Electric Blue & Catnip

by Suilan Lee

Alexi, a Japanese music composer and pianist, heads to New York to work on a new project, while he sorts out his issues with public appearances and stage fright. When he meets Joshua Randolph, he finds himself wanting to find out if there is more to life than music.

Alexander 'Alexi' Kotaru is facing a crippling crisis. He can't stand on stage without panicking and his career depends on a flawless performance. His agent and manager decide to send him to New York hoping that a quiet environment will bring back his confidence. Problem is, he has invited his ex-boyfriend to stay with him. No one likes Adrian Rosen, but Alexi won't listen to anyone. He believes Adrian is the only one who can get him back to his old self.

Joshua Randolph is a Professor at the University of New York. He is a man facing a lonely summer ahead. His youngest sister gets married and moves out of his house. His Teaching Assistant graduates and leaves New York. The only thing he has to look forward to is a summer spend doing research. Until he saves a young Japanese man in the park from a runaway statue.

Joshua and Alexi spent a stunning summer together. But as summer ends, can they hope for a future together?

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Romance, Contemporary Romance

355 pages, ebook

First published June 14, 2014

About the author

Suilan Lee creates fiction set in a boy meets boy world. She has written The Reluctant Consort, The Prince and His Royal Guard, The Assassin, and The Morgan Lore, among others.

When she's not writing, she teaches others how to farm sustainability. She lives with her husband, and their beautiful family of four.

Reviews

[M'rella · Rating 1 out of 5]

I hate DNF-ing at almost 85%, but enough is enough.

I am sure there is a sweet story somewhere in this book, but it's buried under too many words and too many errors and typos. Grammar, punctuation... nothing is safe.
I failed to connect with the characters, partially because of the distraction that the lack of editing created. Prolonged family gatherings that involved discussing same old same old over and over again didn't help with developing warm and fuzzy feelings either. All I could think of "oh, no, not another Mary Calms moment!" And then I actually longed for Jory :/

Alexi's family, Lily and Taka as well, is a bunch of characters with a you-know-what stuck up their you-know-where. They are rigid, they suffocate their children with expectations and demands, they are controlling, bordering abuse. How did poor Alexi manage to survive without panic attacks until his last tour in Japan is a mystery to me. The boy has no room to breath. Just one little example. Alexi's mother calls him from Japan and greets him with "Alexander, this is you mother." That's knowing her son is not well and the trip to NY is not a short one. How about "Hi, dear, how was your trip?" No? Then this is the only natural reaction, IMHO



Anyway, warm, charming woman. I would like to cuddle up with her sometime. NOT. But maybe her no less stuck up mother has something to do with this drone of a parent.


I have more in the comments, if you are interested.

Oh... did I mention "a balmy July evening in Manhattan"? Just... CRAP! Ugh!

[The Bursting Bookshelf of a Wallflower · Rating 4 out of 5]

After his last tour, young musician Alexi is suffering from severe stage freight. Reading an article critizising and devaluating his talent, he decides to leave Japan for a while and travels to New York. Accompanied by his energetic manager Lily, he moves into an apartment with Adrian. They know each other since ten years, but their relationship ended a year ago. However, Alexi is still in love with Adrian and wants to have him close.

Unfortunately, Adrian is behaving strangely and when Alexi finds out the secret Adrian has been keeping from him, his world shatters. Lily is unable to get to him, but luckily Joshua - a professor at the university in New York - brings Alexi new happiness.

They are slowly falling for each other and Alexi is able to work on new compositions. I liked the way, Alexi and Joshua interacted. The story was moving at a rather slow pace and felt thus very credible. When the summer and Alexi's stay in New York came to an end, the couple was facing a difficult decisions. I really liked that the author made their discussions and decisions feel so real. We didn't have one character giving up his whole life without a second thought in order to move to another continent. Both characters had something to lose, we had a lot of time in between decisions and I liked that it wasn't always easy between these two.

This was a very entertaining and charming contemporary romance. 4 stars!

[Tj · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very cute story. I really liked that it wasn't a "rock star" kind of musician. The plot was well thought out and the writing was smooth. The relationship between Alexi and Josh was a nice change. It was sweet and grew. The two men came from different backgrounds and yet they matched up well. I did think at times the drama was a little too drawn out. The editing wasn't the best either.

I still quite enjoyed the story and the characters.

[❀~Amy~❀ · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well that was supremely painful! This is definitely a case where I feel like I read a different story from everyone else. I was bored out of my mind by this story all the way through. I kept hoping that it would pick up and get better, but it never did. There were so many words, but nothing really happened. I didn't like any of the characters and never connected enough to care. There were so many typos, mispelled and misplaced words, grammar errors and punctuation issues that it was hard to focus on anything else.

