Release Day Review ~ Homebird by Amy Lane
Title: Homebird
Author: Amy Lane
Release Date: December 18, 2018
Category: Holiday
Pages: 188
Crispin Henry isn’t an adventurer. He learned early on that the world is a frightening place and that home is rare and precious. If his friends didn’t drag him to sports games and ill-advised trips to Vegas, he wouldn’t get out at all—and his trip to Munich for Oktoberfest is no exception. But it’s there that he meets Luka Gabriel, and he learns to take a chance.
Luka is a free-spirited world traveler, working at Oktoberfest to feed his enchantment with new places and new people. His only possessions fit in his backpack, and he depends on the kindness of strangers for a place to sleep. Crispin should know better—but he takes Luka’s hand anyway, and together they turn three nights in Munich into the relationship neither of them has been brave enough to risk—and neither can let go of.
When Luka turns up on Crispin’s doorstep before the holiday season, Crispin takes him in on hope alone. Yes, he knows the odds are good Luka will flutter out of his life again and leave him bereft, but isn’t it worth it to see if Luka is a homebird after all?
4 Stars!
A really sweet, heartwarming, feelgood tale, apparently inspired by a RL Luka.
This is the second Amy Lane book that I've read and enjoyed in the last two weeks, and am about to go hunting down more. In both there's been a feeling of happiness, warmth, caring and both have been pretty much perfect for this time of year, when it's dull and grey outside. If you need a bit of cheering up, I'd recommend both this and Christmas Kitsch.
I wanted to read more about not only Luka and Crispin (Crispy), but about Crispy's friends and their lives. The friendship that Crispy thought was a kind of obligation turned out to be one of the loveliest and truest I've read about. His friends were a bunch of teasing sweeties, so very different from one another, and one had a secret that got revealed in a way that felt organic, and I definitely need to find out what happens to this character. Hopefully there will be a connected book at some point, which would also mean a double bonus, as we'd get to see more of Crispy and Luka in it, and hopefully Sherman and Captain (could equally have been CatPain!) Steve Rogers.
Crispy and Luka were delightful together. Luka almost seemed a bit 'not of this world' with his free spirit and attitude towards life and death (he SO fits the guy on the cover) and I had to admire him for looking after himself all alone in the world after being orphaned at 16. OK, Crispy, too, had been orphaned young, but he had it somewhat different, and he had his sister, Millie and her husband. Luka embraced life and threw himself into everything, and prior to meeting him, Crispy second and triple-guessed himself, but these guys gelled like they were made for each other. It wasn't a cliche, corny case of opposites attracting, but maybe more a 'something in the air' or 'it's destiny' kind of feeling. Maybe it was the beer and the wine and freedom and fun, but these guys felt real from the start, despite the odds of them ever meeting. And it was lovely to see Crispy's self-confidence and belief in himself grow.
There's not a lot of angst in this and any there is, is of the expected kind when you have one guy who's a homebody and another who's a bit of a drifter. There's a ton of love and support in this. A ton, and I believed it. As the tale ends, the leads have been together about 6 months after their reunion, and are about to cement their HEA. There's a lot of happiness happening around them, and their circle of friends has expanded to include a new character who I suspect may end up in a future tale, paired up with the one who had a secret, whose life has changed. Sorry to be vague, but I'm trying not to spoil. And, based on the hints about the guys' past trips, I suspect there's going to be adventures on the upcoming one, and I think that that trip will cement them all as buddies for life. So, that must mean there'll be another book, right? Please?
ARC courtesy of Dreamspinner Press and Bayou Book Junkie, for my reading pleasure.
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