This was a cute historical queer romance, with adorable main characters and the right amount of spice. But the plot was kind of all over the place and there was a lot that didn’t make sense.

Set in Industrial Manchester in the 1890s, this book tells the swooning and unlikely romance between mill clerk Mr. Warren and the young baronet Sir Lindsey. Aubrey Warren was born in a workhouse and has struggled to make a life for himself ever since. Not stopping at earning his money as a ‘telegraph boy’, i.e. a prostitute. When the mill he works at gets a new owner, his life will change dramatically. Lindsey Althorp has never worked a day in his life and has no real clue of what it takes to earn a living. Nor the danger of showing his not-so-professional affection for his new employees…

The book started off really strong, and I immediately loved the purehearted, cinnamon roll, Golden Retriever naïve Lindsey. He was the absolute sweetest! So clueless, but always so kind and endearing. I also enjoyed the rich/poor, employer/employee situation and the historical settings with the gentlemen’s club, the boarding school friends and the strong willed women who found ways of pursuing their dreams despite the society’s restrictions, as well as the very sarcastic and British kind of humor (I actually don’t know if Sebastian Northwell is British or not, but the humor and writing style really had that vibe).

But after the strong start, the book started to drag sadly, and the plot started to take all kinds of turns with random things happening and characters acting in ways that didn’t really make any sense, or contradicted the way they had behaved before. I think some more editing could have solved this issue, as well as the problem with the transitions between the different POVs that made this book lose some of the flow. Too bad for a story that had such great potential!

But all in all, it was nevertheless a sweet and swoony read, with characters to root for and great humor!

Rating:
3 stars

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Sebastian Nothwell

I adore D.N. Bryn’s unique, queer and hilarious vampire romances and was so happy to get an ARC of this new sub/dom second chance novella set in Los Angeles in the 90s! It’s a bit different than the other books in the Guides for Dating Vampires series as the characters are not the cinnamon roll precious disasters I’ve come to love in the series, nor did it have the cozy feels. But it was nevertheless an intriguing and highly entertaining read!

This novella is something of a prequel to the Guides for Dating Vampires series, but can be read as a standalone. It takes place at a role play club that creates fantasies for vampire-human couples, where the transmasc/non-binary vampire Diego is working. Diego has finally found a new home and family and has regained their confidence, after having fled their hometown and the high school sweetheart who spurned their fangs a decade ago. Until said high school sweetheart, Maddox, turns up at the club to bid forgiveness and Diego decides to engage in a kink role play to find out Maddox’s true intentions.

I really enjoyed this story, even though it wasn’t as cozy and sweet as D.N. Bryn’s other books. I’m also not usually into kink or too much spice, but here it worked really well. (Just be sure to check the trigger warnings before reading this novella though, as some of the scenes are quite intense.) I rooted for all the characters, even though they were not the shy, awkward, gentle ones that I’ve come to expect in D.N. Bryn’s vampire universe. Diego was a completely other kind of character, with their confidence, self-worth and determination never to be betrayed or shunned ever again. I did miss the slow burn from the other books though, but that is probably mostly due to the short format that doesn’t allow for much time to explore the characters and their feelings for each other fully. But the switch from Diego pushing Maddox away to completely giving into the relationship felt a bit too quick and easy.

But all in all, this was another highly entertaining story by D.N. Bryn full of unique characters and amazing representation, and an interesting premise with the role play club!

Disclaimer: I received an eARC for free, but I am leaving my honest review. Many thanks to the author D.N. Bryn for the opportunity!

Rating:
4 stars

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D.N. Bryn

This ya sapphic rom-com was such a cute, fun and unique read about finding out what really matters in life! The moral of the story… be careful what you wish for! (And be aware of fanfic coming to life…) I absolutely loved this humorous, satirical, totally over the top and heartwarming love letter to fanfics!

When sixteen-year-old Ivy’s parents leave her home alone for the very first time, she’s looking forward to eating sweets whenever she wants to, not having anyone meddle in her personal business, eating pizza and watching the favorite show H-MAD with her best friend Henry. And not miss her former best friend, Mack. Not even thinking of her actually. But all of Ivy’s plans get derailed when she wakes up on the very first morning to find the main character of H-MAD and Ivy’s fanfiction, Weston in her bed.

From there, Sophie Gonzales takes us on a hilarious journey of hiding a completely unpredictable over-the-top romantic, brooding soul mate/superhero, to finding out who your heart truly desires and the beauty of friendship.

