Title: Copper Creek
Series: Sawyer’s Ferry: Book 3
Author: Cate Ashwood
Release Date: March 29, 2019
Genre: Contemporary m/m romance
Length: 50,000 words
Cover Artist: Cate Ashwood
Blurb:
Frankie:
My life sucks.
After spending a year jobless and on the edge of becoming homeless, I’d officially reached a level of desperation that, even if I wasn’t completely broke, retail therapy couldn’t fix.
While Sawyer’s Ferry, Alaska, is the last place on earth I’d ever want to visit, when my best friend, Holden, begs me to fly out and plan his wedding, I can’t say no. What I didn’t expect was to stumble into the administrative chaos at Copper Creek Brewing—or its too-hot-to-be-legal owner.
Clearly the man needs my help, and I’m willing to go above and beyond.
Way beyond.
Barrett:
I am screwed.
Six months after my assistant up and quit, I’m not any closer to finding a replacement, and things at the brewery are starting to fall apart.
And then in walks Frankie. He’s not the typical guy you’d find in these parts, and he brings with him a world of confusion. Because as much as I need his help, I can’t seem to keep my eyes—or hands—off him.
He’s supposed to be getting my life in order, but instead there’s a chance he could turn everything upside down.
3.5 Stars!
A decent tale that needed to be that little bit longer for total believability. Heartwarming, though.
This is my second book in this series; I've read book 2 but not book 1, and haven't had any issues getting into that one, or this, book 3. This author writes about characters who seem real and have real warmth and feelings that they don't seem reticent to show, and I've enjoyed both books so far. I suspect that book 1, given the hints from this book, might have more angst than books 2 and 3, so that's a read for later. At the end of this book, the author mentions that the next in the series is out in May 2019, and I'm pretty sure that I'll be picking that up, and its freebie prequel.
Whilst this book starts with the wedding preparations for the leads of book 1, it's totally not necessary to have read that to be able to enjoy this tale. I liked that there seemed to be a real reason for Frankie to come out to the wilds of Alaska, and how the author managed to stay away from that trope of Frankie shining soooo bright and incandescent that every single local, yes, every single one fell for him. He did shine brighter than the locals were used to, but not in an OTT way and though I didn't expect him to, he seemed to fit in and adapt, and the lack of NYC's bright lights and noise didn't seem to bother him.
I liked that he seemed more attracted to Barrett than the other way round, at least at first, or else it might have seemed as if Barrett was dazzled. Instead, the guy got to know and like Frankie before he gave in to Frankie's teasing and innuendo, and they started a relationship which was surprisingly free of doom and gloom, given that both knew Frankie would be leaving in a couple of months.
I liked how Barrett examined his feelings about his business, his life in Alaska, his marriage, his ex-wife and the possibility of leaving Alaska in a believable way; he didn't rush into anything and he didn't pressure Frankie. There were no ultimatums from either guy and I found that refreshing, and so was their reunion. Yes, they'd been apart and Frankie was doing a good impression of Resigned-To-Singledom-in-NYC, but he'd gotten on with his life, wasn't sitting around and moping, and instead had gone for something he'd been thinking about and had carpe diem'd.
The carpe diem stuff added to the believability of the tale, as Frankie could do that from anywhere, and he had appreciated the beauty of Alaska, so I bought the HEA that the author came up with.
And, that setting at the very end for a very special gesture from Barrett? That was a lovely touch, though I did think it was a teensy, weensy bit a little too much too soon. The tale felt a little too rushed for me, without the conversations that the leads needed to have, without an emotional reunion scene, without some good-natured teasing that I suspect the locals would have welcomed Barrett and Frankie back with, and without showing us the leads' shared future. The guys were chalk and cheese and I just think a little bit of reality should have intruded here. Still, it's a very sweet read and I suspect we'll see more of the guys in the next tale in the series. Hmm. Imagine Frankiezilla planning his own wedding...!
ARC courtesy of the author and Bayou Book Junkie, for my reading pleasure.
This is my second book in this series; I've read book 2 but not book 1, and haven't had any issues getting into that one, or this, book 3. This author writes about characters who seem real and have real warmth and feelings that they don't seem reticent to show, and I've enjoyed both books so far. I suspect that book 1, given the hints from this book, might have more angst than books 2 and 3, so that's a read for later. At the end of this book, the author mentions that the next in the series is out in May 2019, and I'm pretty sure that I'll be picking that up, and its freebie prequel.
Whilst this book starts with the wedding preparations for the leads of book 1, it's totally not necessary to have read that to be able to enjoy this tale. I liked that there seemed to be a real reason for Frankie to come out to the wilds of Alaska, and how the author managed to stay away from that trope of Frankie shining soooo bright and incandescent that every single local, yes, every single one fell for him. He did shine brighter than the locals were used to, but not in an OTT way and though I didn't expect him to, he seemed to fit in and adapt, and the lack of NYC's bright lights and noise didn't seem to bother him.
I liked that he seemed more attracted to Barrett than the other way round, at least at first, or else it might have seemed as if Barrett was dazzled. Instead, the guy got to know and like Frankie before he gave in to Frankie's teasing and innuendo, and they started a relationship which was surprisingly free of doom and gloom, given that both knew Frankie would be leaving in a couple of months.
I liked how Barrett examined his feelings about his business, his life in Alaska, his marriage, his ex-wife and the possibility of leaving Alaska in a believable way; he didn't rush into anything and he didn't pressure Frankie. There were no ultimatums from either guy and I found that refreshing, and so was their reunion. Yes, they'd been apart and Frankie was doing a good impression of Resigned-To-Singledom-in-NYC, but he'd gotten on with his life, wasn't sitting around and moping, and instead had gone for something he'd been thinking about and had carpe diem'd.
The carpe diem stuff added to the believability of the tale, as Frankie could do that from anywhere, and he had appreciated the beauty of Alaska, so I bought the HEA that the author came up with.
And, that setting at the very end for a very special gesture from Barrett? That was a lovely touch, though I did think it was a teensy, weensy bit a little too much too soon. The tale felt a little too rushed for me, without the conversations that the leads needed to have, without an emotional reunion scene, without some good-natured teasing that I suspect the locals would have welcomed Barrett and Frankie back with, and without showing us the leads' shared future. The guys were chalk and cheese and I just think a little bit of reality should have intruded here. Still, it's a very sweet read and I suspect we'll see more of the guys in the next tale in the series. Hmm. Imagine Frankiezilla planning his own wedding...!
ARC courtesy of the author and Bayou Book Junkie, for my reading pleasure.
No comments:
Post a Comment