11/29/2022 0 Comments Brothersong by T.J. KluneMy poor heart… What an epic conclusion to an epic series. I just want to start this series all over again, not at all ready to leave these beloved characters yet. I really don’t know how to explain how much I love these characters and their love for each other, the world building and the magical, poetically writing. All I know is that this is a series that hit me straight in the heart and will stay there forever. It will be one of my comfort books that I know I’ll reread it many times onwards. “We must be the gayest werewolf pack ever.”
Yes, this pack sure is. And the most wonderful one. With characters I love. And who love each other. And who make fun of each other. And who tells each other everything. And nothing. And with Carter realizing that his forever love is a dude and he’s never been with a dude, but how hard can it be… he’s brothers seemed to figured it all out. Right? I absolutely adore T J Klune’s wit and humor, and all his characters. They will all have a special place in my heart. And I know that I will return to this series and read it again. Very soon. But for now, all I want to say is that I couldn’t have been happier with the way this story was concluded and how all lose ends were tied up and the happy wholesomeness after all. It was warm like a summer day. It was candy cones and pinecones, it was epic and awesome, it was dirt and leaves and rain, it was grass and lake water and sunshine. I truly love this epic saga about love and friendship, pack and mates. It’s nothing less than a masterpiece. If you haven’t started reading it yet, you should. Please give yourself the gift of experiencing the magical and heartfelt world of Green Greek and get to fall in love with Ox, Joe, Gordo, Mark, Kelly, Robbie, Carter, Gavin, Rico, Bambi, Chris, Tanner, Will, Jessie, Dominique and Elizabeth you too! Rating: 5 epic stars Get your own copy: Author links Author info: T.J. Klune
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11/25/2022 0 Comments Heartsong by T.J. KluneThis third book continues the epic urban fantasy Green Greek series. I love this series and its characters to pieces, but the storyline was a bit harder to get into in this book. With Robbie’s memory loss and the way the story was told, it was confusing at first and it took me almost half of the book to fully understand if it was a backstory or if the storyline continued right after the events in the second book. But the second half of Heartsong was pure magic and heartwrenching and back to the epicness of the other two books. Robbie has lost his memory and has been taken care of a good witch (or is he really?), but he keeps having these dreams of running with wolves in an unknown forest. And sometimes he misses days without knowing what he did. And the children at the compound tells him he’s always blue, but he used to be happy. Before. (Before when?)
This time the story is told from Robbie’s POV, but since he’s not himself and doesn’t remember his pack or his love Kelly, it gets a bit confusing at time. I think I would have liked to enjoy the falling in love part of Robbie’s and Kelly’s romance first hand, not told in a backstory. But about halfway in the book, the action really starts to pick up and the beloved pack is back in swing. Now with two new wolf members from the previous Team Human. And with all of them more hurt, more scared, older and cynical, being fractured even though there still is this enormous love between the pack members, and now also including the villagers. I loved how the human villagers were part of the story and how they were allowed to be heroes too, not just passive victims that needed protection from the wolves. The pace was a bit slower this time, with Robbie’s struggling it was a lot one step forward and two steps back. But it only made me root more for the characters, especially Kelly. I appreciated the fact that Kelly is asexual and how T J Klune showed the beautiful love story between him and Robbie and how it was built on deeper emotions and affection. Even though this book was full of pain and struggle, there was still a lot of fun and banter and that typical T J Klune humor. I loved that Jessie got a bigger part of the story this time and how she really showed all of her bad-ass self. And the timber wolf finally revealing who he was… I’m even more excited for Carter’s story now! I’m both dreading and feverishly longing to read the epic finally of this magical, beautiful and absolutely heartwrenching series! Rating: 4 stars Get your own copy: Author links Author info: T.J. Klune 11/24/2022 0 Comments Ravensong by T.J. KluneThis second book in the epic Green Greeks series is darker and even more heartwrenching, but also maybe even more gripping and addictive, than the first. This is both a second chance romance and a urban fantasy story about survival, destiny calling and epic fights with werewolfs and witches. In the first book, we got to learn all of the characters and see Ox and Joe fall in love. In this book, the story is told from Gordo’s POV and we get to know about his past with a terrible childhood with an abusive father, more about the witch dynasty Livingstone and how it’s been interwoven with the Bennetts for such a long time. We also get to see how the Bennetts loved him but also used him and left him behind, and how his heart got broken by Mark. and what happened when he followed Joe, Carter and Kelly to hunt for Richard Collins and how being without the pack and the longing for their loved ones breaks them down. And we get to see and feel all his feelings of sadness, longing, betrayal, heartbreak and yet, neverending love for Mark.
