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lalexvp's review
3.0
I feel like the first half was great, and then it just stopped developing well. I was super excited for Charlie’s story. The characters are still interesting, but they and the plot sort of just slowly rolled down a cliff together after the halfway mark.
tinkcourtney's review
5.0
Warm and fuzzy feel-good story
Aw, this was adorable. I loved Charlie in the last book and wanted him to find his own happiness. I didn’t expect him to find it with a prickly city boy in desperate need of help he was too stubborn to accept, but oh, Rye and Charlie are PERFECT for each other! The first time Rye stood up for Charlie (about not being appreciated, of all things), I wanted to cheer! Rye was the obvious one in need of rescuing but Charlie needed some of his own. I just adored this book and look forward to the next in the series!
Aw, this was adorable. I loved Charlie in the last book and wanted him to find his own happiness. I didn’t expect him to find it with a prickly city boy in desperate need of help he was too stubborn to accept, but oh, Rye and Charlie are PERFECT for each other! The first time Rye stood up for Charlie (about not being appreciated, of all things), I wanted to cheer! Rye was the obvious one in need of rescuing but Charlie needed some of his own. I just adored this book and look forward to the next in the series!
alwaysbooking's review against another edition
5.0
5 the cutest cats ever stars!!!
This author is quickly turning into one of my favorites, she writes these amazing heartfelt stories with romance and so much emotion. The first Garnet Run book did deal with panic attacks and anxiety in such an amazing realistic way. This second book does have anxiety and talks about therapy in it too. I think that may be one of the other reason I am so in love with this author, she really just delves into hard topics on top of writing really amazing characters.
We met Charlie in book one Better Than People, but we really didn’t get to delve into who he is. All in all Charlie really is a kind of amazing guy, he raised his brother, brought the family store back to life, and helped so many people. As Rye says he has a hero complex, but I think it’s more than that. He also kind of likes being in control of the situation. When he doesn’t have control of the situation it kind of makes him loose control. His adorable bond with his cat is totally unexpected and cute, a man that size with a fluffball main coon is so adorable.
Rye’s situation is completely different and yet I liked him so much more, he seemed to have such backbone and was all talk. I liked that he was more of a wing it kind of a guy and had more life experience. His cat sounds like the kind of cat I would adopt for sure, I wouldn’t get the calm loving type I would get the murder you in your sleep kind. I enjoyed seeing Rye come out of his shell a little even though I’m pretty sure he just has a tell it like it is attitude with everyone. His almost instant bond with Simon was really nice.
I really don’t want to spoil to much because I feel like Roan Parrish writes books that carry so much promise, heart, and emotion in one book I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. Thank you to Carina Adores, and Roan Parrish for my copy in lieu of an honest review.
This author is quickly turning into one of my favorites, she writes these amazing heartfelt stories with romance and so much emotion. The first Garnet Run book did deal with panic attacks and anxiety in such an amazing realistic way. This second book does have anxiety and talks about therapy in it too. I think that may be one of the other reason I am so in love with this author, she really just delves into hard topics on top of writing really amazing characters.
We met Charlie in book one Better Than People, but we really didn’t get to delve into who he is. All in all Charlie really is a kind of amazing guy, he raised his brother, brought the family store back to life, and helped so many people. As Rye says he has a hero complex, but I think it’s more than that. He also kind of likes being in control of the situation. When he doesn’t have control of the situation it kind of makes him loose control. His adorable bond with his cat is totally unexpected and cute, a man that size with a fluffball main coon is so adorable.
Rye’s situation is completely different and yet I liked him so much more, he seemed to have such backbone and was all talk. I liked that he was more of a wing it kind of a guy and had more life experience. His cat sounds like the kind of cat I would adopt for sure, I wouldn’t get the calm loving type I would get the murder you in your sleep kind. I enjoyed seeing Rye come out of his shell a little even though I’m pretty sure he just has a tell it like it is attitude with everyone. His almost instant bond with Simon was really nice.
I really don’t want to spoil to much because I feel like Roan Parrish writes books that carry so much promise, heart, and emotion in one book I don’t want to spoil it for anyone. Thank you to Carina Adores, and Roan Parrish for my copy in lieu of an honest review.
ktpie85's review against another edition
2.0
I loved this book until we got to the spanking part. Like I am not here to kink shame anyone, but like did we have to include the dead parents as part of it?
Gave me the immediate ick.
