soulfullyalex's Reviews (383)

 

I am going to give you a warning now but this review is probably going to be unhinged and completely incoherent.

I don’t even know where to start with this book. How do I review a book that was incredibly hot while being incredibly tame and actually made me cry? Like, how do you talk about a book that was the most delicious kind of emotional rollercoaster.

For starters, I loved meeting Raf in Ask Me For Fire. His relationship with Ambrose is absolutely lovely. I adored seeing the two of them be so incredibly supportive of each other and happy for each other. In A Brighter, Darker Art we get to see more of their relationship through their phone calls and facetimes. I adored seeing how they interact and talk to each other. It felt exactly like how two best friends would talk to each other. I can’t say enough how much I love that Starling makes all the characters feel like real people.

Now, on to Silvan. I really loved getting to know Silvan. He is smart and witty and careful, which I loved. I really enjoyed the single father angle as well, he has a college age daughter and an incredible relationship with his ex, his daughters mom. I adored that the relationship between Silvan and his ex was so caring and loving, and that the whole explanation of their relationship and situation wasn’t all about the drama but just two people growing apart and being better as friends.

Okay, here is where I get incredibly unhinged. Raf and Silvan meeting for the first time was weird and hilarious. They meet at a bar, intending to flirt with each other, but end up with Raf offering him a job. I mean… how does that even happen? From there they have to figure out how to navigate their obvious attraction for each other while working together to open Raf’s new art gallery. If you think it was a wild ride it was! They are flirty and teasing and obviously can’t stick to just being coworkers, because that interest is there and too strong. Enter smart Silvan with a plan, but also his major Daddy vibes and Raf is done for. I was absolutely LIVING for the teasing that man did to poor Raf. Like lock him up and throw away the key for the level of teasing those two did. Also, keeping it all a little bit secret and Mr. Older Dad Silvan taking care of Raf! I can’t. Honestly, the teasing in this alone is a reason to read the book. If you like teasing in your books, this one is full of it. And I mean FULL. Silvan is one of those characters that just knows who he is and is confident in himself completely and I LOVED it.

I just want to scream about these two. I don’t even know how to talk about the two of them together without collapsing. It was hot and sweet and lovely and I loved how they complimented each other. Raf being a bit wild and Silvan being more practical. It’s just… perfect. I loved how they cared for each other and supported each other. I just can’t get enough of the casual intimacy and affection they have for each other. It was all so sweet and soft.

Also, the ending made me cry. It was just so SWEET. I can’t say anything without spoilers, but it was the nicest and sweetest thing and I loved how all the little details were tied up. It literally put tears in my eyes from how sweet it was.

If you take nothing from this review other than that Silvan is the best service daddy Raf could ever have, that’s all you need to know and you should read it. 

 

Hello friends, if you know me and my reading taste you will know that D.N. Bryn is now officially one of my favourite authors. I have read all of their published books and they have all gotten 5 stars from me. If that is a hint for what this book got then you’re probably right.

For starters I love a good vampire story. I loved this vampire story too. I am someone that doesn’t need a whole lot of world building if the story is going to be plot driven and this book didn’t lack in plot. It dropped you right into the story and I really enjoyed that. I liked that things weren’t completely explained. The book didn’t spend pages and pages going into details about how things worked or explained all the details, but I actually enjoyed that. It felt like we were learning things right alongside the characters.

Another thing I love is disaster boys being too dumb to realize they are into each other, and that is exactly what I got. Two very ridiculous men, not knowing what to do with themselves and their feelings and taking forever to realize that they should just talk to each other. I loved being able to see both Wesley and Vincent’s side of the story. Watching these two dorks be so awkward and cute and oblivious at times was a real treat.

I am so thankful to D.N. Bryn for writing because I adored this book and cant wait for more in the series to come! 

 

Alright, I’m not going to lie to you. I have loved everything I’ve read from Starling so far. I am already excited for anything new that gets released and backlist titles.

But, I won’t gush too much because then it will just become incoherent screaming and I think I do that enough. Alright. When He Beckons. For starters I was hooked immediately. We enter the story at Zan and Deacon’s first meeting and it’s the weirdest, flirtiest things I’ve ever seen. I adored it. The further we get into the story the more it just seems like these two clicked immediately. Like that feeling when you meet someone for the first time and you know you’ll just hit it off with them. Like their weird perfectly matches your weird. That’s what Zan and Deacon had and that’s what I loved about them. Their chemistry was immediate, but it didn’t feel forced. They had time to actually get to know each other and explore their feelings for each other before making any moves past planning a date.

I really loved that these were two men in their 30’s and 40’s, that were well established in their lives and happy with what they do and how they live. They weren’t trying to change each other or themselves, they were just looking for someone who could appreciate them and what they appreciated. I really liked how the two of them opened up to each other about their interests and that those interests overlapped. But it never felt like they were perfect either. Some stories have characters that their interest overlap and they click really well, but it doesn’t feel real. Like there’s not enough differences between them to feel like real people. Zan and Deacon felt like real people to me. They felt like people I could meet out in the world and they would be just how they were in the book. A little eccentric, but fun and sweet.

The only downside to this book was that it wasn’t like a million pages longer. I mean, honestly, it’s one of those books that’s warm and soft and I could just curl into and read hours and hours of, if that existed. I do think that (though I would have happily read more) the ending was perfect and I will definitely be going back to this novella when I need a soft story with some spice thrown in.