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jugglingpup's review
5.0
To see more reviews check out MI Book Reviews.
This has been on my list since it came out. I have been waiting for a time when I really needed something special to pick me up before I started it. All of the reviews have been praising it so much and the author is an awesome person, so I had no fears going into this book.
The story is simple and sweet. There is a bit of time jumping at the beginning and then it becomes more of a natural flow. It helped keep me from getting too distraught over the characters and it built some suspense at the same time. I have never really seen that happen before. I am impressed that in such a short book, I came to love the two men and become so invested in their lives.
I have one real complaint about the book. There are such huge gaps in time, that when any action happens it feels like it happened too quickly. The men meet back up and are instantly life partners again. While it was sweet and satisfying to some degree, it was also annoying. I wanted a bit more about their reconnecting. They had both drastically changed since they were thirteen. There had to be some growing pains and awkward. This all boils down to: short stories and novellas just generally fall flat for me, because I want so much more. So this complaint might honestly be against the format and not against this book in particular.
Wes was my favorite of the two. His story was more compelling and he felt the most emotionally real to me. He had so much more going on and I am a sucker for a tragic back story. So here I am, pining away over a middle aged mechanic that only exists in a too short book. Sigh, why did you have to do this to me Blablanksi? I was perfectly fine before Wes. I can see exactly why Drew would be into him. He just is this really great guy.
Blablanksi, please write a longer book. I would gladly let you toy with my emotions again.
This has been on my list since it came out. I have been waiting for a time when I really needed something special to pick me up before I started it. All of the reviews have been praising it so much and the author is an awesome person, so I had no fears going into this book.
The story is simple and sweet. There is a bit of time jumping at the beginning and then it becomes more of a natural flow. It helped keep me from getting too distraught over the characters and it built some suspense at the same time. I have never really seen that happen before. I am impressed that in such a short book, I came to love the two men and become so invested in their lives.
I have one real complaint about the book. There are such huge gaps in time, that when any action happens it feels like it happened too quickly. The men meet back up and are instantly life partners again. While it was sweet and satisfying to some degree, it was also annoying. I wanted a bit more about their reconnecting. They had both drastically changed since they were thirteen. There had to be some growing pains and awkward. This all boils down to: short stories and novellas just generally fall flat for me, because I want so much more. So this complaint might honestly be against the format and not against this book in particular.
Wes was my favorite of the two. His story was more compelling and he felt the most emotionally real to me. He had so much more going on and I am a sucker for a tragic back story. So here I am, pining away over a middle aged mechanic that only exists in a too short book. Sigh, why did you have to do this to me Blablanksi? I was perfectly fine before Wes. I can see exactly why Drew would be into him. He just is this really great guy.
Blablanksi, please write a longer book. I would gladly let you toy with my emotions again.
mollyringle's review
5.0
Utterly sweet story, poignant but ultimately happy; compact in length but packed with heart! I found it easy to love these two from the beginning. Well done, Roberta!
knrt_17's review
4.0
New to me author. This is a contemporary mm story. Covering a large period of time, this book show true love will find its way, even over years. I’ll read this author again.
eliottgriffen's review
5.0
Sweet and beautiful story about second chance in love.
It is HEA, but when I think of all those lost years I want to cry and punch something.
Flashbacks to the 80's made me laugh. I've been there and I loved ALF! And mullets... God, don't remind me :)
All in all, great story!
I can't wait for the next thing from Roberta.
It is HEA, but when I think of all those lost years I want to cry and punch something.
Flashbacks to the 80's made me laugh. I've been there and I loved ALF! And mullets... God, don't remind me :)
All in all, great story!
I can't wait for the next thing from Roberta.
rjsreadingnook's review
5.0
I loved this sweet story about the possibility of second chances. I’m all about Wes and Drew! I cheered them on the entire book.
sihah's review
5.0
I am literally still happy sobbing as I type this. I am so glad I read this book!
This story is so beautiful and kind from the very beginning. I'm not a fan of M/M stories, which I know is really unfair because I'm an LGBTQIA+ author, but I find that most M/M stories are not written by people in the community and aren't a good representation of gay culture as a whole, but that was DEFINITELY not the case with Return to Sender.
From the very beginning, this story had me hooked. The romance and family and just LOVE in this book had me crying happy and sad and just emotional tears almost the whole time I was reading it.
I read this story in literally a single day. It's a novella, so it wasn't that hard, but that is a feat for me. I usually have to keep putting books down to do other things, but this book in particular just really spoke to me and was always on my mind.
I loved that all the smut scenes were fade to black because that was so on brand for Drew and Wes! They deserved all their privacy and their secret stolen moments after everything they'd been through.
The writing was amazing and expressive and full of emotion and I didn't ever once think "this is a first-person POV novel" because I was never pulled out of the narrative long enough to ever question anything about the mechanics of the book. I cannot praise Return to Sender enough. It was TRULY an amazing read.
Roberta, this story was literally brilliant. I cannot think of a story more deserving of a 5-star review from me. I loved it so much and I cannot wait to see what you write next.
This story is so beautiful and kind from the very beginning. I'm not a fan of M/M stories, which I know is really unfair because I'm an LGBTQIA+ author, but I find that most M/M stories are not written by people in the community and aren't a good representation of gay culture as a whole, but that was DEFINITELY not the case with Return to Sender.
From the very beginning, this story had me hooked. The romance and family and just LOVE in this book had me crying happy and sad and just emotional tears almost the whole time I was reading it.
I read this story in literally a single day. It's a novella, so it wasn't that hard, but that is a feat for me. I usually have to keep putting books down to do other things, but this book in particular just really spoke to me and was always on my mind.
I loved that all the smut scenes were fade to black because that was so on brand for Drew and Wes! They deserved all their privacy and their secret stolen moments after everything they'd been through.
The writing was amazing and expressive and full of emotion and I didn't ever once think "this is a first-person POV novel" because I was never pulled out of the narrative long enough to ever question anything about the mechanics of the book. I cannot praise Return to Sender enough. It was TRULY an amazing read.
Roberta, this story was literally brilliant. I cannot think of a story more deserving of a 5-star review from me. I loved it so much and I cannot wait to see what you write next.
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