blue valentine in the class box for Bobby Prentice in fifth grade, he just wanted to show how much he appreciated his best friend. Years later, both the ridicule he suffered and his unrequited feelings for Bobby have followed him to the university where they both teach. Bobby would like to say many things to his friend, but he doesn’t know if he can find the courage in himself that he admires in Josh.
A part of the "A Valentine Rainbow" set of 14 holiday stories. Get all 14 stories on Feb. 1 when you purchase the set.
A part of the "A Valentine Rainbow" set of 14 holiday stories. Get all 14 stories on Feb. 1 when you purchase the set.
37 pages, ebook
First published February 4, 2014
About the author
Ken Bachtold
8 books6 followersKEN BACHTOLD graduated from San Francisco State University with a BA and an MA in acting and directing and a minor in art. Passing up a great teaching job and surrendering to the “lure of the big-time,” he came to New York. After pounding the pavement and finding it wanting, he decided to shape his own destiny and founded A Company of Players Repertory Theatre, producing and directing five plays, including J.M. Barrie’s Dear Brutus. For The Drama Committee, he directed several plays including Oscar Wilde’s An Ideal Husband and A Woman of No Importance. He wrote and directed the musical Saloon, based loosely on The Drunkard, which opened a brand-new dinner theater in New Jersey and received rave reviews. Being accepted at the BMI Musical Comedy Class, he wrote The Facts of Life. Two other original musicals include Boo! and Dilemma!
He acted in and directed many shows for Frank Calo’s ongoing Spotlight On Festivals, Inc., including Jean Anouilh’s Antigone. More recently he wrote and directed the gay-themed original play Starting Over, accepted for the Ninth Annual Fresh Fruit Festival.
Always an avid reader, his two-year-old Kindle currently stores 400 books, mostly MM romance. Often frustrated at finding exactly the type of story he favored, he thought, What the hell, I should write one. And so he did! He dipped his foot in the literary pond by self-publishing. Growing more hopeful, he was profoundly delighted when Seeing the Same Blue was accepted for publication by Dreamspinner Press. Then came Blue Valentine Blues, part of the Valentine Anthology, and now, All By Myself. He hopes you like them all!
He acted in and directed many shows for Frank Calo’s ongoing Spotlight On Festivals, Inc., including Jean Anouilh’s Antigone. More recently he wrote and directed the gay-themed original play Starting Over, accepted for the Ninth Annual Fresh Fruit Festival.
Always an avid reader, his two-year-old Kindle currently stores 400 books, mostly MM romance. Often frustrated at finding exactly the type of story he favored, he thought, What the hell, I should write one. And so he did! He dipped his foot in the literary pond by self-publishing. Growing more hopeful, he was profoundly delighted when Seeing the Same Blue was accepted for publication by Dreamspinner Press. Then came Blue Valentine Blues, part of the Valentine Anthology, and now, All By Myself. He hopes you like them all!
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 5, 2014
The worst in the collection for me so far. This book was hard to finish, which is saying a lot because it was only 37 pages.
Where do I start? The writing was stilted, the conversations were stiff and unnatural, I didn't get any sense of the characters personalities, and I didn't feel any chemistry between the MCs. Also, there were many editing issues, but I'm guessing (??) that those got resolved between my ARC copy and publication time.
I'm hoping that others enjoyed this story more. I personally thought it was a bit depressing and the characters to be immature and underdeveloped.
**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Check out my reviews of all the books in the Valentine's Rainbow collection right here!
Where do I start? The writing was stilted, the conversations were stiff and unnatural, I didn't get any sense of the characters personalities, and I didn't feel any chemistry between the MCs. Also, there were many editing issues, but I'm guessing (??) that those got resolved between my ARC copy and publication time.
I'm hoping that others enjoyed this story more. I personally thought it was a bit depressing and the characters to be immature and underdeveloped.
**Copy provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review**
Check out my reviews of all the books in the Valentine's Rainbow collection right here!
February 5, 2014
This is a story of unrequited love and redemption against those who made Josh's life miserable as a kid. Josh has been in love with Bobby since elementary school and no one else has ever been able to take his place. Josh doesn't even try to find someone else. So the story follows Josh's one sided love story for the majority of the book. Bobby does have a presence in the story, but very little so I didn't really know him at all. . Unrequited love stories make me sad more than anything else and I had more of that with this story than the romance. I needed just a bit more to balance it out, take away the sad and leave me with a really happy feeling about the ending.
August 3, 2016
2.5 - I think this made me sad more than anything. Bobby is, or should have been, your fond (or painful) look back at a moment that defined part of your life. I didn't feel he should have been your whole life, considering you haven't spent any of it with him. Needed more to make it seem worth it.
February 18, 2018
This little short was lacking that sweet romance. I thought it was mostly just really sad.
February 22, 2014
Another story that I'm afraid suffered from a short word count. With 15 years of unrequited love, it's tough to resolve in this few pages. I really felt like the ending was quite rushed and a bit too easily resolved.
I also can't believe on any campus a coach would be able to have a job if he ever behaved the way this character did in this book in public. Not saying that behind closed doors it doesn't happen, but seems highly unlikely that it would be tolerated anyplace in the manner portrayed here which threw me out of the story a bit.
I also can't believe on any campus a coach would be able to have a job if he ever behaved the way this character did in this book in public. Not saying that behind closed doors it doesn't happen, but seems highly unlikely that it would be tolerated anyplace in the manner portrayed here which threw me out of the story a bit.
February 13, 2014
2.5 stars. This was a good story about the narrator's life and unrequited love of his 5th grade crush but it wasn't a good romance. The leads have very few scenes together and the relationship development is non-existent. It's not a terrible way to spend 15 minutes but it's not something I'll remember either.
March 7, 2014
Nice short, but there were moments where my mind drifted.
February 15, 2014
I agree…meh. Definitely too short for anything really to happen.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews