Ami's Hoard

This lovely story is comprised of three sections: “Wedding”, “Honeymoon”, and “Corroboree”. In “Wedding”, we have David Taylor and his beloved English earl, Nicholas Goring preparing their wedding, after Dave accepted Nicholas’s proposal right in the end of Butterfly Hunter. “Honeymoon” captures their honeymoon phase in Cornwall and “Corroboree” is a short section when the newlyweds return to Brisbane, Australia.

“Wedding” is a beauty – I am in love with how Julie Bozza writes this section. It makes me feel like being wrapped in soft blanket of comfort. I enjoy reading about the preparation: what to wear (I learn a new term: morning suits – I am Indonesian, okay, I don’t know ALL the English words *lol*), where to live, what to do about getting Australian visa (for Nicholas), whom to invite to the wedding ... and most touching part, when Nicholas thinking about saying goodbye to his family. Dave and Nicholas are so besotted to one another – which makes my sappy self gushes in delight and sighs in contentment.

“Honeymoon” on the other hand, is slightly a drag for me. I guess in this section, my cynical self is making an appearance. I’m starting to think some parts as being too flowery – and well, few of the similes are simply cringe-worthy (‘you taste like the purest nectar’ – uhm, just NO). There is also a slight mystery here with a couple of men that Dave and Nicholas meet on their honeymoon, which I think slightly disjointed to the whole tone of the story.

“Corroboree” is the shortest of the three and it’s a bit too short to make an impact in my all reading experience. Although, I like the idea of ceremony and celebration in Australian way. It rounds up the story because it starts in Australia and here is Dave and Nicholas ready for the next phase of their life together as husbands in Australia too.

For some readers, they might find the story to be slightly too bland and lack of high speed pulse. For others, they might find the story to be a little too sweet and lovey-dovey. For me, though, my sappy self is beating my cynical self with a stick. So while this might not be as perfect as Butterfly Hunter, I am happily give this my 4-stars.