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

Found family is one of my favorite tropes, and this book has such a wonderful one with the Princess of England Gwen who is reluctantly betrothed to the King Arthur descendant Arthur, her bookworm brother Gabriel and maid Agnes, and Arthur’s servant and shenanigans partner Sidney and Gwen’s love interest the lady knight Bridget.

I loved the funny banter, the slow burn romances (yes, there’s both an f/f and a m/m romance!) and the sweet way this poked fun of the traditional heroic Arthurian legends. And Arthur’s and Sidney’s friendship was gold, I think I loved it the most, even more than the romantic relationships.

The middle part was perhaps a bit slow, but the action-filled ending certainly made up for that!

All in all, a very cute, fun and comforting read with fake dating, enemies to friends, self discovery and rewriting history.

Rating:
4 stars

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Lex Croucher

This was such a wonderful and emotional friends-to-lovers mm hockey romance with two amazing main characters to root for. I loved how this book had a different vibe than many other hockey romances, with an MC who suffered from anxiety and panic attacks that added extra layers to the forbidden love trope.

Season’s Change follows the struggling and angst-ridden hockey player Olly Järvinen, who is trying to get his career back on track after a traumatic previous season and change of team, and the happy go lucky new rookie Benji Bryzinski, who wants to leave his trailer park upbringing and anger management issues behind and earn his place in the big leagues. Being roommates shouldn’t be a problem, but there is something about the other that keeps knocking them both off track.
 
I read this book in one sitting, it was so addictive and I rooted so much for all characters that I just couldn’t bear to put it down until the very end! It was such a perfect slow burn, forbidden romance, story with lots of depths and emotions. There was so much angst and fear of messing up, the struggle for Olly to hide his true self and not give into his feelings for Benji, and for Benji to not let his anger or feeling of always being the odd one out get the better of him. And on top of that, a bi awakening for Benji with all the new feelings for Olly he can’t even put a name to. There were also so many other amazing side characters, and wonderful friends and family relationships, but also toxic ones, like the relationship between Olly and his dad, and between Benji and his sister, and Olly’s homophobic and mean former teammates. So definitely a lot of emotions going on, and a very intense read!
 
This is Cait Nary’s debut book, but there is no way you could have ever guessed that. The writing was beautiful and Cait did such a great job describing Olly’s loneliness and anxiety, and his longing for being able to show his true self. I loved how Olly and Benji had this instant connection, that slowly was allowed to blossom into something more as their relationship developed. I also loved the other teammates, especially Poiro, and hope that Cait Nary will continue the Trade Season series with a book in his POV.
 
I had some issues with one of the scenes (not going into details in order to spoil anything, but if you read the book you’ll easily know which on I’m referring to) and it was perhaps a bit unbelievable how Benji was so not worried about what others might think, and how super anxious Olle could just go with the flow when he and Benji started fooling around. But those are my only minor complaints.
 
All in all, this was a both heartwarming and heartbreaking story with a perfect balance of hockey and romance, fun banter, vulnerability, steam and sweetness. Highly recommended!

Rating:
4.5 stars rounding up to 5

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Cait Nary

I had really high hopes for this book to be a light and fun friends-to-lovers summery read, and it started off really great with a wonderful friendship, fun banter and a lot of hilarious moments. But sadly, about halfway it turned into a story that wasn’t my cup of tea at all, with too much vulgar smut and a borderline toxic relationship.

Reasons Why Not to Date the Best Friend is the third book in the Shell Grove series following a group of friends in a Southeastern small town. I haven’t read the previous books in the series, but had no problem getting into the story or the characters. The books in the series focuses on different persons, and even though the characters and past events from the previous books played a major part in this story too, it was really well done and everything was explained to keep you clued in to what had happened in the past. 

In this third book, focus is on the two remaining singles, Maggie and Finn, who have been best friends since they first met eleven years ago, even though they are each other’s opposites. Where Maggie is spontaneous and always looking for a new adventure, Finn is as stable and secure as it gets, happy to run his local bar after his potential football career ended by an accident. With everyone in Maggie’s friend group getting married and having children, she’s feeling a bit left out and like it’s time to find a new adventure. Like accepting the job offer of her dreams in Key West. But for Finn, the news of Maggie leaving, makes him realize that he might have missed the chance to tell the girl of his dreams that he wants them to be way more than just best friends.

I really liked how Maggie was such a joyful, adventurous and badass character, and how her backstory made her so willing to live her life to the fullest rather than being bitter for what she’d missed out on. I also really liked her and Finn’s relationship as friends (even though it was a bit too unrealistic that there was no sexual attraction for so many years) and how supportive they were of each other and their constant banter and pranks.