The characters were so fleshed out and relatable. I loved the slightly disastrous Ivy, the gorgeous Henry and the badass Mack. I loved how charmingly nerdy Ivy and Henry were with their H-MAD obsession, their fear of conflict and Ivy’s lack of social skills. And extra plus for the representation, with Ivy being bisexual, Henry aro/ace and Mack lesbian, and the way Sophie Gonzales covered just about every romantic trope out there in such a lovable way. It’s obvious how much Sophie Gonzales herself loves fanfiction and the romcom tropes, and how she wanted to explore the tropes and how they would work (or not work…) in reality. So this book is like a warm blanket to snuggle in, while enjoying the brooding superhero, the enemies-to-lovers, the miscommunication, the soul mate, the one-bed forced proximity and more in the best possible, humorous way.

Was it realistic? Well, no, of course not. But that was exactly the point. With the help of a little magic, Ivy gets a chance to discover what’s really important and real in life. And we readers get a chance to consider our own life choices and if we’ve fully listened to our hearts. And of course, we all get to learn that there is no such thing as a perfect guy, nor that always getting what we want make us happy.

(And how beautiful is the cover with art by Venessa Vida Kelley? Just looking at the book makes me happy! I definitely need to buy a paperback copy of this one when it’s released next year!)

I received an eARC for free via NetGalley, but I am leaving my honest review. Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and the author for the opportunity!

Rating:
4.5 stars rounding up to 5

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Sophie Gonzales

Red, White & Royal Blue meets Boyfriend Material in this fluffy, sweet slow-burn MM romance between Britain’s first openly gay Prime Minister and the klutzy, adorkable and clueless American who unexpectedly becomes heir to the British throne.

Callum is a sweet, but rather clumsy and clueless, supposedly straight guy who’s trying to figure his life out after having dropped out of university to work for an insurance call center. His dating life is a bit of a disaster as well, and he’s still mourning his mom. Said mom, who had a brief marriage with the fourth British prince, but who left Britain after the divorce with her son to do everything in her power to keep Callum away from the watchful eye of the British press. Being the eleventh in the succession order, it’s not like he’ll ever play any big role in the British monarchy anyway. Not until his misbehaving relatives are charged with a criminal offense and Callum suddenly leaps from obscurity to the new Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne.
 
Oliver Hartwell is the divorced Prime Minister who takes pity on the clumsy and awkward prince who is so clearly out of his element. But soon the innocent support messages evolve into so much more and become the highlight of Oliver’s day, together with feelings for the prince that may no longer be of the purely platonic kind…
 
Soon they both realize that they might have something more than friendship going on, and Callum that he’s not as straight as he thought he was… which might explain his previous unsuccessful dating life.
 
Jax Calder is one of my favorite authors (I absolutely love her books The Other Brother and Attractive Forces) a lot because of her relatable, lovable and wonderful characters who always are as far away from stereotype cliches as you can come. And just like in her other books, I immediately rooted for Oliver, who had so much depth and raw emotions. I could truly feel his pain after having being betrayed by his ex-husband, his loneliness, his childhood trauma and feeling of being rejected by his addicted mother. I loved the parts of the story that were told from his POV and how they let us see how his feelings for Callum develop. It was so wholesome.
 
But, surprisingly for a Jax Calder book, the other characters fell a bit flat for me. The Queen felt very vague and more of a projection than a character that added to the story, and I never fully rooted for Callum. I can’t really explain why, but there was something about his clumsiness yet smartness and knowledge of everything that made him feel artificial and more of a construct than a real person. I also would have liked to have more focus on his bisexual awakening, which is usually one of my favorite tropes. But here it felt rushed and sadly not explored to its full potential. It was like Callum just accepted it without even mulling it over. I would have loved to see him dissect it all more and at least be a bit nervous about being with a man for the first time.
 
So even though I truly wished for Oliver to be happy and get to be with his love, I found it a bit hard to be fully invested in his Callum’s romance.
 
There were also some parts of the story that were just too unbelievable or silly. I won’t go into details, but there was a murder plot that just felt off and the whole part of Callum not being recognized as part of the royal family by anyone before he moved up the succession order felt a bit too far-fetched.
 
But all in all, a sweet, cute and fluffy romcom, with a lot of hilarious moments, fun facts and an amazing gay Prime Minister to root for.

