Young Love Written Ever So Sweetly!

This book ends my reading for the year 2012, and it is awesome to end the year on a good note❤

Read December 31, 2012

The Book~

It has a sprinkle of angst after many stolen kisses, and un-expectably a super hot read that is adorably written, and has historical sweetness, that transcended me with ease to the year of 1822, I loved that!

Although this is Christmas story of sorts, I believe this treasure can be read during any season of the year, when you need a dash More...

I wanted to hate Thomas, I did. He left Alexander (Sasha) in a painful, cruel way; one that kept Sasha in emotional pain for such a long time. Yet, you have to take into consideration the times and the fear. I still wanted to shake him, but it was a little more understandable as you read on.

I loved that Sasha was a changed person due to Thomas' defection and cruelty, and that he didn't just up and jump back into his arms. Sasha was hurt, very deeply. His heart was broken and it changed him. Thi More...

3.5 stars
I love my historical romances and this one didn't disappoint. Alex and Thomas the two young lovers have a troubled and angst filled relationship. When they finally reunite and after some highly charged encounters persistence and love pays off. An enjoyable Christmas story even with all the melodrama.

3.5 Stars

This story was quite good, and was very much in tune with the holiday theme. All about atonement and coming home to make things right.

Thomas left Alex four years before without a goodbye or even a word. But from the moment he did, he was sorry. Now he's come back hoping that this is the last Christmas that he has to spend without his Alex. But Alex has very little left of the boy Thomas knew, being abandoned and left with his heart broken as he was...Thomas has to make things right, and More...

This was an okay read, nice and sweet Christmas story though both protags acted a bit over-dramatic.

Oooo, this is a nice one. A sexy good Regency romance with jilted lovers and long drawn out reconciliations and angry sex AND make-up sex.

The MC, Alexander, is a sweet and trusting 19 year old desperately in love with the other MC, Thomas. They have kissed and fooled around, but they have never had full sexual relations -- they've never even seen each other naked. Just before Christmas, Alexander talks Thomas into accompanying him to his father's empty hunting lodge, where they can have the enti More...

4.5 Stars


“Love is a reciprocal torture” - Marcel Proust

From the start of this forbidden romance, it’s exceedingly clear that Thomas Bennett is not as invested in Alexander Norton as Alexander is invested in Thomas. Where Alexander thrives in the glow of the all-encompassing love he feels for Thomas, the polite and well mannered Thomas, a man who is strong and confident and so sure of himself in every other way, is knocked entirely off kilter by the way his body reacts to his Sasha.

From the tigh More...

A sort of prequel to the Brook Street series by Ava March (that came out later), this book is much shorter than the rest, but it's a wonderful story. Having read the other three books I saw these two men in each one and wondered how they got together. Now I know.

There story is heartbreaking, but it's romantic at the same time. March starts with them at the young age of 19, and how they love each other yet Thomas fears being with Alexander, or Sasha as he calls him, and so he runs. Four years la More...

3.5 stars.

Alexander and Thomas are two young men living their first love, but while Alexander is comfortable with his sexuality, Thomas still thinks his feelings toward men are a sin and an aberration. When he is with Alexander, nothing seems more right, but when he is faced with their first time, he panics and abandons Alexander. It takes Thomas four years to gather up his courage to face Alexander again.

It took me a while to warm up to the characters. Alexander was too pushy and needy at the b More...

Ava March alread did better books... I mean, at first, I thought this would be different and cooler, because the story beggins in Thomas and Sacha's youth... And I'm not even gonna mention how much space for desenvolving that exists on the plot. Sacha's lover could be more attached to him, for example. Thomas could've done more for Sacha as he apologized. God, he deserved to suffer more!!


Now the good things. I was touched by the way Ava described Sacha's fellings towards Thomas' abandon. I almos More...

I think the reason I didn't take to this novella was mostly because I fell hard for Oscar and Julian of Fortune Hunter, and Alexander and Thomas… weren't them. Which, of course, only means that I had too much book crack yesterday and only have myself to blame.

Anyway, the other thing about this story is that the first bit dragged. We know from the plot summary that Thomasis going to ditch Alexander for four years, so the sex scenes leading up to that felt a little tacked on. The story only comes More...

Sasha (Alexander to everyone else) is in love with Thomas. He thinks the feeling is mutual. All they have had are stolen moments at school, but Sasha wants more. After a steamy tryst in a carriage, they decide to take a trip to Sasha's father's Hunting Cabin for some privacy. However once they get there, Thomas can't proceed and walks out of Sasha's life. Breaking Sasha's heart and spirit in the process. Of course this all happened on Christmas Eve or Christmas Eve Eve, never really figured that More...

Alexander Norton and his school chum Thomas Bennett are members of the Ton (regency). They begin a secret affair while at school and when Alexander tries to escalate affairs and consummate their affair, Thomas turns tail and flees in fear of discovery. Years later, after realizing that he left behind a man he can truly love, Thomas returns to find that his actions have turned Alexander into a cold, and cynical man. The guilt of abandoning Alexander is only overshadowed by the guilt of turning a More...

This was a holiday story done right. We get to really know Sasha and Thomas and love their Christmas tale. This is a typical setting for Ava March, but it is so good and she does it so right every.single.time.

This book does contain young love heartbreak and then beautiful holiday forgiveness. Enjoy!

