Brittanie

This book had a ton of elements I love in a fantasy novel. I'm very much into Faerie and it was great to read Mayne's take on it while enjoying that they kept a lot of classic elements and “rules”. This was a book I didn't want to put down and went through the over 300 pages in a single day.

While I absolutely adored this book and am excited to go to the next in the series, I was left with a lot of questions. This book ends on a pretty devastating cliffhanger but the few issues I had with this book came before that. Like almost all MM books, there is a lack of communication here between the male leads that results in a lot of misunderstandings. Here, we use can use the excuse of magic that is considered canon in Faerie lore - Folk/Fae cannot lie, cannot defy vows or promises, and use wordplay to skirt around both. However, the one point in the book where I wanted to throttle Ash was when Lonan tells him he's been all Ash's animal companions over the years. This is a huge bombshell Mayne drops towards the end of the book before the big climax but Ash just... accepts it. And then they have sex. Well, Ash, you should have asked a lot more questions. This means that Lonan has seen you grow up as a Fae literally your same age. So when you were 10 he was 10 and was creeping as a moth outside your window? And you have no further questions? You've known Lonan for, maybe, 6 whole months but he's known you nearly your entire life and you have nothing more to say? Bizarre and stupid. As the book went on but before this reveal, I was hoping the cat and wolf were different than Lonan, but maybe "working" for him. Their actions just didn't match up and Lonan's excuse that "it's easier to act differently" as those animals didn't make total sense with what we read throughout the book. For being told over and over again not to trust literally anyone, he puts his trust in Lonan very easily and you have to keep in mind that all this takes place in a single season. I guess Ash isn't the sharpest crayon in the box.

Despite that, Ash as a character is pretty complex but I just feel that he was a bit too accepting and complacent. I empathize more with Lonan, even after the ending. He was as helpless as Ash because of the power his mother holds over the entire Unseelie court. Ash was the one who didn't ask the right questions or any at all and kept his own council.

Also, where's Coam? Who does he work for? Why was he so giving with Ash, sex or no? I hope we learn more about his motivations in the next book.

Besides all that, still absolutely loved this and can't wait to go through the series, and I plan to read more of Mayne's other work.

Powell's books seem to appeal more to me when they're a little darker and a lot longer. This is very much a cosy romance fuelled by miscommunication and, at less than 100 pages, pretty unsatisfying. I finished this a few days ago an honestly can't remember how it ended, like I didn't actually finish it. I thought the magic theory was kind of interesting but, even though this is the 4th book in the series, I feel like it isn't explained very well at this point. Are everyone's powers tied to an/the element(s)? If Amaruq fought off the urge to go north, would it kill him or just be uncomfortable? Also following someone on foot thousands of miles in the snow is insane, no matter how much you love them. I love Powell's writing but the plots of this series have left me disappointed. I hope they write some longer books this year more in the vein of [b:The Faerie Hounds of York 54835251 The Faerie Hounds of York Arden Powell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1597249935l/54835251.SY75.jpg 85550648] or [b:The Bayou 56424673 The Bayou Arden Powell https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1609006665l/56424673.SY75.jpg 87983396].

This one is a little hard to review. The writing is great - I really enjoy Drewek's characterizations and dialogue. However, some of the plot choices are kind of out of left field and took me out of the book.

My major hang up is the marriage chapter. It felt completely random and unnecessary. Personally, I don't care for marriage in books or real life so it might just be a me problem - but it's just obnoxious when it's between two characters that barely know each other. Insta-love is one thing but actually getting married makes no sense to me. I guess in a book where one is literally willing to die for the other in order to live together forever after LESS THAN 6 MONTHS, marriage is nothing.

Drewek also does a good job of making me hate just about every OC in this book, besides Aubrey. The dad's a dick, the best friend/ex-boyfriend is a dick, cops are dicks, lawyers are even worse, the city is a shithole, etc. It's a pretty cynical book but I guess that makes the love between the two MCs feel more... more? Not sure.
As Drewek states in the intro, she's not anti-law enforcement and was directly involved with it in real life, so the realism in the book is pretty tangible. But this doesn't make me any more pro-blue if this is how a major precinct in Chicago is run. The book focuses mostly on the detective division but very little work is actually done, especially after the MCs go on leave to deal with their outside vampire issue. They also have some of the worst oversight with two of their major lawyers basically fucking up any of the officer's abilities to do their jobs with bogus complaints, law suits, and poor law representation. It's amazing this entire precinct isn't under some investigation.

