“Once there was a boy who lost so much and was hurt so badly that he had to turn off his emotions to survive…”
I had to put down the book at 3 am after“Once there was a boy who lost so much and was hurt so badly that he had to turn off his emotions to survive…”
I had to put down the book at 3 am after finishing it and to go to sleep because I needed to find the words to express how good this is. And I still don’t think what I came up with is enough. I’ve never experienced something like this, that a book to seem so meh in the first 10% with weird choppy writing and weird story-telling (for a second I was convinced it was written with AI) and for me to want to dnf a couple of times (the opening scene in the book is not very well done ) only for it to end up being probably one of the best reads of 2024. I pushed through it because 2 of my friends here assured me it was a fabulous book (thank you, girls) . With each page the book became more and more brilliant and the writing more and more beautiful. I’ll keep it short because in reality all I wanna say is READ THIS BOOK! If you want a romance, a real romance, the one that it’s at the same time strong and weak, helpless and hopeful this is perfect. It’s not your typical a dime a dozen romance with OTT declarations. It’s a strong book, a bit more realistic and raw and as I said probably one of the best reads this year. Just be aware that it deals with mental illness and suicide-ideation that is not cured with dick, not even with Ian’s strong love. Went to bed at 3 am and cried my eyes out, not because it’s sad but because I was very very touched by this story. How Ian loved Alek was nothing short of amazing, how they loved each other and what they had was at the same time TOXIC and HEALING. Not healing the illness but healing the soul. Don’t think that the book is dark. Yes, it deals with strong stuff but it’s not that kind of book that you avoid because you’re not ready for the angst. It is, despite its subject very beautiful. Excellent read and if it’s a debut then I think we got ourselves a new skilled MM author- we need more of them.
“Thank you for loving me when I couldn’t .”
“Anyone else would think that the hell Alek had put him through was unforgivable—his lies to conceal, to trick, to hurt—but Alek wasn’t Lucifer cast out of heaven. He was Lucifer redeemed, an otherworldly beauty with a soul of secrets dark and twisted, the giver of a love so rare it was precious, and so Ian worshiped Alek with tithes of kisses, ardent accolades of praise, vows of unending loyalty, and love and love and love.”...more
I don’t have words to express how much I loved this Christmas short story, I’m absolutely stunned by its simple beauty. It’s everything you’d want to I don’t have words to express how much I loved this Christmas short story, I’m absolutely stunned by its simple beauty. It’s everything you’d want to read snuggled under a blanket with a warm cup of cocoa And I know I’m probably way more effusive than the story warrants it but I just loved it and that’s that! I’m not even surprised this was amazing because you know…Kim Fielding, I’d recognize her writing anywhere because it’s always magical,enchanting. In fact the book belongs to magical realism style/genre, blending contemporary realism with fantastical elements, real with unreal and its done in such a captivating way I had to take small breaks to prolongue the experience since the book is so short and also to let the beautiful emotions sink into me. I’m so happy when,in the big sea of copy/paste seasonal books once in a while we stumble upon little gems like this one. If you want a tranquil,beautiful gentle story with 2 thoughtful, kind , and beautiful souls, with a bit of fantasy and even a stunning small plot twist(if you can call it that since it was pretty obvious) do yourself a favor and read this. It’s 1 euro on Amazon. I would have given anything for it to be a normal length book. Excellent read in only 46 pages!
PS It reminds me a lot of Amy Rae Durreson’s Christmas story “The Holly Groweth Green”, also written in a (this time historical) magical realism style and also an excellent Christmas read....more
And that’s how you write a book with vampires!!! Freaking amazing!!!! Wow!!!! I absolutely devoured this book, best read this year for me so yay!! ThiAnd that’s how you write a book with vampires!!! Freaking amazing!!!! Wow!!!! I absolutely devoured this book, best read this year for me so yay!! This book had EVERYTHING: beautiful romance, action, world building, absolutely fabulous MCs, slow burn, the right amount of smut and fantastic writing. This author only improved with time! I enjoyed Chase’s and Eric’s journey so much. Chase , prickly and stubborn and fierce and yet so vulnerable and Eric, so stoic and so loving ,gah, I loved them!! As soon as I saw the blurb to this book I felt it in my gut that I will love it and I didn’t love it, I adored it!!! Great, great book!!