But once they got together that all changed from fun and sweet into vulgar sex talks and smut, and toxic possessiveness. I don’t mind spice in a romance story, but all the vulgar talking and bad words, and the way Finn changed into a possessive alpha male wanting to stop Maggie from chasing her dreams was a big no no for me. All this talk about Maggie being his, belonging to him and him being her man, and Finns saying things like “Remove all your other male names from your vocabulary, Mags. Mine is the only one you need to know now.” just made me dislike Finn and the whole idea of his and Maggie’s relationship.

The ending made up for a bit - I have to admit that it was really sweet what Finn did - but then it was a bit too late sadly. Too bad when the story and the characters had such great potential!

But even though the story wasn’t for me, it still had a lot of good parts. I really appreciated how Maggie was such a strong headed woman who definitely took no sh*t from anyone and the sex positivity, as well as the wonderful group of friends and all the fun banter. So if you enjoy really steamy stories with dirty talks and obsessive alpha males, please don’t let my review discourage you from reading this book!

Thank you to NetGalley and Xpresso Tours for the ARC of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

Rating:
2.5 stars rounding up to 3

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Melanie Munton

Amy Aislin has done it again! Game Changer is another cute and heartwarming MM romance in the Vancouver Orcas series!

The books in this series can be read as standalones, as each book focuses on one of the Shore cousins at a time, but I enjoy seeing the characters from the previous book as an extra bonus. This time, the main character is hockey player Blair Brawsiski, who has a scheduling problem with all his extra duties helping his various family members out. To facilitate his life, his coach, Matt Shore (from the first book in the series), arranges for his cousin Charlie Shore to help Blair as a PA. But the immediate attraction takes them both by surprise. Especially since Charlie has trust issues and dating his boss is a big no no…
 
This was such a sweet story! Blair and Charlie were both such wonderful, kind and adorable characters and they were the absolute perfect match for each other. I also loved all the lovely side characters with the family members and the teammates in the Orcas.
 
There could perhaps have been a little more drama or suspense to make the story a bit more intense, but sometimes it’s alright with a book just being sweet and heartwarming!
 
All in all, this was a great second book set in the intriguing Orcas universe, and I can’t wait to continue the series with Dorian’s story next!
 
Thank you to Gay Book Promotions for the free review copy and blog tour invitation! All opinions are my own and I’m leaving my honest review voluntarily.

Rating:
4 stars

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Amy Aislin

What an absolutely marvelous book! In Memoriam is heartbreaking but beautiful, romantic but full of horror, brutal but poetic. ​It’s a book I will never forget, nor its wonderful characters and their epic love story.

In short, it is set during WWI and follows two young British private school boys, Ellwood and Gaunt, who are best friends and secretly in love at a time when that kind of love wasn’t allowed, and follows them as the navigate the war’s horror and death surrounding them. It’s a haunting, devastating, beautiful and epic tale of friendship, lost hopes and dreams, the brutality of war and of love conquering it all.
​
This is Alice Winn’s debut book, which is an amazing accomplishment. The writing style is pure perfection, the research flawless and the storytelling is absolutely brilliant! I can only imagine what kind of masterpieces Alice Winn will write in the future, with this as a debut!

The characters in this book were amazing and so relatable. I immediately rooted for sweet Ellwood and stoic Gaunt and their deep affection for each other. It was completely endearing how they both valued their friendship and how they were both so in love with each other but too afraid to lose their friendship to tell the other. The way Alice Winn showed their different backgrounds in the minor details as well as the major privileged/working class differences in the military was so powerful, as was the way Gaunt struggled with the very idea of being in love with a man, knowing the dangerous consequences for a man with his lesser background. His mixed feelings of love and excitement with anxiety and tension was all too understandable.

I absolutely loved this book and cannot praise it enough! It’s both an important eye-opening story to tell, about the horrors of war, how gay love was forbidden and the injustice embedded in a class society, and as well as a swooning, sweet and emotional love story that took my breath away. Please do yourself a favor and read this book! It will probably break your heart, but you won’t regret it!

Rating:
5 stars

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Alice Winn

This second book in the Entertaining Love series is a shorter add-on focusing on Eve’s and Jenna’s wedding. A sweet and heartwarming story dealing with family drama that can damper even the happiest ever after.

Love Beneath the Stars continues where the first book in this series, Love Among the Stars, ended. Hollywood matchmaker no. 1, Eve, has found her own perfect match in Hollywood riding star Jemma, and is about to put a ring on it. But Jenna’s conservative brother is bot happy for her choice of partner and refuses to walk her down the aisle as promised, giving Jemma cold feet.
 
Who doesn’t love a cute wedding novella with lot of family drama? If you do, you’re get all of that here!
 
Just like the first book, I would have loved for the story to be a bit more fleshed out and not feeling as rushed. But all in all, this was a fun, cute and enjoyable read!