Thank you to BookSirens for the free ARC of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

Rating:
3.5 stars rounding up to 4

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Jax Calder

Overall this was a sweet and emotional read, but it took me more than half of the book before I could even stand the main character and even longer to start rooting for her. So I was very close to DNF it, but luckily I struggled through the first part to be awarded with a swooning love story, great Alaskan wilderness atmosphere and a gripping father-daughter relationship development.

The Simple Wild follows 26 year old Calla, whose mother fled the Alaskan wild and Calla’s rugged pilot father when Calla was a toddler for a life with a new husband in Toronto. Calla has therefore grown up as a city girl, with almost no contact with her biological father. But when she learns that her father is suffering from aggressive lung cancer and that his days are numbered, she decides to visit him. And just let’s say that city girl Calla doesn’t appreciate the Alaskan wild more than her mother did… Especially not the angry pilot, Jonah, with his wild beard that makes him look like a yeti and his annoying ways that gets under Calla’s skin.

I honestly almost hated Calla at first. The thing with high maintenance selfish and vain heroines is not for me, it just makes me annoyed and frustrated. It feels like such a dated story line, and why Jonah would be interested in the spoiled and childish Calla is beyond me.

Until halfway, when she started to grow and act less selfish. And sparks started to fly… The sexual tension between them was amazing and it all turned into a swooning, spicy and engaging love story!

I just really wish the first part of the book could have been shorter and the second part longer, then this would have been at least a four-star read, if not more, for me. The last part was so great and intense and heartbreaking. I loved how Calla and her father opened up to each other and started to bond. And the end broke my heart a bit, then mended it mostly all again.

Rating:
3 stars

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K.A. Tucker

Abdi Nazemian’s book Like A Love Story is one of my all time favorite books, and ever since Abdi Nazemian is an autobuy author for me. And yet again, Abdi Nazemian has written a beautiful, heartfelt and intriguing story with wonderful characters told in three parallel stories by the POVs of each of the three generations of men in the same family, that come together in the end to give the main characters understanding and closure for each other and the mistakes made and the losses they’ve suffered in their lives.

This book follows three men – the grandfather Bobby/Babak, the father Saeed, and the son Moud – from the 1930s Hollywood to the 1970s Theran until today’s Los Angeles, and shows how the past is always connected with the present, and how actions and decisions made a long time ago affects generations to come. Moud is an out gay teen, who lives alone with distant a father, who doesn’t seem to be able to fully accept Moud for who he is, and who lives a closed-off life after the death of his wife. But as the story evolves, it becomes clear that Saeed has had his own struggles, and not the least how Babak’s life and struggles has affected the following generations.

These three characters and their friends and loved ones are what made the story! I adored every single one of them as the story unfolded. Abdi Nazemian described them with such integrity and empathy, allowing them to be real, with flaws and less likeable traits. I also loved the side characters, especially Ava in Iran. The only characters I immediately took a dislike to was the obnoxious, self-righteous know-it-all Shane (not until the end, when he kind of changed to the better) and of course, Babak’s horrible mother.

I loved the insights into Iranian life and culture throughout the three generations and the amazing character growth of both Moud and his father Saeed. But my absolute favorite of all was Babak and his amazing life journey of self-discovery, curiosity, bravery and his ongoing support for the queer community. He was such a kind and truly good man. I would have loved to get to know his father a little more, since he seemed the be the reason that Babak could find the right path in life, but maybe he will have a story of his own sometime later…

The way Abdi Nazemian writes is simply amazing (and one of the reasons I love all his books). He sure has a way with words, and managed to make all of the characters fully fleshed out and relatable, and tell the story in such a beautiful, almost poetic way. Just like his previous books, Only This Beautiful Moment was such a fast and intense read. All of the three stories completely pulled me in and I felt like I was flying through the pages.

All in all, Only This Beautiful Moment was a wonderful, gripping, enlightening and emotional story with the important message to value the beauty in life and live your life to the fullest! 

Rating:
5 stars

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Abdi Nazemian

This must be one of my favorite historical MM romances ever! Such a sweet and tender, slow burn, friends-to-lovers romance overshadowed by the constant fear of being found out, yet so full of hope and joy. We Could Be So Good is a true gem that I recommend with all my heart!

