Review: The Wishing Tree by R.J. Scott

Rating: 4🌈⛄️

The Wishing Tree is a sweet, heartwarming holiday tale of a long time wish come true as two friends find their way to love and HEA at Christmas.

Once again, the snowy, beautiful state of Vermont serves as the backdrop for Scott’s holiday romance. I honestly don’t know what narrative pheromones Vermont is throwing off these days but.it seems as though every other book I pick up lately is located there. Not that I’m complaining, it is picturesque and perfect in so many ways that I get it.

And it works just as great as a location for the small town of Wishing Tree, it’s annual Christmas festival and it’s close knit community. Including that of the Buchanan family and the Haynes clan, all four brothers of which Bailey is the youngest.

It’s Bailey Haynes who as a young teenager, wrote his wish on the Wishing Tree about his deepest feelings for Kai, the fact the Bailey was gay and hadn’t told anyone yet. Everything poured out on a card years ago.

The story moves forward through past important events to arrive at the present and our meeting with the man of Bailey’s dreams.

That’s Kai Buchanan, soon to be ex hockey player of the Harriers. It’s been a tumultuous time for both Kai and Bailey, although neither knows the true extent of each other’s feelings and current situations.

I liked Bailey. He seems young, with a need for quiet and a certain amount of solitude. Extremely artistic, as a jewelry designer, Bailey also has held within himself a secret love of silk and a way of wearing beautiful undergarments like corsets.

The author balances Bailey’s fear of rejection over how he sees himself, dressed as he wants to be, and Kai’s inadequacies in expressing his feelings upon not only his return but prior to that.

Like Bailey, I was a tad unimpressed by Kai’s announcement of love as it seemed to pop out of nowhere, with absolutely zero foundation.

The story earnestly moved forward past this section and got much better and believable.

All the families, siblings, many nieces and nephews were all adorable. They helped ground the couple in a loving strong environment.

With the Christmas decorations and festivities, the relationship got the wonderful elements we look forward to in a holiday story, full of snow, starry nights, and wishes granted for a HEA.

The Wishing Tree by R.J. Scott is a lovely holiday friends to lovers story! A sweet romance I’m definitely recommending.

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Wishing Tree by R.J. Scott – Goodreads

Synopsis:

It takes an impossible Christmas wish for Bailey to find forever love with his brother’s best friend.

Turning twenty-five and still a virgin, Bailey has barely dated, let alone acted on the private fantasies featuring his brother’s best friend, newly retired hockey star, Kai. All he wants is for Kai to love him, but after a summer when Kai’s anger drove them apart, love doesn’t seem possible at all.

When Kai goes home to Wishing Tree, he knows he owes everyone an apology, not least of all to the man he loves. He’s convinced he can be the man that Bailey deserves, and he needs to show Bailey how much he’s changed.

The only problem? Bailey has secrets that he’s scared will drive Kai away, and Kai is running out of time to convince Bailey that falling in love starts with a wish and can end up in forever.

The Wishing Tree is a standalone small-town Christmas MM romance with perfect snow, twinkling lights, a first real kiss, a shy virgin with a silken kink, a retired hockey player, and all the Christmas feels.

Review: Merry Measure by Lily Morton

Rating: 5🌈⛄️plus!

Right off the bat let me tell you if the rating system went higher, say to 10 or 15 stars, I’d still want to give this book more.

I almost, I say almost, had to stop reading this because I was given strict instructions not to put any undue pressure on one eye atm but I couldn’t help it! I was collapsed sideways in helpless laughter! Roaring even!

I’d stop. Gather myself up. Read on, and then Bam! Arlo has said or flailed or something has happened during a trip to Amsterdam and I’m overcome once more, tears pouring out of my eyes! Tears of uncontrollable laughter!

It stayed that way through the many group outings , the inner doubts and outside stumbling towards a new beginning between two men who have known each other most their lives.