Also it ends with a cat sanctuary? I finished it, but I felt like I did it under duress
Gave me the immediate ick.
Also it ends with a cat sanctuary? I finished it, but I felt like I did it under duress
monstergirlreading's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
purple676's review against another edition
5.0
Rye said. “I think you’re bananas, but okay.”
Charlie winked. “Potassium’s good for you.”
Why did I find this part so funny
Charlie winked. “Potassium’s good for you.”
Why did I find this part so funny
ravenk28's review
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This book, similar to the first, describes a story of two men working through their individual traumas to better themselves and each other inside their relationship.
Pros: My main take away from this story was the way the author talks about sex and how trauma can affect someone’s views of sex. Unlike other books this topic wasn’t rushed through but was discussed in-depth by both parties in the relationship. This was something that made me truly love this book and rate it a four stars.
Cons: The only thing, in my opinion, that needed improving was the pacing. I felt like at times the characters felt a bit disjointed and overall needed a bit more fleshing out.
Overall: This book discussed beautiful and sensitive topics about grief, love and loss. It was a positive read that left me feeling hopeful for the couple’s future by the end of the book.
Pros: My main take away from this story was the way the author talks about sex and how trauma can affect someone’s views of sex. Unlike other books this topic wasn’t rushed through but was discussed in-depth by both parties in the relationship. This was something that made me truly love this book and rate it a four stars.
Cons: The only thing, in my opinion, that needed improving was the pacing. I felt like at times the characters felt a bit disjointed and overall needed a bit more fleshing out.
Overall: This book discussed beautiful and sensitive topics about grief, love and loss. It was a positive read that left me feeling hopeful for the couple’s future by the end of the book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Blood and Sexual content
lezreadalot's review against another edition
3.0
Charlie had made himself a ghost house, and he wanted the most colorful, alive person he’d ever met to make a home with him there.
3.5 stars. Objectively a really sweet and well-written romance. I'm still somehow feeling slightly disappointed, because I expected and wanted to love it more. I did like it, no doubt about it! But I wanted to like it more.
This is the second book in a series, though it can be read as a standalone. I bought and read the first book (Better Than People) in preparation for this arc, and really really liked it. And maybe it's because that read was so recent, and everything I liked about it and everything that the author did well is so fresh in my mind, that I was more apt to notice things I didn't love about this one?
Rye's always been something of a loner and a nomad; always moving from place to ever since he left home. A bequest from a relative he never knew has him moving across the country to a new town and a crumbling house. Charlie is a gentle giant who's spent his life taking care of other people and doesn't quite know how to live otherwise; he's riddled with anxiety and the vague sense of having let his life pass him by. I was completely sold on the characters; Charlie in particular I've loved since the first book. Charlie helps Rye with the renovations, and their journey to love is sweet and emotional. I love the looks at how Charlie's anxiety pervades his life, how he bears the weight of being a caretaker, a people pleaser. His struggles with being seen felt particularly poignant and relatable to me. I loved Rye's struggle with accepting that help at first, and how he eases open around Charlie. I fucking loved their cats; the animal lover in me melted so very often during this. I loved all of the ways in which this was nonconventional, and written perfectly to suit the characters, and was still sweet and sexy as hell. Gentle giants are the best thing in romance, and they deserve the world.
Developmentally, though, it just didn't get me how I expected to be got, you know? Parrish has swept me away with romances before, and I just didn't feel it here? Sometimes the relationship felt disjointed, and just not well paced, It didn't blossom organically, and almost felt like it kinda just fell into place, like things were following a manual. I've read stories where the characters got together more quickly than this, but it felt more natural. The arc of their love story just somehow felt a little janky. And most jarringly, the writing just... idk, it wasn't as seamless and fresh and insightful and good as I was expecting from this author. Of course, it's an arc (and the first time I've been lucky enough to receive an arc for one of her books) so you would expect some rough edges, but there were some passages and things about the style I just downright didn't like? But that's all subjective in the extreme, and mileages will definitely vary
There are other things in the story that felt a bit unbelievable (Charlie is VERY kind and helpful to Rye, right off the bat; there's a little subplot that ends VERY conveniently and happily) but I find it hard to quibble about that because I love love and I love queer people getting easy happy endings.
I definitely really liked this book, and would recommend it! But I've enjoyed the author's other works more. I will say it's very readable; I knocked it out in a few hours this afternoon.
☆ Review copy provided via NetGalley.
souymuilk's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0