Merged review:
And that’s how you write a book with vampires!!! Freaking amazing!!!! Wow!!!! I absolutely devoured this book, best read this year for me so yay!! This book had EVERYTHING: beautiful romance, action, world building, absolutely fabulous MCs, slow burn, the right amount of smut and fantastic writing. This author only improved with time! I enjoyed Chase’s and Eric’s journey so much. Chase , prickly and stubborn and fierce and yet so vulnerable and Eric, so stoic and so loving ,gah, I loved them!! As soon as I saw the blurb to this book I felt it in my gut that I will love it and I didn’t love it, I adored it!!! Great, great book!!...more
You know what I’m gonna do after writing this review? I’m gonna go and buy the book on paper too because this was perfection! 2 YA books in 3 days , wYou know what I’m gonna do after writing this review? I’m gonna go and buy the book on paper too because this was perfection! 2 YA books in 3 days , who am I ????? And they were both amazing books. I’m all cried out and teary eyed -snot and everything-and I’ve never wished so hard that a book had an epilogue like I have with this one. Because if I had to explain why I don’t usually read YA I would tell you that it’s exactly because of these kind of (though logical) HFN endings. Because HEA at 18 it’s less likely to happen or to be believable. But I think the author could have given us an epilogue further into the future, the book deserved a HEA epilogue after their college years . Sandro and Bash deserved that! I deserved that, damn it!!! Beautiful gentle giant Sandro- my heart was his from his first sentence- deserved his sandwich restaurant and his apartment and his 2 dogs, and he deserved it next to Bash, beautiful brave and sad Bash who grew up so much by the end of the book and who found his place in the world and next to Sandro. These 2 precious guys have become 2 of my favorite MM characters ever . I loved everything about this book , I loved the writing, the subtle humor, I loved the emotion and the feelings , I loved that , though not explicit the author didn’t shy away from the sex scenes and the subject of sex.
“Growing up the way I did, I was inundated with the idea that all gay guys do is gasp over brunch and sit on some cock. Which sounded like a nice Sunday. The concept of butt stuff was never unattractive to me, given the right guy, and I’ll admit my fingers have gone spelunking during the occasional long shower. But I know me. I know my body. I have lived with my ass for nearly eighteen years and he is not a friendly neighbor. My ass is the old man from Up. Selfish, loud, and comfortable living a solitary life. But much like the old man from Up, my ass would need to open up and learn to let that special someone inside.”
ATTENTION: Another gushing ahead!!! Fecking fantastic this book, guys!!! OMG , I have no words to say how much I loved Declan!!!! And Kane!! And CiaraATTENTION: Another gushing ahead!!! Fecking fantastic this book, guys!!! OMG , I have no words to say how much I loved Declan!!!! And Kane!! And Ciara! And this book!! I started this without high expectations because, let’s be honest here, that cover is pretty off-putting . And the more I read the more enchanted I became and I started to wonder : “Do I know this author? And if I don’t, why is that?????” I checked to see if I had read any book by them and I was so disappointed to see that I have indeed read the first one in this series and I didn’t like it . I was scared that this one would be the same because I liked the beginning of that one too before it took a turn for the worse. But I kept reading and , Gosh , it was so worth it. I don’t know what happened between the first book and this one but this author have outdid themselves. The writing is fantastic, atmospheric and beautiful, the settings (beautiful Ireland) simply amazing and the characters so freaking real, every single one of them!!!! I mentioned in an earlier review that it’s pretty annoying to read books with widowers..Well here we have something similar (though not quite) but when it’s done so well like it is here the trope can be so emotional. You don’t hate the dead partner but cry for him like I did here. I cried for Cían, for that beautiful boy whose life was cut short , and I cried for Kane’s pain and I cried for Cian’s parents . And I laughed with Declan and Ciara , their relationship and banter was absolutely delicious , actually the entire book is sprinkled with typical dry self deprecating British/Irish humor although it’s not quite a rom com; it’s a bit more serious and emotional than that. Kane and Declan were dreamy together, the slow burn intense and the sex was hot ...more
FAB-U-LOUS !!!!! Wow, what an excellent historical book with an amazing setting -1891/1892 Outback Australia . The MCs?? A priest and a police sergeantFAB-U-LOUS !!!!! Wow, what an excellent historical book with an amazing setting -1891/1892 Outback Australia . The MCs?? A priest and a police sergeant (33/34 years old) . Matthew, a young priest arrives in a small town in the Australian Outback. He is kind and gentle and you can’t help loving him from the first page.Also, his is the only POV in the book. Soon he meets the town’s police sergeant , Jonah, who is extremely popular with the ladies . He is forward, laidback and cares a great deal for the town and its ppl so between them,the town is in very good hands .And so they strike a tentative friendship at first, until Matthew,after an adrenaline inducing incident,kisses Jonah . From then on Matthew and Jonah start to change, to discover that there are more things in life then following the rules blindly and just survive. That they shouldn’t let the law (human and divine) dictate their future . And it’s a tender journey, and beautiful