Since the POV this time is the grown-up Gordo the story feels more of an adult one than a YA like the first book did. It’s also darker, with evil wolf hunters and more of a build-up towards the fight that can’t be avoided. But there’s also love. So much love. And how it’s never too late to put the pieces back together. And pack. And fun. And hunting the moon and howling. PackWitchBrotherLove And new amazing characters like the badass Bambi and the formation of Team Human. I love the secondary characters and all their banter! And how Carter is being followed by the big timber wolf everywhere (and I mean everywhere…) and who may or may not turn out to be his big epic love. The last one of the Bennett brothers to join Team Gay? And of course, there’s Mystical Moon Magic and mates and epic love making. I really do love T J Klune’s wit and humor! Once again, I was completely blown away by this magical, beautiful and so poetically written series. I binged all of these 400 pages in just one day, so hooked I just couldn’t bear to put it down until the end (when I immediately continued with Heartsong…). I didn’t think it would be possible to reach the same epicness as Wolfsong, but T J Klune sure pulled it off! Rating: 5 stars Get your own copy: Author links Author info: T.J. Klune 11/23/2022 0 Comments Wolfsong by T.J. KluneI don’t even know where to begin to explain how much I love this book and what a masterpiece it is. Words aren’t enough to describe all the things I felt with this book and give justice to the impact it had on me. Started to reading it I never expected to have my heart ripped in pieces and to fall so madly in love with all the characters and to read this 500 plus page brick of a book feverishly in one sitting, but I did. This magical, beautiful and poetic tale about love and friendship, pack and mates, will make you cry and heal your heart. Give yourself the gift of experiencing the magical and heartfelt world of Green Greek and its werewolf villagers and read this book you too! In short, Wolfsong is an urban fantasy/paranormal story taking place in the small village of Green Greek somewhere in USA, where the main character Ox gets abandoned by his father as a young kid. To help his mother, Ox starts to work for Gordo’s car repair shop about the same time as the intriguing Bennett family moves into the house next door, with the youngest son, Joe, immediately taking an interest in Ox. But as Ox is about to find out, the world is not what it seems, and there are werewolf and witches, kindness and cruelty, magic and destiny to discover.
Wolfsong is one of those epic family histories that lets us readers follow along for decades and tells the story by letting us readers truly get to know the characters and feel their feelings. The writing style is so unique and perfect, it feels etherial. “Why do you smell like that? Why is it all candy cones and pinecones and epic and awesome?” And the characters are so lovable, so vulnerable, so full of flaws that you immediately take them all to your heart. There is Ox, who’d always been seen as slow and stupid, but who was aimed for greatness. His POV is just one of the best I’ve ever encountered. He sees the world in such a beautiful way, and T J Klune really lets us see and feel all his emotions and his growth from insecure and sad to feeling loved and being able to love wholeheartedly and lead others. And Joe. Sweet, sweet Joe, who’d been so severely traumatized but who found a home in Ox and dared to start living fully again. Their journey to discover what’s howling between them is so heartwrenching and breathtaking. But also fun! T J Klune has this special humor that I adore. And all the members of the Bennett family with their amazing bonds and how they run and sing together, Gordo who is suffering from his own broken heart but who nevertheless wraps his love around Ox, the other workers at the shop who are like their own pack and the love and spirit of the village and the nature itself. PackSonLove you belong to us we belong to you i feel your pain, I feel your grief, we have lost, i have lost, but so have you. I really don’t know how to explain how much I love these characters and their love for each other, the world building and the magical, poetically writing. All I know is that this is a book that hit me straight in the heart and will stay there forever. It will be one of my comfort books that I know I’ll reread it many times onwards. Rating: 5 epic stars Get your own copy: Author links Author info: T.J. Klune 11/20/2022 0 Comments Kiss Her Once for Me by Alison CochrunThis is the perfect queer Christmas romcom—fun, sweet, heartwarming and with amazing characters and representation. A cute read with the right amount of depth and anxiety mixed with hilarious banter and winter coziness. I was a bit nervous to read this one, since Alison Cochrun’s first book, The Charm Offensive, is one of my all time favorites. But I needn’t have worried, I thoroughly enjoyed Kiss Her Once For Me. It may not be exactly as amazing as The Charm Offensive, but then again, not many books are… and it was definitely an absolutely wonderful read!
