It's just another day at the candy shop for Sherlock: a quiet afternoon spent more on reading his latest fantasy novel than on selling candy. The kind of day he loves, even if the looming New Year's Eve leaves him feeling nostalgic and a little lonely. But then the last person he ever expected to see walks through the door of his shop, and Sherlock realizes that some things don't fade with time, but grow stronger.

Review

This book is a tease. The heroes are wonderful. Bookworm, candy store owner and ex football player turned writer. They both had crushes on each other in high school.

I liked it a great deal but it needed to be a much longer book with these wonderful characters.

Jack worked hard to obtain a normal life. He might not love it, but it's better than the criminal life he left behind—even if it cost literally everything, and he really does hate being a damned delivery man. On the bright side, his route includes a friendly old lady who makes the world's best cookies and regales him with tales of her hot, jet-setting son. Normalcy definitely has perks. 

Then he walks in on her and her son arguing with men at gunpoint.

Review

This is book # 4 in the Lovesongs series also known as The Missing Butterfly Series.  This book can be read as a standalone novel.  Be aware that it may contain spoilers.  For reader enjoyment and understanding, I recommend reading in order.

Nikko has a family crisis he must see to.  He was told by his lawyer to create a scandal so the paparazzi won't find out the personal.  Nikko gets his chance with a kiss to what he believes is a man beyond his reach.

Jake is shocked but pleased to be the quarry of a man such as Nikko.  Then to find out it is only pretend.... well he might as well go along.  Why waste the chance with a man he is seriously attracted to?

This story just grabbed me from the get go.  Emotional, sexy, and the heat!  Oh this story has more than enough to keep you turning the pages.  I loved the banter between the characters.  The recurring ones from past books add the perfect snark.  I give this book a 4/5 Kitty's Paws UP!

***This ARC copy was given in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley and its publishers.

This review can also be found at Carole's Random Life in Books.

I liked this story. I don't read a whole lot of M/M romances but I do enjoy them every once in a while. The cover of this book really grabbed my attention when I first saw it and after reading the description, I knew that I wanted to give it a try. This book is the fourth book in a series but it can easily be read as a stand alone novel. This was a quick read that really had me excited to see the characters make things work.

I liked the characters in this book quite a bit. Nikko and Jake were so good together and I liked the chemistry that they shared. They were very different from each other but seemed to really compliment the other. They are both at a spot in their lives where a lot of things are changing but in very different ways. Nikko is headed out of the spotlight to focus on family while Jake is trying to figure out what project he will pursue next. 

I did wish that there would have been a bit more of this pair together. We do see Nikko and Jake spending time together in the book but they also spend time apart. It just felt like they were apart for the wrong reasons and a conversation could have cleared a lot up. I would have liked to see a bit more resolution to the story. These two have a lot to work out with the kids, Jake's new role, and trying to be a couple and I would have liked to see a bit of that. It almost felt more like a happily for now instead of the happily ever after I was hoping for.

I would recommend this book to others. It was a nice quick read with great characters. There were a few points in the story that the writing felt a bit awkward to me but there were no major concerns. I would read more from Megan Derr in the future and would be interested in reading some of the earlier books in this series.

I received an advance reader copy of this book from Less Than Three Press via NetGalley.

I first read this book 2 years ago and I loved it wrote it an absolutely rave 5 star review about which I would change nothing and since it was a long one...the word 'rave' usually equals long in my world so here's the link if you're curious...

Original Review: The High King's Golden Tongue

I'm just going to keep it short and sweet here and chat a bit about how much I enjoyed listening to this story on audio narrated by Michael Stellman. I loved listening to this book on audio and Michael Stellman definitely did it justice and listening to him retell this story as the visuals played out in my mind was definitely a delight. 

Since reading this first book I've gone on to read 'The Pirate of Fathoms Deep' and 'The Heart of the Lost Star' books 2 and 3 of this series and I've loved them all and truly can't wait to listen to them on audio...please, oh please let them be released on audio. 

In the 3 or 4 years since I first sampled the audio pool, I've gone from 'no thanks not for me' to 'oh hell yeah, it's on audio!' and one of the things I've discovered is that I especially enjoy listening to audio books from the fantasy genre and Megan Derr's 'Tales of the High Court' series has definitely established it self as a favorite with me. 

'The High King's Golden Tongue' was a wonderful start for the series when it was an e-book and continues to do the same for the audio release.  If you're a lover of the fantasy genre this is a series well worth checking out...highly recommended.