Lily Morton has written, for me at least, a perfect holiday romance. Surrounded by a city as charming as the men themselves and the company they’ve traveled with, Morton has delivered that most elusive of gifts, a Christmas love affair so grounded in the reality of being human hat we never forget these men have their flaws in their layered personalities. But the author elevates her story by folding in the magic of historic Amsterdam at Christmas as Arlo and Jack discover love amidst the canals, museums, and all the other picturesque sights around them. If you haven’t been to Amsterdam, this will make you want to travel there.

But if the setting is magnificent, it’s the people we care greatly about. All the elements are so thoughtfully crafted. The dialogue is outstanding . The characters are so well done I never stopped thinking of them as anything but someone I could have the chance of meeting. How I would dearly love to.

And the storyline is such , including a ending that’s perfection, that I’ve put Merry Measure at the very top of my to be rec’d list.

Sometime in the early hours I woke up giggling madly thinking once more about this couple and story.

Mr. Whiffles indeed!

It’s definitely on my to be re-read list too.

This has become a new favorite comfort and holiday read instantaneously!

I’m sure it will become yours as well.

Make sure you are curled up, put all liquids out of reach… just in case of heavy guffaws! Just saying! And enjoy my absolute favorite of the season!

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/56053974

Synopsis:

Arlo Wright’s introduction to his sexuality came when he saw his older brother’s best friend, Jack Cooper, in his sweaty football kit. Unfortunately, he didn’t have long to enjoy the revelation because he promptly knocked himself out on a table.
Relations between them have never really moved on from that auspicious beginning. Arlo is still clumsy, and Jack is still as handsome and unobtainable as ever.

However, things look like they’re starting to change when Arlo finds himself sharing a room with Jack while on holiday in Amsterdam at Christmas. Will the festive spirit finally move them towards each other, or is Arlo just banging his head against a wall this time?

From bestselling author, Lily Morton comes a warm romantic comedy set in chilly Amsterdam.

Review: Christmas Wish List (Hartbridge Christmas #2) by N.R. Walker

Rating: 5🌈⛄️

Ever read a book that feels like all your favorite Hallmark movies gathered together with extra helpings of the sounds of carolers and the sight of fresh falling snow on Christmas Eve? Well, if you haven’t before, you will once you’ve read the heartwarming holiday romance Christmas Wish List!

N.R. Walker returns to that most Hallmark like of small towns, Hartbridge, Montana for her second and, honestly my favorite novel, in her Hartbridge Christmas series. A series that finds out of place Aussies stumbling into a Christmas wonderland and their HEA . Ok sighing again

Walker created a remarkably believable Hartbridge in her first novel in this series, Tic-Tac Mistletoe Christmas We learned about its families, it’s stores, it’s diners, it’s community and traditions.

I was ready to grab up a plane ticket…it’s so real.

Now we return with chef Jayden Turner. He’s been hired as a new B&B chef through the holidays, which happens to be n Hartbridge.

A Aussie who’s been rootless and now wants a home is coming into a place that will fill him with wonder , warming him with magical Christmas scenes that bring home the holiday spirit and a place where suddenly it starts to feel like home.

A huge part of that is Carter “Cass” Campion and his renovated grand house, Arabella Manor. Cass is a man who’s poured his heart into this renovation and new business but he needs assistance . Cass also has a personal issue he’s dealing with that’s causing him enormous guilt and isolation. Help for everything arrives in the form of Jayden.

I can’t begin to tell you how right Walker gets their relationship . How believable it is as they navigate first their working and personal relationship then as they move through each man’s issues by communicating and effort to arrive at their HEA.

I DID NOT want this to end. I absolutely fell madly in love with Jayden and Cass.

That I adore Hartbridge goes without saying, more of Carl, his diner, and the community.

Plus of course, there’s our other couple too. Can’t forget Hamish and

Ren from Tic-Tac Mistletoe Christmas. Love them too.

So yes. Need a book or two to make you sigh happily, grab for the hot chocolate, and maybe want to listen for the sound of tiny silver bells?

These are must reads for the holidays or any time of the year! I highly recommended them both.

⛄️Hart ridge Christmas series:

✓ Tic-Tac Mistletoe Christmas #1

✓ Christmas Wish List #2

Synopsis:

In need of work and a change of scenery, Aussie ex-pat Jayden Turner agrees to a short-term chef position at a Bed and Breakfast over the Christmas holidays. After all, how hard could it be in a small town in the mountains of Montana? What he finds is a grand old house in a beautiful town, and his new boss is gorgeous, gay, and single.

