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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Thank you for the ARC read, I voluntarily give this book an honest review. Mal is on the run thanks to a crazied ex, chasing him to a different state. When tracked down in a little motel room Stephen found him, making an escape out the bathroom widow Mal runs again. The island just maybe the best thing that has happened in Mal's life, meeting Deacon and all his curkieness from the inner struggles from both sides along with the inner dialogue with oneself, Deacon is in denial mode of his feelings claiming to be straight only to Fall head over heels for Mal. This book was a great sweet romcom with evil ex boyfriends and grandparents interfering with the happiness of others. Two lost piece of a puzzle that finally clicked in the end.
emotional
funny
hopeful
fast-paced
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Rating this book one star just seems cruel. I feel like I'm beating up a fourth grader. I feel like I bought a toy from the dollar store and then was surprised when it broke. This rating is equivalent to finding a kitten and dunking it in a puddle. Abandoning this book leaves me vaguely morose.
I wanted it to be good. I really wanted to like it. I tried.
I didn't finish it at 35%.
I wish there were something really terrible about it, something unforgivable so I could happily toss it out the door and wash my hands of it with a sense of righteousness. Instead, my will to read Wild Heart slowly trickled away with every page I turned.
I think I had two major problems with the book: the style of writing and the everything else. The prose reads like Spencer Spears is chatting with me in person. I don't care for it. It's very, very informal and feels...lazy? I feel shortchanged. It definitely makes writing a book easier when you write the entire book like you talk. The "everything else" I had a problem with is the utter blandness of the characters and the story. Both were completely unremarkable in every way: nice single dad and lithe waif with a bad ex. It didn't work for me. There wasn't one special moment that made this book stand out from other Spencer Spears works, let alone the glut of m/m romance novels circulating through Amazon's Kindle Unlimited library.
I've previously read Hunter's Heart by Spencer Spears and rated it three stars. Looking back at the blurb, the scenario sounds familiar, but I can't remember any book details. It could be that I've become a tad more disappointed, critical, and disillusioned with m/m romance novels since that rating and Wild Heart, perhaps a three-star rating in the past, has now been binned as a DNF. It could be that I've changed and not Spencer Spears's writing. Or it could be that this book is bad. I don't know if it really matters.
I'm off to read something else and I probably won't pick up a Spears book again.
I wanted it to be good. I really wanted to like it. I tried.
I didn't finish it at 35%.
I wish there were something really terrible about it, something unforgivable so I could happily toss it out the door and wash my hands of it with a sense of righteousness. Instead, my will to read Wild Heart slowly trickled away with every page I turned.
I think I had two major problems with the book: the style of writing and the everything else. The prose reads like Spencer Spears is chatting with me in person. I don't care for it. It's very, very informal and feels...lazy? I feel shortchanged. It definitely makes writing a book easier when you write the entire book like you talk. The "everything else" I had a problem with is the utter blandness of the characters and the story. Both were completely unremarkable in every way: nice single dad and lithe waif with a bad ex. It didn't work for me. There wasn't one special moment that made this book stand out from other Spencer Spears works, let alone the glut of m/m romance novels circulating through Amazon's Kindle Unlimited library.
I've previously read Hunter's Heart by Spencer Spears and rated it three stars. Looking back at the blurb, the scenario sounds familiar, but I can't remember any book details. It could be that I've become a tad more disappointed, critical, and disillusioned with m/m romance novels since that rating and Wild Heart, perhaps a three-star rating in the past, has now been binned as a DNF. It could be that I've changed and not Spencer Spears's writing. Or it could be that this book is bad. I don't know if it really matters.
I'm off to read something else and I probably won't pick up a Spears book again.
DNF or more like, did not even really start.
Barely got twenty pages in, when I started to realize that I'm already fed up with it.
I wouldn't really say, that the story doesn't have great potential, but the presentation is important.
So when you start out the story and character introductions by letting them monologue for 10 of those pages (basically revealing everything to know about the person and therefore offering no opportunity for any mystery and revealing it), while the other 10 just show me that the main character, despite having been verbally abused and physically threatened, rather runs away AGAIN after clearly being found quite quickly. This, people, is a character trait that will annoy me while reading this book. And when reading the other opinions on this work, I can see that this kind of personality won't change much.
I'll still give it two stars cause I didn't even try to go further into this book and build a fully developed opinion on it. Maybe I'll find myself in a weak moment when I can handle this kind of story, but until then I'll leave it like this.