Overall, I was entertained while reading but about 3rd of the book could have been left out. I'm not sure I'll continue with the series if the next one is just as long.

I found this historical m/m slightly more historical than a lot of the genre I've read. It tackles some issues that would affect a same sex couple in a country and era where that was very much illegal - the looming threat of imprisonment or even death for “deviant behaviour” is constant throughout the story - rather than just focusing on a HEA ending. While this book does provide that HEA at the end, there's plenty of angst and drama before to keep the plot rolling - even in parts you think that HEA isn't coming at all.
This also might be a good starting m/m novel as the sex isn't too graphic (though described as graphic off-page) and there is a good mix of characters here. The book could have focused on the setting a bit more but this is very much a character-driven narrative. I appreciated that while there is diversity in the characters here that it doesn't feel forced or just to check boxes. It's also only the 2nd book I've read that tackles the rampant pornography trade during the Victorian and Edwardian eras when, outwardly, sexuality was something shoved into the smallest of boxes for the sake of appearances.
However, the sex scenes can be a little frustrating for seasoned readers as, well... there aren't really any sex scenes. We're TOLD rather than shown what has happened after the initial coupling within the first 30 or so pages. Miles is constantly described as being into more extreme sex acts based on the fact that he writes very graphic narrative pornography for an underground publisher. Whips, chains, restraints, etc. However, none of that is ever described happening between Miles and Charlie, just referenced to in dialogue or referenced to as a past event.
Despite that, I enjoyed Miles and Charlie as a couple and felt they had chemistry as they got to know one another, but they aren't one of my favourites after this single book.

Overall, I really enjoyed this and look forward to reading the next installment in the series.

This is a very short story about a twin brother covering for his pregnant sister in pantomime and catching the eye of a wealthy patron. Panto in the UK is a farcical play where usually men play women characters and vice versa in various exaggerated stereotypes. The misunderstanding between our two main characters come from the fact that the brother is a man playing a woman playing a man (unadvertised) and so, when he starts receiving very expensive flowers that follow the “language of flowers”, he assumes the patron thinks he's a she and the flowers are just to be ignored - though he secretly enjoys the admiration.

I really enjoy all of SoRelle's writing and characters and this is no exception. My only complain is that this is painfully short so right when you're interested in the characters and what their future together holds, it ends. It's a little frustrating.

I decided to read this because I like Charles' writing but I've never read the Lilywhite Boys series because the synopsis didn't really interest me. I think, while this does read as a standalone, I would have appreciated this more if I had read and enjoyed that series first. It could also be because it's so short, but it didn't feel like the author's best work and none of the characters really resonated or were memorable.

Definitely read this if you've already read the Lilywhite Boys series but otherwise skip it.

Foye's writing style just isn't for me. This is the second of their books I've tried and while all the elements are very relevant to my interests, the whimsical or dream-like narrative is confusing to me and is a style of writing I've never enjoyed. It's hard for me to envision what Foye is trying to portray while reading and therefore I don't connect with any of the characters or the setting, which is important for a story to really have resonance. If you enjoy more “flowery” writing found in a lot of fantasy, then you'll probably enjoy this.

This is basically gay X-Men and/or witches? (more on that) in WWI. There are “skilled” people in society that have a variety of mental and physical powers, usually inherited through bloodlines. The rest of the “unskilled” society isn't aware or at least doesn't acknowledge their existence and the skilled people keep whatever powers they have hidden for fear of prejudice and condemnation. But WWI has started and the US is about to enter and they are, of course, aware of the skilled and want them as soldiers.
This is a decent and interesting premise but not exactly unique. Because of that, I think Lawless just expects the readers to go with it and spends little to no time hashing out the different powers, how they work or don't, and the variety that's out there. They just say it's “magic” or thought to be magic (rather than a mental and/or mutant ability). All the skilled characters here just have a random assortment of skills that aren't even necessarily related - ie. Everett Stone can dreamwalk but also enact fear or euphoria with a simple touch and Warren “Sully” Sullivan is an extreme empath that can sense people from a distance based on their emotions but also cast “illusions” to hide or alter reality around him.