Thank you to Gay Book Promotions for the free e-copy of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

Rating:
3 stars

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​Claerie Kavanaugh

This was a cute and adorable feelgood romance between a Hollywood matchmaker and her client. Great premise and lovely characters, but I’d love for the story to be a little more fleshed out.

Eve is a matchmaker who has a 100% success rate, until she gets the new Hollywood it-girl, the bisexual Jemma, as her client. No matter how hard she tries to find Jemma the perfect match, each date is a complete disaster. But perhaps Eve doesn’t genuinely want to succeed in this case, but to keep getting excuses to spend time with Jemma herself…
 
I really enjoyed the premise and rooted for Eve in her attempts to succeed professionally when her heart has other plans. Jemma was harder to really understand and root for as she was mostly described via her failed dates or through Eve’s swooning eyes. But they were both lovely characters nevertheless and I enjoyed how Jemma was described as strong willed and not the least impressed by her Hollywood peers.
 
The romance was a bit too instalovey though, and the writing felt a bit rushed overall. The romance went from zero to eternal love in just a couple of weeks, especially from Jenna’s point, and I would have loved for the story to be more fleshed out.
 
But all in all, this was a very enjoyable, heartwarming and sweet story with lovely characters.

Thank you to Gay Book Promotions for the free e-copy of the book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

Rating:
3.5 stars

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​Claerie Kavanaugh

This was such a delightful, fastpaced and gorgeous enemies-to-lover story about two archenemies whose friends think they would be perfect for each other! But while it was sweet and fuzzy, it also had a lot of depth with anxiety issues, childhood trauma, parental neglect and alcoholism, all weaved together into a perfect heartwarming and emotional story. Absolutely loved it!

The two main characters, the introverted Dylan Ramírez with a childhood trauma and anxiety issues and the loud, confident and attention seeker Jonah Collins with a huge shameful secret that is almost crushing him, have hated each other from the first time they met as eleven-year-olds and Dylan beat Jonah in Uno. But when Dylan’s best friends Hanna and Jonah’s best friend Andre become the school’s power couple, Dylan and Jonah are forced to spend time together. But the most annoying part is how their friends keep nagging about how perfect they would be for each other just because they are the only two openly bisexual guys at school. ‘Cause there obviously can’t be any other reason for it, right? Well, when they start fake-dating to get their friends off their back they are about to find out…

This book had two of my favorite troops – enemies to lovers and fake dating – plus amazing, fleshed out characters, snarky banter and wonderful friends! But it was so much more than tropes, it was such a deep and special story dealing with trauma, mental health issues and abuse.

“You have to decide if it’s worth the sacrifice of losing him.”

The story had some truly heartbreaking parts, and I truly hated both Jonah’s dad and Dylan’s mother. No matter what they had been through, neglecting your children is unforgivable. I felt that they both got off the hook a little too easy, even though I’m of course happy for the positive turn of events. I also feel that Jonah’s friends could have done more to help him earlier, or hinted to Dylan about his struggles. But that set aside, I loved the friends and their banter. They were such an amazing, lovable and diverse squad!

The writing was flawless, you couldn’t tell at all that this was Amanda Woody’s debut book, and they made an amazing job combining the difficult topics with the lighter ones while still making it a very easy and joyful story to read. 

All in all, this was a sweet, fuzzy and funny read while also dealing with some pretty heavy topics, and with great representation. I finished this book in one sitting, ending it with a big goofy smile all over my face!

Rating:
5 stars

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Amanda Woody

I really don’t like to write bad reviews, especially not for a debut book written by a young indie author, but sadly I cannot give it more than two stars. The story had such a great premise, and the cover was so gorgeous, but unfortunately the execution didn’t meet any of my expectations.

I truly wanted to love this story. An ownvoices story about a gay Jewish boy who has to return to the closet when he moves to a small town in Florida, who meets a religious, popular football quarterback, who is suppressing all feelings that could remotely be seen as a sin, but who loves anything different, sounded absolutely amazing.

But sadly, this book just didn’t feel ready to be published. Not just because of all the editing errors (like repetitive words, unfinished thoughts or phrases that didn’t make sense, wrong names on characters etc.) but also the pacing felt off. There was so much going on that the story felt rushed and unfocused, with many of the important plot events being brushed over and told in hindsight by the characters thinking of them, not by us readers experiencing them, which made it hard to be fully invested in the story.

The plot also reminded me a bit too much of Autuboyography by Christina Lauren to feel unique and fresh, and the characters had so much potential, but weren’t as fully developed as I’d wished for.

I feel really sad for this, but hope that Jacob Gelman will continue writing stories. He’s obviously a very talented writer, and I hope he’ll get a good editor for the next book, who can help him achieve his full potential.

I received a free ARC of this book, which I have voluntarily reviewed.

Rating:
2 stars

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Jacob Gelman