Pura Vida

4.5 Seems like today was my day for short stories that pack a punch and are brilliantly narrated. In this instance [a:Joseph Norton 5711445 Joseph Norton https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] breathes life wink into [a:Sara Alva 5034532 Sara Alva https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1359315171p2/5034532.jpg]'s sweet, sexy, and sensitive NA. Simon is 19 and vacationing with his family in Costa Rica. Paradise, right? Problem is Simon is nursing a bit of a broken heart. It turns out that the guy he'd been getting horizontal with in college and whom he thought of as his boyfriend had other ideas. When the school year ends he tells Simon that they should see where the summer takes them and decide if they want to be together again when classes recommence. So that's what Simon is doing. Scoping out guys on the beach and trying to figure out how he could've been so wrong. Luckily he's not struggling with his sexuality or his family. He has an annoying/loving sister, accepting mom, and making-an-effort-to-be-open dad. More than most and he knows it.While out walking the beach at night and doing some dumb tourist thing he meets Juan, a local whom he'd seen selling trinkets at the beach, but who also works for the local conservation of sea turtles and their egg nests from poachers & predators. What ensues is a sweet summer romance with surprises for both parties. Juan is surprised and ultimately charmed by Simon's bumbling earnestness, how he fails to behave like a vacation hook-up. Simon is surprised by wanting more, by his almost immediate trust in Juan, by how much they have in common. The author seamlessly weaves in ideas about environmentalism, tourism, cultural differences, and the assumptions we make about others based on where we're coming from. The ending is a very nice, very believable, hopeful, non-saccharine HFN.