Besides the magic lore, the main issue I had with this book is telling the characters apart in the narrative. Their voices weren't different enough for it to be obvious and I spend the first half of the book confused on which person had which powers. I also think it spends a little too much time in their heads and not enough time on what's going on outside it (literally, as we spend a good portion in Warren's dreams with Everett). The WWI setting isn't really described enough - this could almost take place anywhere, just replace German with [blank] and it's the same story.
Note that these are some of the most descriptive sex scenes I've read in a while, so keep that in mind if that's not your thing. Lawless tells us everything they're doing to each other and takes up several pages. The first scene is also a mere 33 pages into the book, since it's what they think will be a one night stand. While I personally have no problem with that and in fact enjoyed it, some of that narrative writing could have been used on character development or more scene description to make this a more cohesive story.

Overall it was a decent first book but left a lot of questions. I'm unsure if I'll continue with the series.

I guess I'm just not a fan of Hall's writing and [b:Boyfriend Material 50225678 Boyfriend Material (London Calling, #1) Alexis Hall https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1575987260l/50225678.SX50.jpg 73590298] was a fluke.This is a very long historical MM romance written by someone who obviously doesn't have a lot of experience writing historical romances. The language in this book is very modern (and you can't just excuse that with a “warning” at the beginning saying you “intentionally” modernised their speech) and the characters are stereotypes with a lot of queer shoved in wherever it could be. I'm not really a fan of “everyone is gay” type narratives because it just isn't realistic - not to say there weren't plenty of queer people but it was also very illegal for a long time and dismissing that for your narrative and to up your representation percentages is cheap. I also just feel really bad for Valentine and hate all the other characters. He's just being what he was raised to be and both Tarletons as well as random side characters are being absolute bastards to him for no reason than they think he should be someone completely different. It made me physically angry the more I read on. Falling in love with someone who has been a shit to you after a grand total of 2 days is... lazy. Valentine just thinks he loves Bonny because he saw his butthole, I guess.If it had been about half the length I guess it might have been more enjoyable but I found myself really struggling to get through it when I usually lap up even the most mediocre of historical romances. This is for the casual MM reader who is into Bridgerton or Another Period and thinks those are good representations of the early 1800s.

I really enjoy this series even though each book focuses on a completely different couple, setting, and time. The only reason this is a series is because all the Cabots are related. This installment takes place in 1970s central New York focusing on doctor Alex and Daniel Cabot, the son of Tommy Cabot from the first book. Sebastian really tried to make Alex an “interesting” character by giving him all the stereotypical neurodivergent tics as well as being part of a family of Soviet refugees. Alex has overcome a whole lot of hardship to become a somewhat boring neighborhood pediatric physician. Daniel has grown up to become a music writer and makes enough to rent a run down old tenement apartment and, apparently, buy a lot of take out and groceries. And that's it. This series is more of a comfort type of read where not a whole lot happens but the characters are interesting and charming enough to make that okay. Sebastian states that this can be standalone but I definitely think you'll get more out of this if you've at least read the first book [b:Tommy Cabot Was Here 57658644 Tommy Cabot Was Here (The Cabots, #1) Cat Sebastian https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1617808187l/57658644.SY75.jpg 90312887] since both Daniel's parents and Everett were introduced there and have significant appearances here.

I enjoyed this even more than the first one, probably because there was less marriage drama with Noah (though he does make an appearance here). Noah is the worst character and it's very unclear why he and Everett were ever a couple, much less enough to get married.
This was a great murder-mystery and both leads are very charming in their own weird ways. This series is making its way to the top of my list, it's so good. The mystery of the cases is well thought out and has a satisfying conclusion (though it's still from the cold case squad so keep that in mind). It's also very PG so if you're into MM but not into sex scenes, definitely give this a go. The couple is very in love in a way that doesn't make your eyes roll and there's a lot of cute moments without it feeling sugary.
I can't wait for the next book.

This is a MM that takes place in the 14th Century. When I first read the synopsis, I thought it might be similar to [b:The Scottish Boy 50169793 The Scottish Boy Alex de Campi https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1567558096l/50169793.SX50_SY75.jpg 73235203] but the only similarity is the era and setting. This is a more traditional MM historical romance with a dash of violence. It's a 14th century road trip story where the two fall in love over their travels. The book is very well paced and thought out, with a satisfying conclusion. It has a HEA and the epilogue is just the conclusion of their life so I don't think it detracts from that. I'll just say that they don't die side by side as old men in bed, but the ending in the epilogue feels a lot more historically accurate for this time period and their lifestyle.