It had all the right vibes, adorable characters, a sapphic romance and tropes like fake dating and typical romcom ingredients like miscommunication and not realizing that your love interest feels the same way about you. The story follows twenty-something Ellie, who had all of her future planned out, but who suddenly finds herself without a job, alone and desperate for money. Finding work at a local coffee shop, she’s just getting through the days—until Andrew, the shop’s landlord, proposes the shocking, drunken plan that they should get married to get access to his inheritance and solve Ellie’s financial problems all in one. As part of the plan, they spend the holidays together at Andrew’s family cabin. There’s just one little problem… the meet-cute Ellie had last year with a mysterious woman named Jack turns out to be Andrew’s sister. And the feelings Ellie still has for Jack are not in any way fake… I absolutely adored Andrew, his hilarious grandmothers and Jack, as well as the flashbacks to Ellie’s and Jack’s perfect day the year before. At times, I was a little annoyed by Ellie’s inability to take initiatives and how she let her perfection-anxiety get in the way of her own happiness, but at the same time, those personality traits were truly relatable and also made me root more for her. All in all, Kiss Her Once For Me was a sweet and heartwarming sapphic romance with perfect Christmassy vibes and coziness! Rating: 4.5 stars rounding up to 5 Get your own copy: Author links Author info: Alison Cochrun 11/2/2022 0 Comments Gravity by Tal BauerThis was a really cute mm hockey romance with one of my favorite tropes, friends-to-lovers, but I wasn’t as moved by it as I’d thought I’d be. It was a fast-paced and sweet story, but it was a bit too repetitive, lacked a bit of nerve and the cuteness was borderline too cheesy for me to be fully smitten by it. Gravity follows hockey players Bryce and Hunter. Bryce is captain of a Canadian hockey team and a superstar in NHL. And a closeted gay. Hunter is a decent hockey player, who can’t believe his luck when he’s not only invited to the All-Star Weekend but to play alongside his big hero Bryce. Their connection is instant, but maybe it means something different for Bryce than Hunter…
I really loved the beginning of the book and the nerve from Bryce and Hunter forming such a strong connection, but with all the angst from Bryce hiding his true feelings. I loved their interactions and the sexual awakening parts. I also think that for a hockey romance there was a perfect amount of hockey; not too much details, but enough to add some thrills to the story. But the story itself lacked a bit of depth. I’d wanted to see more of Bryce’s and Hunter’s families and to know more about their backgrounds, and why Bryce felt so strongly that he had to hide who he really was. After the second half of the book, the story became a bit too slow and lost most of its suspense, and the sweet romance started to feel a bit boring and too cheesy, to be honest. I also started to get a bit annoyed by all the French, that in my opinion, didn’t add anything to the story but made it slower and harder to get into. So, all in all, Gravity was a very sweet mm hockey romance with adorable characters, but compared to other books in this genre it felt a bit too light weight. (If you haven’t read Him by Sarina Bowen and Elle Kennedy, or Scoring Position by Ashlyn Kane and Morgan James yet, I’d recommend those instead.) Rating: 3 stars Get your own copy: Author links Author info: Tal Bauer |
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May 2023
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