I'm not usually into historicals, but this one got under my skin. I was surprised to find emotional depth in a such a short story. The story of Sasha and Thomas begins with a curious need and innocent liaisons between two teenagers only beginning to learn what it means to be gay. And then Thomas leaves, betraying the love and trust of Sasha, and the subsequent years of separation slice both the MCs down to slivers of who they used to be together, finally building to an unrelenting blazing rage a More...

It's no secret that I love Ava March's regency-set m/m romances, and this one is no exception. Love must be very strong indeed to override the fear of being executed for loving the wrong man, just because he is a man. But love is love. Once Thomas Bennett ran away from love with Alexander Norton, through fear and doubt - but he's back, more mature, more sure and willing to risk. But Alexander doesn't want to risk the pain of losing Thomas again. Ava March skillfully weaves this tale of redemptio More...

Ava March has become to my the closest to autobuy any author ever had, I'm even considering buying the bound books.

On to this book, I loved it, I loved how Ava portrayed the innocence of Alexander and Thomas while they were nineteen in contrast to how they were in the second part of the book, my heart broke with Alex as Thomas left and then after the first time they had together, the ending and the acceptance was so beautifully narrated and left me feeling warm all over, this is the second time More...

3.5 stars.
Ava March's historical m/m is always a pleasure to read, she knows how to write sex scenes in that kind of period, they are never boring and always play a part to the story. While the sex is still hot in this story, there is something off about the story development - I'm assuming it should have been a full-length story. As a novella, I'm left with many questions about how the 2nd hero changed his mind - I don't see enough of his struggles to understand how he comes to the decision tha More...

This review was originally published on my blog Joyfully Jay as part of my review of the Men Under the Mistletoe anthology

Alexander Norton and Thomas Bennett are two young men in love. Although Alexander previously shared some stolen moments with other boys at school, Thomas is totally new to a relationship with a man. After sneaking time together, the men decide to take their romance further and travel to Alexander's father's hunting lodge to have a night alone. But when they arrive, Thomas pan More...

One of the things I wanted when I started reading this was to hate Thomas. I just wanted to hate him. I really did and I tried hard. But I actually kind of loved him. Both Thomas and Alexander (Sasha) were great characters for me and I found myself loving them both.

Something I loved about this book was after Thomas left Sasha, they both were with other men. I know some might wonder why I loved that fact. But I hate books where one of them was virginal and the other was not. The same with books w More...

I love this series, yet somehow I managed to miss this one and so I'm reading it last. Doesn't really matter. These guys were mentioned in Fortune Hunter so I went back to read about them, no biggie. I enjoyed it, it's similar to the others but different enough that it doesn't feel like the same book. I actually cried for poor Alexander because it was so heartbreaking. And I liked how much of a dick he was later (you can't just get over that kind of hurt so quickly!) I also thought it made it so More...

Ava March is well known for her Regency books. She does a great job of painting the image of high society confined by social decency and rules, while wicked men will indulge in secret desires and defy the norm. It gives an erotic air to the plot, one that I like.

(view spoiler)[Specifically about this story, I liked it that the characters feel in love at a rather young age and Alexander's certainty that he was meant to be with Thomas. I liked his boldness and Thomas' shyness. It was an interesting image to pict (hide spoiler)] More...

A simple, but emotionally charged historical romance. Alex and Thomas fell in love as students at Oxford, but Thomas was too frightened to continue their affair and ran away to New York. Four years later, Thomas has realized that he’ll never be able to stop wanting men or loving Alex -- but the Alex he left behind is now very bitter and reluctant to be vulnerable again. Despite the historical setting, the focus is almost entirely on the emotional/sexual aspects of their situation, with lots of g More...

One of my chief guilty pleasures is reading Josh Lanyon's gay romances. This book came in an anthology with one of his, so I decided to try it. It's a regency-period historical m/m romance, with lots of pretty explicit sex and a surprisingly sweet love story. I did get to care about Sasha and Thomas, despite all the sex, angst and drama that threatened to drown the story.

Probably best read over Christmas, but ssh. I wasn't allowed to buy it till my essays were done.

3.5 stars

I'm not a fan of historicals but I enjoyed reading this one.
This story is little bit of bittersweet with a happy "ending", I don't know if it is a HFN or a HEA.
What I don't like about historicals is the uncertainty of the relationship, I would love for the couple to live happy for ever and ever, but because of the time (1821) I know that their time together is hard...
Anyway Ava March always delivers good stories and I liked this Christmas tale.

Absolutely adorable, short story. Sexy and emotional as everything Ava March writes.
Thomas has to work hard to earn Alexander's trust and love again after making the worst mistake of his life by abandoning him years ago on Christmas eve.
These are character that we know from the Brooke Street Trilogy, but having these glimpse into their very own story was really good.
Thank you Ava for hosting the giveaway on her blog, I was the lucky winner!

See, I'm sort of having this internal struggle over rating books and this one was no exception. I'm not sure whether to give this 3 or 4 stars. It's definitely an interesting book. I found myself absolutely absorbed into the story. My one big problem with the book was story about Thomas Bennett after he went to America is too short and not too much details.

This was a lovely story about two young men, one who is certain that the world is his for the asking- including forbidden love, and another who is sure that his love is damned.

It could have been a novel, but it's a short story for the holidays, and as such it is perfect. Heartwarming, hot, and in keeping with the spirit of the season.

There's nothing much I can say about this other than it's very typically Ava March and if you're a fan you'll probably like it, but not be too overwhelmed by it.
Beyond that my only other comments are that it reads like a kind of angsty Harlequin romance, and if you're hoping for BDSM you're out of luck.