This is the second story I've read from Thomas in as many days and this one was a little more satisfying but still has a very open ending that is frustrating. However, it's well paced yet short and both leads are charming in different ways so still worth a read.
Jacob is a Royal Navy man on shore leave (hence the title) to be his sister's chaperone during her first season. Their other siblings are busy with their own established families so it's down to Jacob, as the bachelor. While standing on the sideline at a ball in Bath, Sebastian, a fashionable socialite, notices the stiff Navyman and is intrigued. While Sebastian does his social duty of attending balls and entertaining fellow members of the Ton, it turns out that he actually prefers the low-key life of a farmer and mostly keeps to himself in the country. So while both men are more upper-middle-class, they have very different backgrounds which make them more interesting characters.
However, the ending is very abrupt and open-ended, giving the impression that Thomas didn't know where to go after the two men finally expressed their feelings. It begs for a sequel or at least a novella with some more scenes of them together. Jacob has to go back to his ship eventually so there's a lot of questions.

I haven't read a lot of romances taking place during King Charles II's reign so I was interested in seeing how important the era is to the story. Things were slightly more liberal because of the party atmosphere after Cromwell's rule and Jem, the son of a rich landowner, takes full advantage. However, Luke is his childhood friend who has held a torch for Jem since they were young and this story is mostly about his longing for a more exclusive relationship with his friend. Luke is much more conservative and has saved himself for Jem alone, something Jem seems completely unaware of and less interested in.
We do get glimpses into historical roles of the two men - one a minor member of the court and a bit of a toff and the other is a hardworking farmer's son with a more common life. The romance is a bit too quick and it doesn't seem like something that will last, despite Jem's promises to Luke.
The story is very short so there's only so much Thomas could give but I would like to see more development and background to really get into the characters and plot.

I'm a huge fan of Chambers' books so, while I won't be reading the series (each book has a different author), I had to read their contribution.
This a typical story trope - rich toff comes to town and falls for the outcast with a tragic backstory. Nick is half Rom orphan and is working for his rich paternal grandfather as an open secret. Ward comes to town to build his mansion next to a local natural landmark in order to conduct “science” experiments. These experiments are a weird plot choice as they're more paranormal in nature and based off of a single experience Ward had some years before - his entire set up is something only a rich second son could possibly do in the 1700/1800s. They have chemistry so the romance is sweet and not too out of left field with a slow build up.
Overall, weird plot but a quick, worthwhile read for the romance.

Like most sequels, I found this wasn't quite as good as the first book. However, still immensely enjoyable and I devoured the over 500 (!!!) page book in just a few days. It was well paced and easy to read so it didn't feel like it was quite so long.
There were a few instances that felt like the scene or time had shifted out of nowhere or scenes that could have been parsed down or removed entirely, but that's just down to editing.
The ending was left wide open so obviously there's going to be a sequel but it did feel a bit unsatisfying, especially that, after EVERYTHING, Taran still got away. I assume the 3rd book will be more about their family and the consequences of all the actions in the first two books.

If you have any interest in fae lore or this kind of fantasy setting, this series is highly recommended. Graves is a very welcome addition to the genre.

I really enjoyed the dialogue and setting in this. This is the first book from Murray I've read and they definitely have a way of making ridiculous situations feel realistic and non-verbal, completely unrealistic characters have a whole personality to the point where you really care about what is happening in the plot. I was very happily surprised.

The ending was a little unsatisfactory though, like Murray was unsure where to go from a certain point. There were also a couple things that left me with questions: The little note of Jerry's little brother Patrick obviously making eyes at Joe was completely unexplored so could have been left out. Jerry being Very Gay but also happily married to the woman of his dreams seemed a little odd for small-town Scotland. There was also very little character development for “Dave”, mostly due to him not being able to communicate with humans for literally years along the timeline of the book. And where is all this money Joe and his family has coming from? Do traders in London make enough to retire in their 40s and live on savings alone for the rest of their lives (even after buying a trawler and seaside house with private beach)??

