LGBT Romance

Perfect Match follows Sven, a lumberjack who has not found is Mr. Right, which concerns his family. So they take matters into their own hands to find him someone through an online site called Perfect Match. The result is the arrival of a somewhat effeminate young city boy named Jayden who is pretty much out of his comfort zone being surrounded by a group of gruff lumberjacks. Sven and Jayden couldn’t be more different, but there seems to be an attraction — a chemistry — between them.

But we soon learn that the company “Perfect Match” is not what it seems and that Jayden is actually trying to deceive and con Sven, though deep down, Jayden is really a decent guy. But the kicker is that Jayden has fallen for Sven. Moreover, he has some dark secrets that he doesn’t want anyone to find out, most of all, Sven. Naturally, all sorts of wacky hijinks ensue.

This was a light-hearted and fun gay romance with family shenanigans, sweet and endearing characters and two opposites who find each other. Perfect Match is a feel-good story that only had a teensy bit of angst, and it was fun to see the main characters slowly growing to trust and care for each other. The chemistry between them was terrific, and the writing made this book a heart-warming read. And you couldn’t help but fall in love with Sven’s family. All in all, a truly pleasant and solid reading experience.

A huge thank you to Netgalley and AG Meiers for providing an Advance Reader Copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Rabi and Matthew is a gay romance story which the blurb describes as “A queer retelling of Romeo & Juliet, except no one has to bury their gays.”

The Story

This novel follows Rabi Hashmi and Matthew Swain who meet one night at a party and end up falling in love. Simple enough story. Well, not really. What makes this story interesting is the decades-old rivalry between the two families as their two fathers run against each other in the election for a seat in Congress. What we have here is Democrat vs. Republican, Muslim vs. Christian and years and years of mistrust and hatred between the families.

Rabi and Matthew know that their love will not be without its challenges, that falling in love with each other in the middle of a war that has the potential of turning bloody is probably not the wisest thing. But they can’t resist the attraction and the feelings that grow between them and decide to take a chance. They meet in secret, often heading out of town in order to lower the risk of running into someone who could report back to their families.

I thought the scenes with them getting to know each other during their secret rendezvous-vous were heartfelt and endearing. Little did they know, however, that the pot had reached its boiling point, and hatred along with escalating racial tensions now threatened everything they hold dear…and not everyone may end up a happily ever after.

A Queer Romeo & Juliet

I loved the entire premise of a queer telling of Romeo & Juliet, with a white Christian boy from a racist Republican family falling in love with a Pakistani Muslim boy from a Democrat family, with both families obsessed with their hatred. The author expertly handled the storyline, and I was impressed with the clever parallels with Romeo & Juliet.

I also give the author extra points for not stereotyping our main characters as either Romeo or Juliet. Neither one of them fit those roles, for which I was grateful. Now I will say that there is definitely some Insta-Love going on here, but given that it’s a retelling of the classic Romeo and Juliet, I could overlook it. I thought their whirlwind romance was tender and sweet, with there being a powerful chemistry between them. It was a joy seeing the two of them fall deeper in love with each other, in spite of the dangers from everyone around there.

A Plethora of Themes

There are so many interesting themes that run through this novel: racism, hatred, gun violence, violence in general, xenophobia (particularly Islamophobia), homophobia, and politics to name a few. There are some scenes in the book that are absolute insanity, with the hatred, bigotry, and violence overtaking all semblance of reason.

So that being said, this story had plenty of edge-of-your-seat, nail-biting drama that gripped me and held me until the emotional ending. This is the kind of book that takes your heart, tosses it into a blender and then slowly puts it back together at the end; though I will say that the journey was exhilarating.

Remember…It’s A Love Story

Now, it’s important to remember that this novel, though it may not seem like it at times, is a romance and not a tragedy like Romeo and Juliet. That’s not to say that horrible things don’t happen in the story, because they do. But ultimately, this is a love story, and though the characters don’t end up with perhaps an ideal happily-ever-after, the ending is perfect in light of the events that take place in the book, so in this way, it was a satisfying conclusion.

My One Niggle

I had one main niggle with this book and with one particular scene. It was after our two main characters have just gone through a horrendous experience….I mean the ultimate worst. They dash out of town, rent a hotel room and then jump into bed and have sex. I thought, “Oh come on! Really?????”

I can’t see how anyone in their right mind could or would think about sex being in their situation. This scene struck me as unrealistic, and I just couldn’t buy into it. I actually found this scene so far-fetched and unbelievable that I was ready to bail on the book. But I did stick it out, and I’m happy I did because the author more than made up for it by giving us a beautiful and touching ending.