Set in the 1950s, this wholesome story follows the two young men, Nick Russo and Andy Fleming, who become unlikely friends at their newspaper work, despite all their differences. Nick with his rough Brooklyn background working as a criminal reporter and Andy, being the media mogul heir to take over the running of the entire newspaper. Nick, being sure of who he is and what he wants, but knowing the risks that entails, does all he can to hide his true self and not let anyone into his life. Not until freckled, gorgeous, earnest, clumsy and absolutely clueless Andy comes into his life and turns it upside down. Andy on his side struggles with heavy abandon issues and with finding his direction in life. And that thing about himself he might suspect he does all he can to suppress…

The characters in this book were amazing and so relatable. I immediately rooted for both Nick and Andy, they were so sweet and adorable and so real. I loved that the relationship developed slowly and with hesitation that felt true to the time. The yearning mixed with fear, the wanting mixed with anxiety, the hope mixed with tension was all too understandable considering the severe consequences of being found out, and made this love story even more epic and intense.

I also loved the secondary characters, and the wonderful found family they created, with Emily and her queer friends. Emily was such a wonderful, strong, courageous and fun best friend that always stood by Nick, and even Andy in the end. The way we got to see the creation of a queer community and their pride and support for each other made this book into both an important eye-opening story to tell about how queer love was forbidden, and the injustice in how society treated anyone falling outside the ordinary (especially anyone from the lower classes without good lawyer connections) and a swooning, sweet and emotional love story that took my breath away. It was a painful story about the struggles for the queer community in the past (and sadly still), but also such a hopeful and empowering tale about the power of love, found family and happiness. And the character growth, how Nick’s fear eventually lessens and how Andy grows in confidence and starts to stand up for what he truly wants, was amazing!

All in all, I absolutely loved this book, it really is one of the greatest romances I’ve read! Thank you so much for the recommendation, Nicole (Bookstagram  @nicolereadsmm), without it I might have missed this gem!

Rating:
5 stars

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Cat Sebastian

This was such a beautiful and poignant read! An epic love story with added layers of grief and betrayal. I loved the two parallel love stories, one present day and one in the past, and how they were intertwined throughout the book, empowering the present day romance by the discovery of queer history and its struggles.

Of Sunlight and Stardust follows two men who have been beaten by life. Tanner Rowe has had a tough upbringing as an orphan in and out of foster care, when he meets the love of his life, Emma. Only to lose her too when she gets sick and dies from cancer. In an attempt to honor and keep her close to his heart, he buys the house with the dilapidated barn Emma dreamed of owning. There, he meets homeless Cole Lachlan, who is just out of prison and needs a job. Renovating the barn together, the two lonely, broken men start not only to find hope and joy again, but also new kinds of feelings for each other.

This was such a wonderful and swoon worthy bisexual awakening romance with two amazing main characters to root for. I truly appreciated the way in which Tanner and Cole slowly began to open up to each other, and for Cole to possibly see a new beginning and for Tanner to hope for happiness and love again. The authors did a wonderful job with these two men, truly making us see and feel their loss and grief, loneliness and vulnerability and fear of opening up again and risking more pain. I also adored the secondary story that we got to follow through the diary that Tanner and Cole discovered in the barn, and how this story empowered their own journey of self-discovery.

All in all, this was a swooning, sweet and emotional love story with a historical and somewhat magical touch that connected four men and their love through different moments in time.

Rating:
4.5 stars rounding up to 5

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Riley Hart
Christina Lee

What a beautiful, heartbreaking, and important story! I loved the supportive family and friends, the art and culture, the character growth and how the main character Ander found their path in life and what really matters. Also, such a great non-binary representation!

The story follows the Mexican-American nineteen year old Ander, who is about to start a new journey as an artist and leave his beloved San Antonio in Texas to attend a prestigious art school in Chigaco. But even though it’s clearly an opportunity of a lifetime and the ‘right’ thing to do, Ander has doubts and keeps stalling the move by taking on local projects and working at his family’s taqueria. There they meet the undocumented Mexican boy Santi, and things starts to fall into place. Like who they are, what matters in life, and the power of love.

“I’m with you. Through happiness and destruction.”

It was light and fun with a super sweet love story, at the same time as it was heartbreaking and dealing with serious topics such as the constant fear of being found and detained by the ICE, the feeling of being put into a box as a ‘Mexican’ artist and only being seen as ‘authentic’ when limiting yourself to others expectations.
 
It was a little slow in the beginning though. It took me a while to root for Ander, who felt a bit too naive and ignorant at first. And their instant interest in Santi was bordering to insta love. But then this marvelous story and all amazing, fleshed out, real characters just stole my heart. And broke it to pieces…

All in all, this was a tender and emotional, sweet and adorable, empowering and heartbreaking story about love and finding a home.