After his divorce, Carter “Cass” Campion bought his great-aunt’s rundown country manor in his home town, and he’s determined to get it ready for the busy holiday period. Recently out as gay, he’s been focused solely on his business and hasn’t had time for a man. Not that many gay men come through Hartbridge . . .

As his new clients arrive, and being away from his two kids, celebrating Christmas is the last thing on Cass’s mind. But his new chef has other ideas. And if there’s one thing on his Christmas Wish List this year, Jayden can make it come true.

N.R. Walker

Review: Sundae’s Best (Briar County #2) by Riley Hart

Rating: 5🌈

In Riley Hart’s Introduction, the author talks about the desire to create something different with this series. Instead of serial stories linked together, Hart wanted a narrative playground. One where standalone stories could have roots and flourish amidst a familiar foundation, a wide universe.

So Hart started creating Briar County, North Carolina. With its small towns like Harmony and Everett, and it’s wonderful town stores, restaurants, and community gathering places and events like the Covington Farm Goatalapoloozas Briar County quickly becomes a group of places that feels like home.

Populated by people we invest in and connect to. They flow in and out and around these stories just as you would see people in your own community.

What a rich tapestry Hart has created for this series and us.

Sundae’s Best is such a remarkable story. It starts from a place of grief, pain, loss, and an emptiness, and growing need for two men connected by death of two beloved people. One is looking for connection and a home. The other? He’s not sure. But he’s feeling empty even though he’s surrounded by community and family who love him.

Sundae’s Best, the name of Deacon’s ice cream store, is a gentle, heartwarming, incredibly well written and moving love story. Its so sweet and low key, realistic, fumbling even, as Grady and Deke find their way to friendship through their mutual love, grief over their loss of Nathan and Birdy. Then it’s so sweet as it gradually turns into something more, deeper, turning into love.

We watch as Deke has to wrestle with his new feelings ( never confused that he does love Grady but over all those terms) and everyone trying to define him when he hasn’t figured out things other that he needs Grady. That’s so understandable and believable too.

All the small town dynamics at place, the positive and negative, are on display.

There’s also an amazing aspect of this book that deals with Grady’s past and his family’s reaction to his sexuality. Again, Hart’s characters are so well defined and layered that so you feel their emotions and understand their actions.

There isn’t one part of this book that doesn’t hold up to intense scrutiny. It’s just that good.

My complaint? I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay there…. Eating Sticky Bourbon ice cream,playing with the goats… and wanting to know what happens next in their lives.

In short. Briar County has me hooked. It has made a friend. Made me want to stay.

I think you’ll feel the same. Start here. Go for the first. Doesn’t matter. Just head on over and make your acquaintance. I’m highly recommending you do!

Briar County series:

Firefly Lane #1

Sundae’s Best #2

Synopsis:

Grady Dalton is in a rut. He’s thirty-eight, without a boyfriend, and has yet to find the place that feels like home. The closest he ever got was his best friend, Nathan. But it’s been seven years since he passed, and life isn’t getting easier. That’s how he ends up in Briar County, hoping to grow roots in the place Nathan had loved.

Deacon Sharpe spends his days serving homemade ice cream at Sundae’s Best and his nights alone, pretending he’s getting by after his wife’s death better than he is. His world is rocked when a man shows up who claims to have been his brother-in-law’s best friend and seems to miss Nathan as much as Deacon misses Patty.

Their losses connect them, but soon, the weight of their loneliness eases with laughter, making ice cream, and Grady reminding Deacon of what it feels like to be held again. Deacon tells himself it’s platonic. How can it be more when he’s forty and has never been with a man, never even been attracted to one? But then, he’d never felt those things about anyone other than Patty either. And when Grady touches him…kisses him…nothing else matters, and the rest of the world melts away.

