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My Review:Title: Heartsong
Author: A.E. Wasp
Series: Vino and Veritas #13
Published by: Heart Eyes Press
Release Date: May 10, 2021
Format: eARC
Pages: 289
Genres: Romance, LGBT, Contemporary
Potential Triggers: View Spoiler »
Source: Heart Eyes Press
Reading Challenges: Lenoreo's 2021 COYER Spring, Lenoreo's 2021 Diversity Reading Challenge
Find it: Goodreads ✩ Amazon
My rating:
Blurb:"It just figures that the first guy I’m bringing back to my place is cute, single, and totally off-limits..."
Sean Anderson has spent his life waiting to get the hell out of West Virginia. His plans got derailed when his dad shipped him off to “pray the gay away,” but he’s over it, ready to prove that he’s a grown-ass man who can take care of himself. Of course, he’d have a better chance convincing himself if he could stop lusting after his grumpy roommate.
Army veteran Cooper Hill returned to Vermont minus one leg and one career, but determined to build a new life. When an army buddy asks Cooper to keep an eye on his nephew, a junior at the local college, Cooper can’t say no. He’s expecting a sheltered kid. What he gets is a gorgeous young man whose brilliant poetry gives voice to everything Cooper’s been trying to express. He wants Sean more than he’s ever wanted anything. And somehow, miraculously, Sean wants him too.
But wanting each other isn’t the same as being good for each other . . . especially when past pain threatens to write its own verse in their song.
A stand-alone novel in Sarina Bowen’s True North world, Heartsong contains first love, found family, kisses around the campfire, and two caring men who discover they make beautiful music together.
I received a free copy through Heart Eyes Press in exchange for an honest and unbiased review/opinion.
4 stars — I think this book went a little differently than I was expecting from the blurb. I expected a much stronger music/poetry component, and it wasn’t really there…it was more background, felt tacked on. But at the same time what I did get was fantastic.
Cooper surprised the heck out of me. I was expecting someone more taciturn, but he wasn’t really grumpy at all. He was wary and self-effacing, but not grumpy exactly. I appreciated seeing a different side of the military through him. I appreciated the glimpses of his life with his prosthetic. Also, I LOVED that Cooper had such a romantic heart, and that while he had a rough lonely childhood, it didn’t prevent him from reaching for what he wanted and trying to give the relationship his all.
Sean made my heart break. It was startling to go through his PTSD with him, especially given he didn’t know what was going on. It felt so real to me. The emotions, the irrational anger, it was all just so…visceral. I ached for what he went through, and how it had affected him. It was hard to see the internalized homophobia at work, especially because he was such a sweet guy. Who he was underneath all that just didn’t fit with what he had been taught.
It was so refreshing to have a romance that, while fraught with pitfalls, was hopeful and loving. So many times characters feel resistant to love, but I don’t feel like that was Cooper or Sean. There were a lot of other things going on, but the basic desire for a monogamous relationship wasn’t a pitfall. It was refreshing. I really loved the two of them together, and I was rooting for them.
Another thing I wasn’t expecting was how strong the element of deep and tragic was in this book. I appreciated where it went, and how it was dealt with though. I also appreciated how the everyday subtle homophobic things can be just as, if not more, damaging than the obvious…especially when it comes from people who are supposed to love us.
Shout out to Stumpy, what a good girl. Also shout out to Richie who was an epic BFF.
Like I said, it wasn’t what I was expecting, but I really enjoyed the story I got.
Wow. This sounds incredibly emotional!
I want to read this one after seeing what you had to say about it. Great review, Lenore!