Ami's Hoard

A little background (because I wanted to do it and this is my review space, so deal with it *haha*)

I will be honest with you all, before this book, Heidi Belleau and Rachel Haimowitz are not authors whose books I want to read. I know their track record. They wrote Flesh Cartel series together. I won't touch those books with ten-foot pole. You can offer to pay me to read it and I will still refuse. Their books are just NOT my cup of tea!!

But then my lovely friend, D✡ni, wrote her own early review for this, in which one sentence got to my attention. She said: "my main niggle is that there's hardly any steam in this story, which was really disappointing. The guys don't get together until 60 percent"

Well, I thought, that was MY kind of read -- I don't like reading too many sex scenes. One scene is often enough for me. So anything low-steam is nice. I usually skip sex scenes anyway!

Then D✡ni asked me this "Are you going to read this? I want you to read this. I want your viewpoint on the "sex situation. I was actually thinking, Hmmm...I wonder what Ami would say about this.

So I ended up requesting this from NetGalley. Because a friend has got to do what a friend has got to do. Plus I was indeed curious. In addition, I read all four books in this Bluewater Bay universe and I felt like I need to read the last one (so far) too.

And guess what, D✡ni ... I. FRICKING. LOVE. THIS. BOOK.



OMG, this is what I want to read in my romance!!! It's a perfect read all the way through for me --- it's sweet, it's adorable, it's fresh (I'll get to the fresh part), it's thought provoking without being preachy or heavy (I get to that part also), it has believable fight and conflict, and it has a GRAND GESTURE OF LOVE (and nice groveling).

I was completely charmed by it -- I read it all through the night!! When I woke up this morning -- sometimes my feeling to a book can change after I sleep on it, after the glow is over. Which is why I usually write my review after awhile, to let the story simmers in. Anyway, guess what, I still had a huge smile to my face when I was thinking about this story.

So what can I do? Give this book my 5-stars rating of course, because I simply can't find anything to complain about.

On to the real review now - may contain spoiler in nature

I think what worked for me the most here was the opposite attracts between Derrick and Ginsberg -- Derrick is the manly lumberjack type and Ginsberg is the slightly less 'manly' in terms of physique stereotype. Ginsberg is a trans* character, he has operation done and everything. At the same time they are working in field area that are stereotyped as 'girly' and 'manly' respectively. Derrick ends up working in his late parent's B&B, serving coffee and burning guests' breakfasts. While Ginsberg works as a stuntman, which demands a LOT of physical work commonly associated with masculinity.

I LOVED this. I loved how the authors handled the trans* character; that it wasn't such a HUGE deal, but at the same time it had significant IMPACT to the storyline and character growth (in this case, Derrick's). There wasn't any angst or conflicts related to Ginsberg's 'physical' sexuality. There might be a moment during the sex scene when Derrick was wondering about the right "hole". But it was written in a light tone, which ended up as cute and tender.

The story is more about challenging the perception of gender stereotyping. Derrick dislikes working at the B&B because his friends used to ridiculed him for working in a girly workfrield ("Are you wearing apron, Derrick?") and he feels like he needs to be in a masculine job. Ginsberg's sexual identity CHALLENGES him about the whole 'what are manly things and not". I mean, Ginsberg likes to cook and happily wear pink apron but he also works as a stuntman. This is what I found as fresh and thought provoking.

I thought the built-up romance was really lovely -- their flirts and interaction and relationship brought HUGE SMILE to my face, even when I was reading this in a public train. Ginsberg has a very positive attitude in him and this, in a way, transforms Derrick to be a better man. Yes, we only have two sex scenes, one after 60% and one near the very end. But it makes it worthwhile and rewarding for me. I don't need the steam. I need the romance and the romance is PERFECT.

Oh, this also has wonderful supporting characters -- like Jim, Derrick's ex (who is still in speaking term with Derrick) who is crunching numbers by day and BAKING at night (he's like a superhero *haha*) and a coffee place's owner who may have "rock/punk" attitude but let indie musicians play in her establishment (Gah, I even need to add stars simply by reading the names "Sufjan Stevens - Iron Wine - Great Lake Swimmers alone!)

Then the grand gesture. THE GRAND GESTURE!! Because of course Derrick acts stupid near the end -- we need that kind of conflict/climax in romance, right? Because the fight will involve great love declaration haha -- and it led to terrible fight. But what Derrick does to win Ginsberg over?!? Well, it is Hollywood rom-com worthy and it WON me over and I loved every single minute of it.

*sigh*

So yes, in the end, I can definitely say this ... I love this book. I will buy my own copy despite having the ARC -- heck, I'll show you proof of purchase if you doubt me! This is the kind of book in which I will say ... "I don't care if you don't love it or find faults with it, because I love it and that's more important for me! *haha* It's my favorite from the Bluewater Bay series (I didn't even skip the sex scenes this time!). And since it receives my 5-stars, it is definitely one of my favorite read of the year.

PS: Little trivia, K.J. Charles edited this *wink*.





The ARC is provided by the publisher via Netgalley for an exchange of fair and honest review. No high rating is required for any ARC received.