Together they can deal with family drama, small-town gossip, and Deacon’s newly discovered feelings. But as it often does, life has one more curveball to throw their way…

Sundae’s Best is a small-town, bi/demisexual awakening romance, with characters who like to be held, swoony moments, a dog named Moose, and lots of ice cream. Sundae’s Best can be read as a standalone.

https://www.goodreads.com › showSundae’s Best (Briar County, #2) by Riley Hart – Goodreads

Review: Snowed (Boston Rebels #3) by R.J. Scott and V.L. Locey

Rating: 4.5 🌈

Kyle Lourenco, goalie for the Boston Rebels, has been a quietly interesting character in this series . Mentioned in quite a few books, he’s been a somewhat enigmatic peripheral character. Someone we didn’t know as well as we had the others but a person still likable and within our “hockey family “ fold.

This story abruptly changes that. And it sees Kyle returning home to family and a man he left physically behind but never emotionally.

The location is northbound Manitoba, and members of Kyle’s family as well as others in the small town of Eagles Ridge are Indigenous peoples. It allows the authors to include elements of that culture into this story for an additional richness of location and character. I really appreciated this aspect of the story.

The location also adds to the authenticity of the brutality of winter and freezing conditions the story is founded upon. Snowed indeed.

The character of Kyle is a haunted one, his personality tormented by a childhood amnesia and constant nightmares that no one has been able to determine the cause of. Add to that the fact that he’s left or abandoned (depending upon perspective) his family, friends, and love for the NHL. And you have a deeply complicated tormented man in need of help.

Christian Gauthier is the man and love Kyle left behind. A love he still carries while working in his store or running search and rescue missions.

When the men reconnect during a blizzard, it sets off all sorts of unexpected events. To go further would spoil the fun and indeed, some of the shockers too,

This is a emotional ride of all sorts. There’s a scary mystery, lovers reunited, second chance at love, family homecoming….all sorts of goodness here.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. And the ending seemed just right for this couple.

I wonder what book 4 will bring.

I’m definitely recommending this story. It’s a winner!

Boston Rebels series:

Lost in Boston #0.5

Top Shelf #1

Back Check #2

Snowed #3

Synopsis:

A second chance at love is all Kyle wants for Christmas, but a dark menace from his past wants him dead, and love is second to staying alive.

Kyle Lourenco has carved out a comfortable life and career for himself in Boston. With the holidays quickly approaching, he’s heading home for the first time in several years. Home to his loving parents and the small Canadian town where he was raised. And home to Christian, his best friend and the first man to steal his heart.

Just as a winter storm begins to blow in, it forces Kyle off the road only miles from home and a dark and sinister force from his past creeps ever closer. His only hope is getting to Christian’s cabin before the evil that has haunted him for years finally catches up to him.

Best friends since they were three, Christian Gauthier grew up next door to Kyle, in a remote mountain town with one stoplight and a forty-mile round trip to the nearest school. When Kyle left town for a shot at a professional hockey career, he took Christian’s heart with him. Even though he knew Kyle was always destined for bigger things, it hadn’t stopped Christian from falling for him as soon as he knew what love was.

With Christmas coming soon and a major snowstorm heading their way, Christian shuts the doors to the family store and heads to his cabin, where he will be on standby as an official volunteer for Search and Rescue. He has never regretted staying in Eagle Ridge, but a near miss on a simple rescue leads him to reevaluate everything, and when Kyle ends up at his door, he knows that guarding his heart might not be the best solution after all.

https://www.goodreads.com › showSnowed by R.J. Scott – Goodreads

Review: A Very Genre Christmas by Kim Fielding

Rating: 5⛄️🌈

What a wild and crazy and totally merry Christmas tale Kim Fielding has gifted us with this holiday season.

Unlike any story I’ve read and EXACTLY like sooo many I’ve read and adored, A Very Genre Christmas is a bibliophile noir “find that reference “ Christmas romance mystery…and more.

I heart this sooo much.

Told from PI Nick Bozic’s pov he sounds exactly like Sam Spade, his sentences liberally sprinkled with words like “doll” or “sister “. Fielding has 1950s Portland, Oregon down perfect, from the sights to the corrupt politics, and the era is point on from clothing to cars to cinema. We and the characters are authentically submerged in the 50’s. Albeit with just a smidge difference.

