Review: Trick or Treat by Sydney Blackburn

Drew hates labels, but loves Halloween and he wants a trick-or-treat of his own. At his mother’s​ to deliver emergency candy, she has him get the door in his gender-bending costume. The handsome man with the little trick-or-treater would be Drew’s perfect treat.

David’s attraction to Drew is no trick. He wants the whole Drew, in all his unlabeled glory, making Drew think this could be a treat that lasts long past the holiday.

Well, this was a delightful treat! I’ve been gorging on the Christmas stories since before Halloween and it really is time to come out of my gingerbread house and read something different. And since I’m not ready to give up holidays all together yet, heading back to Halloween seemed like the perfect plan and I was so right!

This story of Drew and his hookup with promise is utterly adorable. Drew labels himself as a genderfluid pansexual man, but he also labels himself just because he kind of feels like he has to. Being a model, a lot of his relationships/hookups see him as an embodiment of a label, but none have taken the time just to know Drew. And oh, how sad is that? He’s funny, he’s fabulous and he loves and appreciates his mother. What’s not to love there?

He’s put together an amazing costume for Halloween and he has an all too brief meeting with a man he has an instant connection too. Drew is helping his mom with a candy crisis and answers the door to David (hot and hunky connection guy) and his nephew trick or treating. Drew drops a hint as to where he’ll be later and HEY, guess who shows up at the club?

This is a short story, so I didn’t get a whole lot of David, but the author did a really great job of showing me who he was through Drew’s eyes and I was as smitten as Drew was in no time. I loved how David made Drew feel, how Drew felt important and cherished even if they just met. This is one of those stories that gives you the most optimistic of HFN’s and I would love an expanded version of Drew and David’s story. There’s a lot to work with just on the setup here alone and the characters are ones I would love to get to know better.

**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**

Review: Finding the Sky by A.M. Burns

Dillon Smith is so ready for the school year to be over, because he’ll get some relief from the gang that’s been pressuring him to join them. Unfortunately, when he stops for a soda, he’s implicated in the gang robbing a convenience store. Given his late father’s association with the gang, even his mother doesn’t believe him when he says he wants no part of it, and she sends him to live with his Uncle Bryan for the summer.

On the way to his uncle’s house in the country, he and Bryan rescue a hawk that was hit by a semitruck. They take it to some wildlife rehabbers living down the street, and they help open Dillon to experiences he never imagined.

When Dillon meets Scott, the son of the rehabbers, he falls in love, but the gang has a rough summer planned for him.

When this book was offered for review, I have to admit to being in two minds about whether to take it or not. If I'm honest it was the cover rather than the blurb that sold me, so can we all pause for a moment and give a little cover love to this book. Aaah. Feels good huh? So many fugly covers, I do appreciate it when I find one I love!

The cover persuaded me to give it  a try, and I'm glad I did. Despite the fact that portions of this story are very sad, it was on the whole quite a sweet love story - which is what I hoped it would be. I have very little patience for over dramatised, overly convenient plot lines and I did worry that this might fall into that category. I was pleased though, that while it did contain drama, it wasn't of the forced nature I worried it might be.

Once Dillon had moved from the city to his uncle's house the clichés that were lurking fell away and the story of his connection to his summer home came to the fore. And it was sweet. I liked the relationships forged and shown between all of the main characters. Although Dillon was a city boy, he seemed a country boy at heart - once he'd let himself appreciate the virtues of the countryside. Whilst his mother tried hard for him (and yes, she was a bit of a cliché downtrodden, pregnant young, poor mother) it was his uncle who really helped Dillon find himself. The relationship between these two was lovely. 

Scott, with his two dads and extensive knowledge of wild birds, was a great second protagonist. The romance between him and Dillon was really very sweet, and this is what I loved about the story. The angst and sadness and gang storyline were (for me) the author's way of getting Dillon and Scott together. They were there but as a carriage for the relationship development; in my opinion, it was the emotional storyline that won this story. It's what kept me reading.

Basically what I'm saying is; I liked this story. I did. While it wasn't a blow-me-away five heart read, it was exactly what I needed to read at the time I read it and it warmed the cockles of my heart despite the angsty edge.

A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.

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