Glass Tidings by Amy Jo Cousins

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Title: Glass Tidings
Author: Amy Jo Cousins
Published by: Indie
Release Date: December 5, 2016
Format: eARC
Pages: 201
Genres: Contemporary, LGBT, Romance, Holiday
Source: NetGalley
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2018 12 Books of Christmas Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 Beat the Backlist Challenge, Lenoreo's 2018 Netgalley and Edelweiss Challenge, Lenoreo's COYER Winter 2018
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon ✩ B&N ✩ Google ✩ Kobo ✩ iBooks ✩ IndieBound
My rating:

Blurb:

Eddie Rodrigues doesn’t stay in one place long enough to get attached. The only time he broke that rule, things went south fast. Now he’s on the road again, with barely enough cash in his pocket to hop a bus south after his (sort-of-stolen) car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, Midwest, USA.

He’s fine. He’ll manage. Until he watches that girl get hit by a car and left to die.

Local shop owner Grayson Croft isn’t in the habit of doing people any favors. But even a recluse can’t avoid everyone in a town as small as Clear Lake. And when the cop who played Juliet to your Romeo in the high school play asks you to put up her key witness for the night, you say yes.

Now Gray’s got a grouchy glass artist stomping around his big, empty house, and it turns out that he . . . maybe . . . kind of . . . likes the company.

But Eddie Rodrigues never sticks around.

Unless a Christmas shop owner who hates the season can show an orphan what it means to have family for the holidays.

My Review:

I received a free copy through NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.

3.5 stars — This book has recently been rereleased as an Indie read, but I read an old NetGalley ARC copy from Riptide Publishing…I doubt there were any major changes, but figured I’d mention which version I was specifically reviewing.

I find Ms. Cousins writes very differently from most authors I read.  I don’t know how to describe the stylistic difference, but it’s definitely unique.  I haven’t decided if I like it or not, but I guess I don’t mind it.  I will say that in this one she presents us with a very flawed character in Eddie, who wasn’t always likable for me.  He had a really rough upbringing, and so he sees the world in a very different way, and it’s often all about assuming bad intentions from everyone, and manipulating them first.  It’s not that I don’t get how he ended up that way, but it’s not always comfortable to read from that perspective, you know?  And we definitely had more time in Eddie’s head than in Gray’s.  I actually thought some of his musings about his childhood to be really enlightening — things like growing up reading really old sci-fi or watching old VHS tapes b/c that’s what people were willing to give away.  And while his character wasn’t my favourite, I did appreciate that he showed growth, and really seemed to be letting himself become vulnerable and feel.

I actually would have liked to learn a bit more about Gray, figure out better what made him tick.  We definitely got glimpses, but I feel like there were more layers to him that we just didn’t get to peel back.  His past with Brady didn’t completely explain his hermit tendancies, so was he just introverted?  It wasn’t super clear.  I liked what I did get to know about Gray, and I appreciated that he owned up to his own mistakes as well.

As for the two of them together?  I enjoyed some of the more companionable parts, like them reading together, and forming that kind of friendship.  I didn’t really feel that much chemistry between them…like under different circumstances, would they have even noticed one another?  I don’t know.  So the romance had its ups and downs.

I thought some of the side goodies were pretty intriguing, and I kind of liked how they weaved together — like Gray’s friend Christine, and her connection to Mrs. Wasserman.  I also appreciated that we learned a bit more about who caused the accident, but I will admit I was a bit surprised Eddie never visited Lily Rose.

I also appreciated the descriptions of Eddie’s life traveling to Ren Faire’s, and how that worked for him.  And I loved the bits of details we got about his work with glass…though I can’t help but wonder how he learned the trade in the first place.

So all in all it was an enjoyable Christmas read, but definitely a different one.