There’s a odd Rift that move and allows certain characters and beings to fall through into Portland. It’s one of Nick’s jobs to see they get home, if possible.

Now see, here’s where Fielding must have had a true literary romp because I can see her laughing as she writes these sort of vague ish descriptions for those that have come through the Rift. You might want to whip out and make notes to see how many you get down, how many you can identify…. correctly that is, and what novels/world they came from. Utter bliss! I’m telling you.

I think I missed a few. But it starts with his secretary! How delicious! And I love her… in all her many versions.

As I do the main couple….

Evindal the Christmas Elf is a marvelous character. Never a joke or caricature, his infectious joy over his new experiences and his love of helping others carries such incredible warmth that you can almost feel it. He’s Christmas spirit personified.

Nick Bozic’s slow change of heart , the changes visible first in alterations to his appearance (new brighter shirts) and decorations showing up at his office, are a realistic element. Because the reason Nick’s so resistant to Christmas is only revealed at the end, but the tiny hints are everywhere.

This is a absolutely joyous and celebratory Christmas romance! One where the true spirit of Christmas is found once more and love of two very different people triumphs.

I love Kim Fielding so much because as a author she continues to surprise and enchant me as a reader with her choices and imaginative twists when it comes to characters and plots. There’s always just that something unexpected….

Here there’s a bookstores full. In fact, an entire story. So much to love.

I highly recommend A Very Genre Christmas by Kim Fielding. Grab it up now!

Synopsis:

Very little is merry in a private dick’s world.

Private detective Nick Bozic works the mean streets of 1950s Portland, Oregon, shadowing unfaithful spouses and nabbing thieving employees. He may be lonely, but at least he’s not crooked. Despite the festive season, Christmas simply means less dough in his pocket.

With the holiday only a few days away, a regular client drops a new case on him: yet another being has come through the Rift and needs help finding his way home. Maybe Evindal the elf will help Nick find something too—a bit of cheer and magic amid the usual brew of corruption and betrayal

https://www.goodreads.com › showA Very Genre Christmas by Kim Fielding – Goodreads

Review: Keeping Promises by Jodi Payne and B.A. Tortuga

Rating: 4🌈

Cowboys n Kids rides again in a new release from authors Jodi Payne and B.A.Tortuga. This time is a pair of divorced dads, one’s a rodeo cowboy, who get their second chance at HEA. With a very cute couple of kids very much a part of the mixture.

This works well primarily because of a sense of established relationship between Jeremy M. Dunn and his ex rodeo cowboy West Belen.

You do get the sense that, however much time has passed, feelings were never the issue. So as a death and injury drives one home and the other to reach out for help, it feels real instead of rushed.

What’s nice is the slower pace here towards a permanent situation. It needs communication, something they weren’t very good at when younger.

The story has many sweet and delightful elements. The kids are great, each taking the reappearance and talks of permanence in their own ways. There’s also a pair of younger adorable rodeo cowboys who end up at Jeremy and West’s home like a couple of lost Golden Retrievers.

I would love to see them again.

Overall, a terrific heartwarming romance of lovers reunited and happy second chances of HEA.

And holidays!

It’s a treat to read. And it’s one I’m recommending.

Keeping Promises by Jodi Payne – Goodreads

Synopsis:

Jeremy M. Dunn III has the single dad thing down, so the last thing he wants to do is call his ex-husband to ask for help with their two kids. They didn’t part on good terms, and they’ve barely spoken since the divorce. But with a cast on his arm that goes up past his elbow, Jeremy has no choice. He needs a few days to figure out how to bathe their daughter, make school lunches and parent their son one-armed, and there isn’t anyone else he can ask for help.

Former rodeo cowboy West Belen was already on his way back to his kids, and to Trey (“the third”, his nickname for Jeremy). He made a promise to try again, and he means to keep it, so when he sees his chance to move back into his family’s life, he grabs it like the brass ring he knows it is. He’s determined to be more than an “every other weekend” dad to his children, and he doesn’t want to keep on living with regret about how he and Trey ended.