and a bit harsh because between being afraid for their lives (homosexuals acts were punished with jail and even hanging) and Matthew’s struggle to reconcile his love for God with his love for Jonah they also had to think about their future. I liked that the religion thing wasn’t overwhelming, it wasn’t annoying (I’m not religious and I can barely tolerate it in books) and it was dealt with in such an amazing way by Matthew. Jonah on the other hand was not at all interested in religion and their conversations on the subject were enthralling. I loved everything about this book even though some events were a bit too convenient . I loved their conversations, I loved their friendship and their illicit encounters, I loved their love making -so tentative at first because none of them had been with a man before (Matthew was a total virgin even though unlike the Catholic one, the Anglican religion allowed priests to marry )I liked their quiet,subtle and gentle love and intimacy, their connection, and I loved their hopeful happy ending.And if I loved Matthew, I absolutely adored Jonah. Jonah who was so brave , so fierce in his love for Matthew so constant in his pursuit of a future together as impossible as it might have seemed. Ah, I loved it . I went to bed at 3 am because I couldn’t put it down. Now, I wanna mention what I absolutely hate (I wanted to take away half a star for it but I couldn’t because I loved the book too much) and that was the epilogue. The author seem to not know what an epilogue is . We do have an epilogue in the book but it was so inane I didn’t understand what was the point of it. So, dear author, an epilogue is where you show us what are our MCs doing further into the future. Or how their life had been . Not rehashing all that happened throughout the book AGAIN. I already knew those things, I’ve literally just read them! I didn’t care about that lady, that Alson descendant ! Why do I wanna know what she thought about our guys?? I wanted to see our guys in California. I wanted to hear from their descendants (or rather from one of their friends’ descendants). I wanted to know if they’d been happy, I wanted to know what jobs they had. Anyway, this is a wonderful wonderful book and I will probably reread it often . The writing is excellent and very historically appropriate but I have to say that there were words I had to look for , Australian slang, and cultural references I had to research on Google but that gave the book exactly the right feel and the right historical vibe. Excellent book!...more
Amazing !! I knew Kim Fielding wouldn’t disappoint and I was right. I fell in love with George from the first moment . He was simply good and just my Amazing !! I knew Kim Fielding wouldn’t disappoint and I was right. I fell in love with George from the first moment . He was simply good and just my type of character: loving, supportive and kind and although Zephyr was supposed to be more interesting George was the one who stole my heart. I was so happy to see him free at the end. Zephyr was amazing too though a bit reckless and he made some really bad choices-he was pretty damaged, they both were but they came together so naturally and so beautifully. Gaahh , I loved this book! Loved the settings, loved the side characters and loved the writing. The Mojave desert felt like a third MC and loved it so much. One of my (very few) favorite reads this year.....more
Gosh, I just loved this adorable little gem of a book so so much. The setting was extraordinary , I felt like I was there , seeing all that wild beautGosh, I just loved this adorable little gem of a book so so much. The setting was extraordinary , I felt like I was there , seeing all that wild beauty and Davo and Fergus were absolutely fantastic . ...more
Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! One of the funniest books I’ve read lately. Full of the wonderful British humor (very very good humor), smart humor! Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant! One of the funniest books I’ve read lately. Full of the wonderful British humor (very very good humor), smart humor! I had a blast with this book. Excellent dialogues, dazzling banter, quirky and interesting characters (STEAMPUNKS, people, STEAMPUNKS!!!) and fun fun fun. And Robin, oh,my, I LOVED Robin-one of my favorite MM characters EVER!! Archie was supposed to be the more interesting MC and he was , just not as lovable as Robin. Actually, Archie kind of pissed me off at times;he seemed a bit pretentious,entitled and patronizing to sweet Robin but I might be biased because I truly loved Robin. The side characters were amazingly brilliant too and Heath was a hoot,loved him! The romance was sweet and the sex (just one scene ,unfortunately ...more
Oh my God!!! This was so so good!!! I haven’t read the first book and honestly I don’t intend to since I don’t really care for Tony and Brett- I couldOh my God!!! This was so so good!!! I haven’t read the first book and honestly I don’t intend to since I don’t really care for Tony and Brett- I couldn’t stand them. But , maaan, I LOVED Jacob. From his assholish very first line! And Levi was adorable and a sweetheart. This book was so so so much fun, I laughed my ass off. I don’t think there was a character in this book I didn’t like (except for Jacob’s asshole family- his sister was a prize worthy raging bitch and Tony and Brett, of course) . This was a very funny, very quirky and very romantic book and I enjoyed the hell out of it. I’ve read other books by this author and I wasn’t impressed - it felt more like porn than romantic -“Royally screwed” was so bad (in my opinion)but this one is so very good. And it even had a light dom/sub and lingerie kink in it ...more
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