Overall a quick, fun read that's unique to anything I've read before and that steers clear of using magic to solve all the plotholes (besides the weird breathing thing that's never explained).

I'm totally with Caspar when it comes to hating Christmas so I was a little hesitant to pick this up. Turns out, it has little to do with commercial American Christmas and more to do with dark magic and Nordic-esque lore.

Caspar is an orphan raised in the foster system with a giant chip on his shoulder in the shape of a Christmas tree. The book opens with him standing on a snowy bridge on Christmas Eve, drinking Fireball out of the bottle and staring into the dark water below, ready to end it. Nick shows up out of (literally) no where and stops him, promising it'll get better and offering to stay the night. Caspar is at the end of his rope so says, “Fuck it.” and they do just that. When he wakes up Christmas morning with no Nick in sight, and just a weird snow globe left on his nightstand, Caspar convinces himself it was a drunken dream and goes about his life - despite all the weird mystery gifts and memories he finds throughout the following months.
It takes another depressive episode on the same bridge for Nick to show again. By this time, we've learned that Nick isn't just an ordinary magician and is in fact the heir to Christmas, his father being Klaus the current actual Santa Claus. Only in this world, Santa is a bigot and a tyrant and resents his son's current obsession with a mortal man.

It's an interesting, darker take on Christmas with a rather sweet love story sprinkled in.

This book was a complete surprise and a very happy one. I think I found this in some random recommendation list related to another book I was reading at the time. I'd never heard of Graves or seen their work anywhere else but I thought why not? Great decision.

Like I said in one of my during-reading comments, this is the adult book Holly Black wishes she wrote (referring to the disappointing “adult” Book of Night). It has many of the same elements as Black's books and draws from similar fae lore yet, while I would definitely recommend this to Black fans interested in MM, it does stand out on its own as well.

Well written with an easy to follow yet complex plot and interesting characters. I devoured this and can't wait for the next one.

Adhara has quickly become a favourite writer. Every book I've read of theirs has been fantastic with a great mix of drama, romance, and action all interspersed with werewolf lore. I've always been a fan of werewolves and there's not enough in the MM or general romance genre that takes a more “realistic” approach rather than going into camp. Adhara and [a:T.J. Klune 5073330 T.J. Klune https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1546275989p2/5073330.jpg] are the masters.This is a spin-off of Adhara's other series, this time focusing on Eli. If you try to start here you would be confused about slipping, the retreat, (were)wolf hierarchy, and who Oliver and Cooper are, so this is in no way a standalone or totally separate series.Eli is Oliver Parks' packmate and ex-boyfriend and a unique type of werewolf who has spent most of his life on the wrong side of the law, both humans' and wolves', due to his special skills. Enter Julien - a new character and human who finds himself in the same town as the wolf retreat from the previous series. Julien is a recognizable but c-list actor whose brother recently died in mysterious circumstances after a visit to the same town the previous year. Julien is on a mission to solve the murder - deemed an accident by police and family - and find out more about his brother along the way. Eli and Julien end up getting caught in a different but related mystery. While learning about the town (this book takes place almost immediately after the last Big Bad Wolf series book so Eli is also still new in town) they also learn more about each other and establish a tenuous and complicated friendship. I look forward to reading more about that development in the upcoming books, especially since we're switching sceneries from the cold forests that have been prominent in all previous Adhara books to the sun and waves of Los Angeles.

Simple and cute short story about a disabled Victorian man whose sister has hired a housekeeper/companion for him. At first, he's insulted and tries to turn the man away but realises the man needs the income and lodging. They learn to live together and then to like each other, ultimately coming together over a lack of communication (which is often the case in historical MM).

One of my favourite couples returns again! Only this time it was a little regressive.

Our two leads get a letter from their old cook (a major part of Alfie's life and the story in book 1) down in London about her husband being deathly ill. Out of their respect for her, they leave the countryside immediately to try and assist. Unfortunately, he's already passed by the time they arrive and are instead attending a funeral. After returning home from the services, they find the cook's granddaughter's fianc?? dead in the living room. Alfie tries to use his influence as a duke to get the Metro police to help but because of the low status of the fianc??, it's no use. Doing a little investigating of their own gets them back deep into an underground they both thought was long behind them.