Jeremy still desires West, but he isn’t sure he can trust West to be responsible and available. West still thinks Trey is the hottest thing he’s ever seen, but he has no idea how to convince the man he’s ready to settle down. The two of them have never had trouble butting heads, but now they need to learn to work together to make a home for themselves and their kids where they both belong

Review: Operation Meet the Parents (Operation HEA #2) by K.M. Neuhold

Rating: 5🌈

It’s been a while since the first novel where I encountered Harlow (he of the movie Meet Cute) and Teddy but it only took a sentence or two before the effervescent Low and the steadfast Teddy came happily alive once more.

This time the now together pair is leaving sunny LA for the snowy temps of Minnesota and a Christmas with Teddy’s family. It’s Low’s first time meeting them and at a major holiday at that.

What could go wrong?

Neuhold brings us a delightful heartwarming story, filled with family, Holiday gathering and festivities, as well as a bit of angst when Teddy’s mother slow to warm up to Low. Neuhold gently explores a realistic,loving mother/son relationship and the changing dynamic when one brings home their “forever love”. I so enjoyed watching the family, Ted’s mother and the men navigate what could have been a awkward holiday but instead turns out to be a very happily memorable Christmas.

Operation Meet the Parents is a well written holiday romance centered around an established wonderful couple, two highly delightful men, each with a secret mission and special gifts for each other. There’s so much laughter, tremendous characters,some sexy fun, and a ton of love of all types, romantic and that of family.

In short, just a terrific story and a great Christmas sequel for Low and his Teddy Bear. I’m really hoping that Neuhold will give us their wedding and a welcome reunion with both families and friends.

Both books are just a delight and I’m absolutely recommending both. Read one, then this heartfelt lovely Christmas tale.

Operation HEA series:

Operation Meet Cute #1

Operation Meet the Parents #2

Synopsis:

Teddy is ready to pop the question, but can he find the perfect movie-moment proposal for Harlow? And more importantly, will Low survive meeting the parents? Oh, the joy of Christmas.

A missed connecting flight, inappropriate winter attire, and a kitchen fire…it wouldn’t be Christmas without some complications, right?

I know Harlow is desperately trying to impress my family, but I’m a lot more concerned about coming up with a proposal worthy of his Hollywood dreams. That is if he doesn’t burn the house down first.

There’s nothing like the holidays with family. Fa la la la la….

***Operation Meet the Parents is a 25K word novella companion to the full-length novel, Operation Meet Cute. Don’t miss this warm and fuzzy, all-the-Christmas-feels, steamy story.

https://www.goodreads.com › showOperation Meet the Parents (Operation HEA #2) by K.M. Neuhold – Goodreads

Review: The Holiday List (Script Club #4) by Lane Hayes

Rating: 3.25🌈

The Holiday List is the fourth and final book in Lane Hayes Script Club series, built around a group of nerd scientists who live and work together. They form a club that does odd jobs, each becomes a focus of a book as well as one of the scientists who end up with their HEA.

This was a cute story. Chet was someone new to the house and therefore not a person we’ve grown to love as we had all the others. He was just as adorably quirky and Hayes gave him a suitable family and background.

Chet really shown with his interactions with Lincoln, the child he was helping with his science projects. I really wished this story had explored that dynamic further, including Sam into it. Because that would have elevated this story into something special, especially at the holidays.

As it is, we get a “as told” sort of narrative for their developing relationship. As in Chet and Linc did this , then they performed that… etc.

It did not fill in for the missing lively personal warmth and displays of developing affection the other scenes made apparent.

I liked the characters. That of Sam, the divorced father with his issues of insecurities and background were well done. Also his chemistry with the adorable Chet was clear.

But, I felt there could have been more scenes , maybe of them decorating Sam’s house, since that was a big element, anything that had them actually talking and establishing a relationship (one we see happening).

The numerous sex scenes are hot and well, sexy. However relationship and character growth needs to be given equal page time for everything to flourish. Including our interest in the couple.

They have a very sweet ending and lovely epilogue. It puts a happy ending to the book and series.

While not my fav in this series, it’s cute. And if you’re a fan, it’s a nice way to say goodbye.