Barely got twenty pages in, when I started to realize that I'm already fed up with it.
I wouldn't really say, that the story doesn't have great potential, but the presentation is important.
So when you start out the story and character introductions by letting them monologue for 10 of those pages (basically revealing everything to know about the person and therefore offering no opportunity for any mystery and revealing it), while the other 10 just show me that the main character, despite having been verbally abused and physically threatened, rather runs away AGAIN after clearly being found quite quickly. This, people, is a character trait that will annoy me while reading this book. And when reading the other opinions on this work, I can see that this kind of personality won't change much.
I'll still give it two stars cause I didn't even try to go further into this book and build a fully developed opinion on it. Maybe I'll find myself in a weak moment when I can handle this kind of story, but until then I'll leave it like this.
medium-paced
This was such a lovely read from Spencer Spears, always guaranteed that I'll enjoy their books.
We meet Mal, on the run from an ex abusive boyfriend and he ends up on Summersea island. A beautiful place which turns out to be exactly where he needs to be as he arrives at Wisteria Inn which Deacon runs and lives at. He gets to repay Deacon's kindness by staying on as cook but can't help getting attached to the man that's given him a home. Deacon has been living a lie for so long that he never thought he'd have a reason to change but Mal has such a lightness to him and makes such an impact to the Inn that Deacon cannot help but reconsider.
The relationship that builds up between the two men is slow going but is so natural that I felt the connection. My heart broke for Mal as he has been constantly knocked down through his life and as you go through this story, it's a little bit like he's rebuilding himself from within bit by bit. Deacon offers a refuge and safe space for him but also friendship and a family feel as his aunt and daughter are there too. Lily is just adorable and brings the cuteness factor right up. Summersea sounds like a beautiful place with the odd character that makes life so hard for our MC's. Deacon's struggles are something that a lot of people experience, influence from others hurting your own choices but he needs to stand for what he wants and maybe be surprised at the outcome.
This is a wonderful story that I highly recommend. There are other characters that I'd be interested in reading if this was made into a series, including both of Deacon's brothers.
I received an ARC and am happily giving a review.
We meet Mal, on the run from an ex abusive boyfriend and he ends up on Summersea island. A beautiful place which turns out to be exactly where he needs to be as he arrives at Wisteria Inn which Deacon runs and lives at. He gets to repay Deacon's kindness by staying on as cook but can't help getting attached to the man that's given him a home. Deacon has been living a lie for so long that he never thought he'd have a reason to change but Mal has such a lightness to him and makes such an impact to the Inn that Deacon cannot help but reconsider.
The relationship that builds up between the two men is slow going but is so natural that I felt the connection. My heart broke for Mal as he has been constantly knocked down through his life and as you go through this story, it's a little bit like he's rebuilding himself from within bit by bit. Deacon offers a refuge and safe space for him but also friendship and a family feel as his aunt and daughter are there too. Lily is just adorable and brings the cuteness factor right up. Summersea sounds like a beautiful place with the odd character that makes life so hard for our MC's. Deacon's struggles are something that a lot of people experience, influence from others hurting your own choices but he needs to stand for what he wants and maybe be surprised at the outcome.
This is a wonderful story that I highly recommend. There are other characters that I'd be interested in reading if this was made into a series, including both of Deacon's brothers.
I received an ARC and am happily giving a review.
2.5/5
I wish I'd listened to the reviews on this one. Overall it's not bad, it's just not good. Low on chemistry, not instalove but close (instalust with a lot of mutual admiration but not much connection).
I liked the town, I liked the cats, the people annoyed me. Mal's associating the one cat's name with a kinky sex act was weird - and constant. I mean one snicker at the name of Snowball was enough, but every time the kitten's name is mentioned his mind is back in the gutter.
Tags- Abuse: on page physical/emotional abuse and stalking from Mal's ex, Cats: six kittens including a tuxedo (see userpic)
I wish I'd listened to the reviews on this one. Overall it's not bad, it's just not good. Low on chemistry, not instalove but close (instalust with a lot of mutual admiration but not much connection).
I liked the town, I liked the cats, the people annoyed me. Mal's associating the one cat's name with a kinky sex act was weird - and constant. I mean one snicker at the name of Snowball was enough, but every time the kitten's name is mentioned his mind is back in the gutter.
Tags- Abuse: on page physical/emotional abuse and stalking from Mal's ex, Cats: six kittens including a tuxedo (see userpic)
medium-paced