jjfey's reviews
178 reviews

Tony and His Tiger by Lila Wilde, Andi James

4.25

You're Ours by D.C. Emerson

emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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? No

5.0

Oh my heart! This was such an unexpected little gem, and I absolutely adored Tyler, Jackson, and Sky’s story!

If I had one complaint, it’s that I need MORE. I could eat up a whole novel about these three! The ending had me in tears with pure, heart-warming happiness. I’ll definitely be diving into more from this world by D.C. Emerson! I do love an unconventional relationship, so I loved the aro rep in this one.

I’ve been adamant for a while that I’m definitely not aro, but this book definitely sewed some seeds of thought for me.

The basics:
 Coworkers
 Established couple +1
 Low angst
 Part of the Not So Normative series
 Short story/novelette
 Spice - 3/5
 Triple, third-person POV
 Not on GoodReads or Fable yet, but it is on StoryGraph

What to expect:
 Aro identity discovery
 Aromantic MC
 Asian MC (half Vietnamese)
 Best friends-to-lovers
 MMM
 Sapphic SCs (mentioned, we don’t really get to know them since this was such a short story)
 “Baby”
 “Sweetheart”
 Trans MC

♥♥♥

The Backup Plan by Eden Finley

4.0

Stacked by Linden Bell

4.0

Daddy's Boy by Felicity Snow

4.25

Hamartia by Scarlett Drake

4.0

Puppy Love by D. Dove

4.0

Own Me by BL Sparrow

4.5

Quiver by G. Eilsel, G. Eilsel

4.0

The Gospel According to Gray Collins: A We Burn Beautiful Prequel by Lance Lansdale

5.0

The first few chapters are sugary sweet with Kent and Gray meeting. Gray is such a beautiful, innocent soul, and I was literally awwing over that Baby Spice conversation:

““The blonde one!” I said with too much force.

He smirked. “Baby.”

I whimpered. Why the heck did I whimper?””

But oh, my heart broke for Gray when he saw Kent and his girlfriend, Kate, together. The way he asked God what he’d done wrong and if he was still worthy? I was not okay.

The first 60% of the book was pure warmth and heart-melting sweetness. I had all the warm, fuzzy feels. Kent and Gray are just so beautiful together. And then… it got intense, and I was devastated for them both. I don’t have a lot to say about this book except that it’s beautiful, it’s heartbreaking, and it’s well worth a read.

There’s no HEA or HFN here - if you need that, read We Burn Beautiful for the happy ending. Also, check the TWs before diving into this one.

Wow, can Lance Lansdale write!? The talent it takes to write  something like this as well as his hilariously unhinged books is incredible!

The basics:

Angsty

First-person, single POV

Low spice

Novella

Slow burn

Prequel to We Burn Beautiful

What to expect:

Best friends-to-lovers

Homophobia

Religious families

Set in the late 90s / early 00s

Small-town