I didn't enjoy the return back to London because it was almost a repeat of the first book, only with a little more self-pity because they've returned AGAIN back to the slums they thought they'd freed themselves from. I'm not sure what other stories these two will have without leaving the country if they're just going back and forth from London to Scotland, getting themselves involved in murder mysteries. However, despite the lacklustre plot, I really like SoRelle's writing and characters so I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. This made me what to re-read the series from the start so SoRelle's got it right.

A bit formulaic but well written. Theodore is a footman who has been filling in as the valet of the manor but turns it down when it is offered as his permanent position as he aspires to be a butler instead. Enter Richard, a very attractive valet that just finished a job at Kensington Palace but wanted to move out of the city and closer to his family roots. There's an instant attraction from both of them but Ted is more uptight and decides to instead avoid Richard as much as possible. This doesn't work, of course, and only makes the attraction stronger. Meanwhile, another footman (who Ted mistakenly made a move on in the past) and lady's maid are out to bring Ted down a peg with dangerous pranks as homosexuality is still very much illegal in England.
There are some other side characters here among the rest of the house staff but otherwise doesn't really go into detail of the daily going-ons of the house and their work.
It felt more dense than a thin ~120 pages which I think is a good thing. However, the POV shifts between the characters randomly in some spots but most of the book is from Ted's and I also found some errors in my copy so a comb through from an editor wouldn't have hurt.

I didn't enjoy this as much as the first book. Ted and Richard seem to have become a bit unrealistic in their characterisations and are now too sappy for me. It's unclear how much time has passed since they first met but it doesn't seem very long and they're already willing to compromise their entire lives for each other. This is a red flag for me especially because this is Ted's first everything so him following this man to an entirely different country for their HEA is a bad idea.
There is also another drama plot-line not dissimilar to the first book that also ended with the perpetrator just disappearing as the “solution”. That happened in the first book with the lady's made and now with a lord who was engaged to one of the daughters of Ted and Richard's employer. I supposed it was to push Ted into agreeing to go with Richard but it seemed mostly pointless.

My biggest issue with this book is that intimate scene right at the start made me cringe hard. This is Ted's first time with penetration and Richard literally just shoves it in with a bit of petroleum jelly and no no no. This is something you learn early on reading M/M novels and fanfiction but prep is important. Plus Ted's reactions were very unrealistic. He'd be in pain, uncomfortable, and not happy for at least the start especially with lack of prep. M/M authors of any gender need to be more aware of these details and present them in their books to not spread disinformation.

This is a book for people that like slow, quiet “day in the life of” stories with ambiguous endings. We follow Ronny through a year of college in 1970s South Carolina as he tries to figure things out. There is plenty of drama and life changing events but they're all presented here on a low simmer. As a result, while the story itself was easy to follow and kept me mostly engaged, I never really connected with any of the characters and none of these huge events really hit me very hard. Unexpectedly, it has a HFN “ending” but left me feeling like the story still had a long way to go.

The book opens with Ronny starting a new year in a dorm that houses a lot of the football team - who use him as their resident paper writer. He helps them study and pass their classes and they don't give him too much shit. One of the team, Ben, is someone Ronny has always been a bit obsessed with and they end up having a secretive affair throughout the year. Ben is still dating girls during and it's a little convoluted whether he's doing this because he wants to, to keep up appearances, or it's just something that's just expected but meanwhile he's very possessive of Ronny even while he perpetually cheats on him. There are a lot of moments that are major red flags against Ben but there are also a lot of sweet private moments that make you think maybe it's worth it for Ronny, especially when he doesn't have much else in his life.
Besides the relationship drama, we also see two deaths of old women, daily school and local newspaper business, and a vague picture of what college life was like in this time and area. Interestingly, there aren't a lot of mentions of racism or even homophobia (besides blatant use of the word fa**ot) despite the time and location of the story which I thought was strange. There's even a campus-supported LGBT meetup group. Unless this was a particularly liberal city in the middle of the South, it felt a little duplicitous. The author mentions that his own life inspired a lot of the story so who am I to call it fake but it also makes me think he must have been incredibly lucky and/or naive.

Overall, I'd recommend it if the above is your thing. It was well written and the characters felt like real people with realistic dialogue. It just left me feeling a little bereft and wasn't a page-turner for me, taking me 3 weeks to complete.