Even though this is a free story, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone.

[F. · Rating 4 out of 5]

A nice, low angst contemporary read about an internationally renowned Japanese pianist and an American university professor. They meet rather unexpectedly, gradually fall in love and after jumping a few low hurdles find their HEA. If you like lots of angst and/or action this is not your story.
4 stars

[Pamela Su · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was dubious about the book when i looked at the cover. Unexpectedly, this was an enjoyable, light and sweet romance.

The romance is a slow burner, but I enjoyed seeing Alexi and Joshua grow closer.

[Shelphin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book, for a free read this is one of the better ones.

Story is slow at times, characters I loved 🥰 and the extended family on Joshua’s side I loved. Alexi’s family is a little weirder but still believable in some cultures.

I’ve read this author a lot and I really enjoy her books, very detailed. Would recommend

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Seriously, this could have been cut down to half. It was the same thing over and over. Any love I had for it was buried under a ton of words.
And please hire an editor.

[Wax · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a surprise from this new-to-me author. I really enjoyed this love story between a Alexi, a musician, and Joshua, a college professor. Alexi has had a recent problem with stage fright, and leaves family and home behind in Japan to spend some time in New York working on a film's soundtrack but also to have some time off. His other motivation is to see Adrian, his best friend and former boyfriend, who owns a model company. While he is running in the park one day, he is literally knocked off his feet by Joshua, who saves him from a serious injury.

I'm sure I'm not the only one who hates Alexi's so-called best friend and wishes they had thrown the book at him. Other than that, I felt that they struggle Alexi and Joshua faced in their relationship was very real. Alexi's life is in Japan, while Joshua's job and son are in New York. And despite the insta-attraction, it felt more like a slow-burn romance, which was great. The secondary characters like Alexi's manager Lily and Joshua's sister Alicia were also great. There were just a few grammatical/editing issues that cropped up from time to time, so I'd rate it 4.5 stars.

[Seiran · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to admit I was really dubious about the book, but I kept hearing about it and reading the great reviews really was the deciding factor in reading this book. Because I have to tell you it was really unexpected, and I found it to be a really enjoyable, lovely romance.

The pace of the book in the beginning was a little slow for me, but the story does pull you in and keeps your interest. I liked the premises of a classical pianist from Japan, and a professor from the U.S. I thought it was really interesting combination.

The relationship between the two MC's is a slow, sweet build-up to a relationship that felt really believable. The level of angst is low, but family issues on both side do need to be resolved.

This was the first time I have read anything by this author, and I have to say I am a new fan and can't wait to read something else by this author.

[Regencyfan93 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was slow going for me in the middle. I glad I stuck with it, because I like Alexi and Josh and many of their friends and family members. Alicia, George, and Lily come to mind. Josh seemed rather oblivious towards the end about the Kotaru family's interest in his research. Either oblivious or he wanted someone else to make the first move. This added to the slow pace of the book, but did not interfere with my overall enjoyment.

I was impressed with the editing. Words were spelled correctly except for a few homonyms. Word choices were varied, not the same phrasing repeated. I wish all books were as well constructed.

[Wende · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I stayed up all night reading it. This is surprising because It was not some action packed or death defying book that I love to read. This was a sweet love story. Alexi and Joshua met and it was not instant love. I loved how the book slowly built until they had their love story. Joshua helped Alexi with his problem and it was wonderful to read. There was not a magic pill to fix everything but rather they had to work for it. This is a free book and that blows me away. I am giving this wonderful book

[Karla · Rating 5 out of 5]

::sighs:: what a beautiful story. Suilan Lee has become one of my favorite authors, her stories are so beautiful and engaging they just flow together so naturally that they just capture your imagination so fully it makes you feels as if you are part of the characters world until the very end. The story of Alexis and Josh is such a beautifuly written story, I just couldn't put it down. I will be looking forward to reading more stories by this amazing author.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book sounded interesting so I picked it up. The pace of the book is a little slow but the story keeps your interest. I t was nice to have a story about a classical musician rather than a rock star for a change. I enjoyed seeing the relationship between Alexi and Joshua develop. They are likeable characters and have a great supporting cast, I loved Lily. This was the first book I have read by Suilan Lee and I will definitely read another.

[DeeNeez · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beautiful. That's the best description for this wonderful story. I felt like I entered a K-drama and lived the story with Alexi and Josh. In fact, this story would make a great live drama series. Famous Japanese musician-composer comes to New York to recoupe and regain his composure only to literally run into the man who becomes the love of his life. A story of love, of cultural differences, family, honor, and the conflicts of different careers.

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Free @ smashwords 16 / 08 / 14 :)