Rating:
4 stars

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Jonny Garza Villa

Aaah, I so wanted to love this book that it’s super frustrating that I didn’t! I read it because of a wonderful review of one of my fellow bookstagrammers and because the blurb sounded right up my alley. But sadly, I didn’t really like any of the main characters and there were some other issues as well that made Glitterland quite a letdown for me.

I loved Alexis Hall’s Boyfriend Material and was so glad when I saw the high praise for Glitterland as well, even though the topic for this one was a bit more difficult. Glitterland follows the clinically depressed and bipolar author Ash, who hides from the world due to his anxiety disorder and has given up completely on happiness and love, just trying to survive another day. So I know it wouldn’t be an easy, light beach read… but I did expect to root for the characters and be completely invested in their wellbeing and romance, but sadly I wasn’t.

The premise of this book reminded me quite a lot of There Is A Light by Ban Gilmartin with the raw descriptions of mental illness, the way depression affects the daily life and the people around you, and the chance romantic meeting. But whereas There Is A Light had wonderful characters that completely stole my heart, Glitterland had the opposite – characters that I genuinely disliked.

The main character Ash had type 1 bipolar disorder and suffered from depression, panic attacks and had been hospitalized during his manic episodes, as well as for trying to commit suicide. But he was also kind or a jerk, to be honest. Some of his bad actions could definitely be blamed on the illness, but some were just because of his unlikable and selfish personality. The description of his mental health issues was done very well, and as readers we could completely understand hos his mental issues truly made it hard or impossible for him to do certain things, or interact with other people. But it was also quite clear that he sometimes used his mental health to manipulate his friends or for selfish gains. And speaking of his friends, Ash mostly avoided them or treated them badly, which made it difficult to understand why the put up with him, even though I have to admit that at times he was quite funny with his witty sarcasm.

At one of the rare occasions when Ash did leave his house, he met the ‘orange glitter pirate’ Darian from Essex and a one night stands turned into something else. Darian was a true sweetheart, but the way he was described also made him very shallow and more of a cliché with the sexy but stupid model. On top of that, all his dialogue were written phonetically in a thick lower class Essex accent. I know from many of the reviews that a lot of readers had an issue with this writing style. But the use of accent as a writing style was actually quite alright for me as such. My main problem was hos the use of a lower class accent was used as a way to make Darian seem stupid and naïve, and to make Ash superior to him.

Then there was Ash’s best friend and former lover Niall, who outed his mental health and was being a mean jerk in other ways all through the book, but who Ash in return guilt tripped for selfish gains (like being picked up from a one night stand in the middle of the night). I just couldn’t like or understand Niall or his and Ash’s toxic relationship at all. But there was definitely an interesting story behind Niall’s characters and how he’d fallen in love with two guys who never felt the same way about him. I wished we would have gotten to see more of the backstory there; I feel like I probably would have rooted for his character more if we had.

The plotline was a bit aimless, with no clear start or ending, and a lot of things that were mentioned but never fully explored. Not only Niall’s backstory, but for example the process of the new book that Ash was writing (where its ‘research’ played a major role for the story) or Darian’s ex who now seemed to be his coworker (?) and how and when their relationship had ended. All this made it a bit hard to stay invested. And when things seemed to be going a bit better for Ash, of course his self-destructiveness had to ruin it all again…

I did however truly love the side characters Chloe and Amy, and their loyalty and support for their friends and their sharpness and humor! Overall, I also loved the humor and banter throughout this book. It was so British and so witty, elegant and full of sarcasm, which is my favorite kind of humor!

I also appreciated how Alexis Hall didn’t make mental health into something that could be cured by love. Even though the romance with Darian made Ash happier, it didn’t make his mental issues magically disappear, which made the story so much more real and relatable. I also appreciated Ash’s character growth in the end, but wished for it to have come sooner.

So all in all, this book was a bit of a letdown, but it definitely had a lot of great parts and Alexis Hall definitely is a talented writer. And extra kudos for the raw and real descriptions of mental health problems and the British humor. I just wished that the characters would have been a little more likable…

(In the latest edition of Glitterland, the short story Aftermath has been added, which I enjoyed so much more! That one was so much sweeter and really showed Ash’s character growth and gave us a true cinnamon roll moment.)

Rating:
2.5 stars for Glitterland (4 stars for Aftermath)

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Alexis Hall