Verdict

Rabi and Matthew was one heck of a rollercoaster ride, one for which you might want to have a tissue nearby. There are a lot of intense scenes and heavy topics in the book, and at times, it is difficult to read. But ultimately, I ended up loving this emotionally satisfying story, and I found myself tearfully be rooting for our two heroes as chaos erupted all around them. I thought the novel was well-crafted and deeply engaging, with even a twist or two to keep things interesting. Recommended!

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I believe that these stories are available only in ebook format at the moment. I put the link for each of the individual books as well as the collection below.

The Granby Knitting Stories is a collection of four gay romance novellas by Amy Lane: The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters, How to Raise an Honest Rabbit, Knitter in His Natural Habitat and Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny’s Lair which follow a group of fellows who either work for or are associated with an Alpaca farm and fiber mill. Oh, and just about everyone in this story knits — and knits a lot — which is one of the themes running through this series which I found cleverly unusual.

So the first story, The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters, follows Rance Crawford who is a crusty, somewhat gruff Alpaca rancher and the owner of a fiber mill. But his tough exterior softens when handsome city-boy Ben moves in next door and next thing you know, Rance is knitting the newcomer hats to keep warm during the winter. A sweet and charming novella!

So things get a little more serious in the next book, How to Raise an Honest Rabbit. This follows one of Rance’s employees Jeremy who we learn was a former con man (at the urging of his father) and ex-con. But Rance gives Jeremy a chance and Jeremy is determined not to let him down. He’s also determined not to let anyone get too close to him but his coworker Aiden is not so easily deterred. Aiden however, has to tread carefully around a man who’s accustomed to “rabbit away” at the first sign of conflict and instead, must get Jeremey to trust him and trust himself, which turns out to not be such an easy task, especially when Jeremy’s past shows up one day on their doorstep.

The third and probably the darkest book in this series is Knitter in His Natural Habitat. This follows Stanley, who works at the knitting shop in Boulder and who occasionally had dalliances with Rance before Rance met Ben. In this book, there’s a new delivery man in town named Johnny who drops off a delivery at Stanley’s shop and both men are instantly smitten with each other. But Johnny is not quite as he seems and as we learn, he has a very dark past which threatens to destroy everything he’s been building with Stanley as well as put the people he cares for the most in the world in extreme danger.

The last book in this collection is Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny’s Lair. I can’t say too much about this one without giving anything away. Let me say that one of our favorite characters is on a long road to recovery after a heinous event and that there’s a new addition to our beloved cast of characters in this book. This story is where it all comes together and does a fantastic job of pulling on the old heartstrings.

I loved reading this story about a group of passionate knitters and passionate men, and by the end of the last book, I found myself loving this colorful…and endearing… cast of characters. At first, I thought this was going to be a sweet holiday story, and ultimately, it was. But there are some darker aspects to this story as well which made it all the more compelling. Additionally, I liked the continuity with these four books in which all of the characters appeared in every story which provided us the opportunity to really get to know them.

I thoroughly enjoyed all these characters as well delving quite deeply into their lives and into their psyches. I’m glad I read these stories back to back, which start out with a sweet romance, then the morph into the more dramatic, grow a tad darker as the stories continue to progress and culminate in many intense emotional experiences by the series end. All in all, I loved this moving and heartfelt series which can be enjoyed by anyone regardless of whether or not you are a knitter.

Purchase The Granby Knitting Stories at Amazon

Links to individual books:

The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters

How to Raise an Honest Rabbit

Knitter in His Natural Habitat

Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny’s Lair

Mr. Frosty Pants follows Casey who, when he left for college four years ago, ghosted his best friend, Joel. Casey had just come out to his parents which didn’t go all that well, and he decided not to go through the same thing with Joel. It’s also worth mentioning that he was and still is very much in love with Joel and didn’t want to risk Joel finding that out.

Now as for Joel, he’s curmudgeonly, ill-tempered and unapproachable, so much so that his employee at the hardware store that Joel owns has nicknamed him “Mr. Frosty Pants.” Joel initially comes across as a wholly unlikable character. But given that the story is told from alternating POVs, we learn the reason for Joel’s standoffishness: he’s been severely hurt in the past by his despicable and abusive father, leading to an overall feeling of unworthiness on his part as he struggles merely to survive day by day.

We also learn that he’s also not quite as straight as Casey believes and that he’s also been in love with and pining for Casey for years.

Still, when Casey shows up at Joel’s store with the intention of renewing their friendship, Joel wants nothing to do with him gives him more than a frosty reception. He certainly has no intention of telling Casey about how he feels about him and does his best to drive the man off. Joel thinks that Casey has no place in his life now, especially given that they come from two different classes; Casey from new money and Joel struggling to afford his next meal (Casey’s snobbish parents also do not approve of Joel and their son’s friendship with him). Joel believes that it would be easier on his heart if he kept Casey at a distance.