Synopsis:

The Mars maestro, the single dad, and a wish list…

Chet-

Boy, am I lucky! Finding a living situation with a houseful of passionate scientists just before the holidays is ideal in every possible way. As the newest member of the Script Club, I feel it’s important to step up and tackle the to-do list my friends would prefer to avoid. Item one, address the tutoring request from the neighborhood-hottie-slash-single-dad on the next block. I’ve got this!

Or do I?

Handsome, older, sporty gentlemen intimidate me. And Mr. McSwoony doesn’t like the holidays. This may be a daunting task.

Sam-

What do you do when a new neighbor shows up on your doorstep with cookies and a wacky plan to spread holiday cheer? I don’t need cheer, but I could use help with some of the experiments my son wants to try. I know football, not science. Hopefully, I can talk Chet into a mutually beneficial trade. The only snag is that I’m seriously attracted to my local Mars expert. He’s unintentionally charming…in the very best way.

Don’t quote me, but maybe this holiday elf with thick glasses and a mile-long list might be exactly what I need.

The Holiday List is an MM bisexual, geek/jock romance with a holiday twist featuring a lovable scientist and a single dad who’s probably on the naughty list!

The Script Club Series:

Following the Rules #1

Rules of Play #2

The Jock Script #3

The Holiday List #4

THE HOLIDAY LIST

Review: The Cuckoo’s Call by Lily Morton

Rating: 5 🌈

I’m not sure why this sat a few days on my shelf before I got to it because it has to be one of my favorite romances yet this year.

Lily Morton really ticked every box for me here on contemporary romances and then further with not one but two love letters to Majorca and Venice. These settings are clearly places the author is familiar with and loves. And it shows in each warmly described location and all the finely etched details. The lagoons of Venice, history, the twisty roads and beaches along with local foods… all folded in with a memorable, heartwarming romance.

That Prologue! Honestly. Starting a story with a prologue almost guaranteed to make you sniffle ! Blink and you are already invested 100 percent in Wren Robert’s story, why he’s fog bound at that airport. And bereft.

Then comes the story.

And what a fantastic, romantic, grand story it is.

I laughed, cried, laughed some more… sighed a lot. And was ultimately thrilled at the ending.

Lily Morton gives us a spectacular cast of characters here.

Wren Morton, the Cuckoo of the title. The foster child forever being deposited in someone else’s “nest”, but who grew up without self pity, self-sufficient, kind, and with a love for learning. How I fell deeply in love with this character.

Mateo Rossi, extremely wealthy hotelier, bored, multidimensional. Of an ancient Venice family as well as one in Majorca. A man of divided hearts. Watching Mateo interact with Wren, changing as he reveals more of his real self? Amazing.

While the story is told mostly from Wren’s perspective, every now and then we get Mateo’s pov, just when it’s needed. To see Wren outside of how he sees himself. I grew to anticipate those!

The other characters like Mateo’s mother and grandfather are people that are so well developed that I felt I just didn’t get enough of them. Same about Alfie and a certain glass artist.

I really hope to see a sequel to this story.

The Cuckoo’s Call by Lily Morton is such a remarkable romance that I felt 5 stars wasn’t nearly enough.

I’m highly recommending it. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Synopsis:

Can a summer romance last forever?

Wren Roberts thought he’d found his fairy tale when he met Mateo Rossi on holiday in Majorca. The wealthy and successful older man swept him off his feet, and before he knew it, he’d thrown caution to the wind and was living in Mateo’s waterside apartment in Venice. It’s a far cry from his harsh upbringing and crummy flat in London.

But as the summer turns to autumn, cracks begin to show. Mateo’s family aren’t welcoming, and there doesn’t seem to be a place for Wren in Mateo’s world. He could have coped with all of that, but Mateo himself seems like a different person away from the sunshine island.

Should Wren have been more cautious in riding off into the sunset when he wasn’t sure what lay over the horizon?

From bestselling author Lily Morton comes a romance about two men who find that sometimes happily ever after doesn’t end there.

https://www.goodreads.com › showThe Cuckoo’s Call by Lily Morton – Goodreads

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