Book details:
Length: 25,600 words approx.
Publisher: JMS Books
@SignalBoostPR, @debbiereadsbook, @nellirisauthor
Ashley “Buck” Buchanan moved back home to take care of his sick mother when he was 22. That was the first time he met Pippin, the neglected 6-year-old boy next door. Fifteen years later, Buck, a caretaker by nature, offers up his couch for Pippin, who needs a break from his mom and a quiet place to sleep.
Pippin Olander is a ray of sunshine despite his emotionally lacking upbringing and works hard to make a better life for himself. Even though he’s fiercely self-sufficient, he learns to accept help from Buck, his rock and the only steady presence in his life.
Their friendship deepens and grows into something more as they spend time together. But when other people try to throw a wrench in the works, when Pippin’s independence is triggered, can Buck and Pippin trust in the love they’ve found?
4 out of 5 (very good)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
I’m gonna jump straight in here, cos, well, because it’s my review and I can.
If you follow my reviews, you’ll know I have a particular dislike of several things.
First Person
Present Tense
Single Point of View.
So, when I started this book, and found it first person AND present tense, I got all ansty and twitchy and thought, nope, not doing it. THEN I realised it was single point of view, and my twitchiness went sky high and . . . .
bloody hell if I did not bloody LOVE this book!
Ashley or Buck, depending on who addresses him, was 22 years old when he first met Pippin and now, some 15 years (I was a bit unclear on that) later, he is still looking out for the little 6 year old boy who wormed his way into his heart. Now though, the little boy is all man, and when Pippin’s mother throws him under a bus (not literally, mind you!) of course Ashley will step up to look after the young man. But Pippin is proud, and won’t just take Ashley’s care, he must give back. The big bear of a man is Pippin’s idea of heaven, he just has to reach out and take him.
This has to be the sweetest, cutest CLEANEST book I've read in a long time, and I inhaled this book. I mean, I sat down, and didn’t move til I was done. It is only short, took me just over an hour but I really LOVED!
Ashley is the sweetest bear of a man, and no one can see that, except Pippin. Pippin sees Ashley, deep down, that he isn’t anyone’s “daddy”. He wants to look after people, yes, but PIPPIN is at the top of that very short list. PIPPIN is the one he realises he wants, even as he fights his attraction to the smaller man. PIPPIN tells Ashley he wants him, too, but not just for a quick lay. Pippin wants his first time to be special, and ASHLEY is that special man for Pippin.
I didn’t like what Pippin’s mum does to him, but you kinda saw that one coming like a train wreck and you can’t do anything to stop it.
The only thing, the one thing I cannot forgive is that Pippin doesn’t get a say! I wanted desperately to hear from him, even if it does make it first person/present tense/MULTI point of view (cos that would be my idea of Hell!) I NEEDED Pippin and I don’t get him. And I wanted to know, just what it was about Ashley that pushed his buttons, what he thought when Ashley’s ex turned up (and I LOVED how Pippin reacted to that!) and I wanted to know how he felt about his mum, and what she was doing to him.
That’s the only reason I gave it 4 stars and not 5 stars, was because I did not get Pippin and I really needed him.
I’ve not read anything by this author before, but if they are all this good, I’d gladly inhale a few more!
4 sweet, cute, warm and so bloody fuzzies stars
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
Nell Iris is a romantic at heart who believes everyone deserves a happy ending. She’s a bona fide bookworm (learned to read long before she started school), wouldn’t dream of going anywhere without something to read (not even the ladies’ room), loves music (and singing along but, let’s face it, she’s no Celine Dion), and is a real Star Trek nerd (“Make it so”). She loves words, poetry, wine, and Sudoku, and absolutely adores elephants!
Nell believes passionately in equality for all regardless of race, gender, or sexuality, and wants to make the world a better, less hateful, place.
Nell is a forty-something bisexual Swedish woman, married to the love of her life, and a proud mama of a grown daughter. She left the Scandinavian cold and darkness for warmer and sunnier Malaysia a few years ago, and now spends her days writing, surfing the Internet, enjoying the heat, and eating good food. One day she decided to chase her lifelong dream of being a writer, sat down in front of her laptop, and wrote a story about two men falling in love.
Nell Iris writes gay romance, prefers sweet over angst, and wants to write diverse and different characters.
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