But Casey is not so easily rebuffed, especially once he learns from a mutual friend that Joel may have romantic feelings for him as well.

What follows is a sweet, slow-burn romance with two very complicated characters as Casey is determined to win Joel’s trust whereas Joel is determined to keep the gate protecting his heart firmly closed. Add to that class differences, homophobic parents and elitism, we quickly see that it’s not going to be an easy road for our main characters. Though this is a holiday romance, it’s not a typical one in that we see a little more angst in this story than one usually sees in Christmas romances but the overall result is worth it, and we end up with an intense, hard-hitting tale with plenty of heart.

I typically enjoy the friends to lovers trope and this novel was no exception. I loved seeing the relationship slowly bloom between Casey and Joel as barriers are torn down and trust earned. It’s a lovely story about opening one’s heart and taking a chance on love. There are several tropes in this book that work together wonderfully: childhood friends-to-lovers, second chances, ex-best friends, unrequited love, lovers reunited and rich boy vs. poor boy all of which, combined with the atmosphere of Christmas, add to the richness and depth of this tale.

Mr. Frosty Pants ended up being a story of redemption, acceptance and second changes that was heartbreaking in places and joyful in others. It’s not a fluffy or cheesy story but rather a hopeful, deep and fulfilling one about two characters discovering themselves. Their relationship felt authentic to me and their character traits believable and realistic, which wasn’t surprising given how complicated and multi-faceted each of them was. The intimate scenes are also tastefully done and in perfect proportion to the rest of the story.

All in all, a beautiful, heartfelt M/M Christmas story. Recommended!

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This is at the fourth book in the Signs of Love series by Anyta Sunday. I actually started with book two in this series, Scorpio hates Virgo and I loved it so much a went out and got the rest of my series. I’m really a fan of this author and have now read several books by her. She writes gay romance book and many people refer to her as the “Queen of Slow Burn” because she specializes in the slow burn romance. I think that’s why I enjoy her books so much because I love this trope. She also does the enemies to lover trope in some of her novels which I also really enjoy.

So onto Pisces Hooks Taurus. The story follows Zane, a Kiwi who has a month left on his Visa before he’s shipped back from the US to New Zealand. But he wants to stay in the US more than anything especially because he wants to stay close to his brother and his brother’s wife who is also his best friend and the two of them have just become parents. So Zane has a plan: he will find the perfect girl of his dreams on one of his dating apps, fall in love, marry her and get to stay in the states. That’s the plan, anyway. Oh, and all this is to take place within 30 days.

But first off, he needs to find another place to stay and asks a friend of his brother’s wife, a professor named Beckett, if he can crash with him temporarily. So what follows is a delightful slow burn romance between the two of them. But it’s not an easy road. Zane is clueless that his so-called “Bromance” with Beckett may be something more profound and we learn that Beckett is still broken-hearted and deeply scarred from a past relationship and is determined not to get his heart broken again.

I really loved both of their characters. Zane, our Pisces is young, naïve, romantic, and somewhat of a dreamer, so in this way, he comes across as quite innocent. He is also charming and super-sweet. Beckett, our Taurus, is mature, more serious, intellectual and studious though somewhat insecure and mistrusting of others following that horrible breakup.

So it was a delight watching the slow-burn between the two of them as Beckett would continuously erect borders with our clueless Zane unknowingly tearing them down. What I liked is the balance in the story. We have two very different personalities; a totally innocent and naïve character and one who’s jaded and mistrusting. As the tension builds, we see our bull lowering his guard and our fish growing in maturity and wisdom. I also loved how much both of these characters grew by the end of the story.

All in all, I felt that this slow-burn romance was realistic and heartfelt. It was a story full of banter, humor, affection, the building of tension as these two men realized their attraction to the other, and the blossoming of love, without too much angst.

I found it interesting that though Zane was initially searching for the perfect woman, his falling in love with Zane didn’t strike me as a gay-for-you trope, one that I typically don’t like. Rather, it felt like Zane’s bisexuality naturally unfolded as true affection developed between him and Beckett. Actually, I got the impression that Zane didn’t really experience sexual attraction to someone unless he has a strong emotional connection with them. So in this way, he struck me as possibly being more demisexual rather than bisexual.

Pisces Hooks Taurus was another lovely and sweet story by Anyta Sunday that made me a little misty-eyed at the end (as do most of her books). It’s the kind of story that makes you laugh and cry, and really ends up tugging at your heartstrings. Excellent plot, with lovable characters, endearing meddling family and neighbors, plenty of humor and snark and a sweet romance with a couple of steamy scenes thrown in at the end. It’s a story in which both of our characters knew what they wanted — it just took them some time to get there.

I’m loving this series and can’t wait to read the next book.

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Purchase Pisces Hooks Taurus at The Book Depository