The Lights on Knockbridge Lane (Garnet Run #3)

Title: The Lights on Knockbridge Lane (Garnet Run #3) 

Author: Roan Parish 

Publisher: Carina Press / Harlequin 

Release Date: September 28, 2021 

Genre(s): M/M Romance 

Page Count: 224 

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5 

Read book blurb here

Although this is the third book in the Garnet Run series, it can easily be read as a stand-alone as the connection between the books is the setting of Garnet Run, Wyoming. 

Adam and his inquisitive daughter Gus (August) are new in town, and soon meet the "weird" neighbor on their block, Wes.  He's the guy who never goes outside in the day, has paper covering his windows, and has raccoons, lizards, a snake and a tarantula named Bettie and is working on a biogas generator.   And yes, you guessed it, Adam is terrified of spiders and snakes.

Gus is cute and inquisitive as all get-out, Adams has issues about the way his marriage to Mason ended and before too long Wes is going to Gus' show-and-tell at school and they all work toward decorating their house with as many Christmas lights as possible.

While the romance between Wes and Adam works well, the initial sex scene occurs before we really get a good sense of each man's personality and therefore Wes' dominance comes out of nowhere.  But overall this was a sweet story about a new family and a very lovely Christmas. 3.5 stars. 

Better Than People (Garnet Run 1)

Title: Better Than People
Author: Roan Parrish
Publisher: Carina Adores
Release Date: August 25, 2020
Genre(s): Contemporary M/M Romance
Page Count: 239
Rating: 4 stars out of 5

Read book blurb here


This is a charming story of two men who find each other and bond over the love of animals, plus there's plenty of well-detailed steamy sex.

Jack Matheson, who creates whimiscal illustrations for children's books, is burrowing in after a problematic parting of the ways with his co-author. He's hurt and gathers comfort from his tribe of cats and dogs named Pickle, Mayonaise, Bernard (yes, he's a St. Bernard), etc. When he breaks his leg, he advertisers for a pet walker and Simon answers the ad. Simon is shy ..

It was a word people had used to describe Simon Burke since he was a child. A tiny, retiring word that was itself little more than a whisper. But what Simon felt was not a whisper. It was a freight train bearing down on him [...] it was a swimming head and a pounding heart. A furious heat and a numbness in his fingers. [...] Shy was a word for a child's fear, shed like a light spring jacket when summer came. What Simon had was knitted to his very bones, spliced in his blood, so cleverely prehensile that it clung to every beat of his physical being.

Jack's little menagerie is lovingly created and personalized and Roan Parrish does a wondrous job of developing and deepening Simon's character.  I love how Simon and Jack navigate their way into a relationship that is equal parts heat and heart.

However, I would have loved to have had deeper development of Jack's character; while Simon's shyness is well documented and explained, Jack remains somewhat of a mystery.  His insecurities about his talent as well as his unwillingness to move past his betrayal by his literary partner seem unfounded given that we don't have as strong an understanding of his personality.  While this doesn't derail the story, it just didn't work for me.



But the ending, which realistically creates a HEA for Jack and Simon without ignoring his continuing issues, is well done and I'm giving "Better Than People" 4 stars.

I received an ARC from the Publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for an honest review.