Eagle Man and Mr Hawk

by Dawn Sister

Ethan isn’t good at first impressions. His job often gets in the way. It’s his dream job, one which suits Ethan’s big heart to a tee. His chosen career isn’t conducive to forming meaningful relationships, however, and it hasn’t really bothered him until now.

Then Alex appears on the scene… Bookish, shy, but gorgeous Alex, who might be put off by bad first impressions, and who Ethan thinks is quite possibly the most beautiful man he’s ever set eyes on.

Alex’s first impression of Ethan is not a particularly good one. In fact, he thinks the man is a raving lunatic, and their second and third encounter does nothing to change his opinion.

Ethan has his work cut out for him, if he is to pursue any kind of meaningful relationship with the irresistible Alex.

This story was originally written as a part of the M/M Romance Group's "Love is an Open Road" event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

This story may contain sexually explicit content and is intended for adult readers. It may contain content that is disagreeable or distressing to some readers. The M/M Romance Group strongly recommends that each reader review the General Information section before each story for story tags as well as for content warnings.

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Contemporary, Humor, LGBT, Family, M M Contemporary

228 pages, ebook

First published July 11, 2015

About the author

Dawn is from the North East of England. Her life is spent juggling. The juggling balls are: children, husband, work (occasionally), voluntary work, professional knitting (notice she doesn't class this as work), and writing. When she has time she actually sleeps.

The whole point of writing for Dawn is just to get it all off her chest and out of her head. If she doesn't write it down then she ends up having long conversations with the characters out loud and her husband thinks she's crazy.

I like chocolate, coffee and donuts, sometimes all at the same time.
I love evenings around a campfire singing in the company of good friends.
I like listening to the dawn chorus even if I’ve been awake all night.
I like reading stories with characters that are filled with hope even in their darkest hours.
I like happy endings.
I write LGBTQ+ Romance (with happy endings of course).
Read my blog for insights into my stories, updates on WIPs and some exclusive excerpts.

Reviews

[Amy Spector · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, first off. This is my prompt and I think I just might be one of the luckiest prompt writers of this year's event.



Eagle Man and Mr Hawk ROCKS! I loved it. It was all the things I was hoping for and so much more than I ever expected!

Thank you Dawn Sister for claiming it and making it something so awesome.

I LOVED both Ethan and Alex and I loved how well the author showed their attachment to one another build.

It was well-crafted, funny and pretty damn hot.

Now, lets take a moment to appreciate Eagle Man and Rupert. :D



ETA https://youtu.be/C5UqCSDUlw8

[Julio Genao · Rating 1 out of 5]

uneven, but where it all goes completely to shit is chapter 19.

wherein the mannish, aggressive, over-the-top fat lady arch-nemesis sexually harasses our sloe-eyed angel in a barn and then threatens to destroy his career if he won't fuck her.

...seriously.

that is a thing that was written.

because who gives a shit about women, right, or fat people, or lesbians, or anyone who doesn't have a dick and romantic hair.

it's cheap.

PS: hey, we're basically shitting on every ideal of human decency anyway, so why not hinge the final stretch of the book on a big ol' stupid miscommunication bcuz those are always so fun.

[Ami · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay ... the positive things first:

- THE ANIMALS ... oh my Gosh, they are aplenty here and they're all adorable with their antics (from the dogs, cats, racoons, cockatoo, zebra...). If you are an animal lovers, this will be your haven. Seriously.

- Ethan (a.k.a. Eagle Man) -- he also warmed my heart. I thought he was amazing; the way that he treats those animals, the way that he approaches Alex and how he understands Alex's anxieties. There should be more animal handler characters in romance #justsayin'

- Alex's job ... he restores books!! Though I wish I saw more of him doing that.

The story started pretty good for me, I had my fun in the humorous situations (Ethan was using zebra onesie!), but after awhile I stared to get a bit annoyed with quite number of things

Here are the negatives, for me.

- Alex... I'm sorry, but I thought he was way too judgy in the beginning (Alex was described as someone having socially inept, but that didn't come across in the beginning for me, he just sounded snobbish). He was slightly better until that final confrontation where he made quick conclusions over something he saw only for seconds. I could give him a leeway because he was hurt before, but still I couldn't help to think that Ethan should cut his losses. I thought Ethan did the right thing to get angry at Alex. In addition, Alex was written as older than Ethan (Alex is 30 while Ethan is 26) but he came across as someone younger than Ethan somewhat.

- The two men went back and forth in questioning the other's actions as well as making their own conclusions. It got annoying after awhile.

- The repetitive use of the words: snorts, smirks, winks, and scoffs. It got to the point where I noticed them frequently, and that bothered me.

- That scene with the bit*h Kelly ... it never got resolved and I just didn't like the idea that she was able to threat Ethan from time to time without consequences.

- The nickname Eagle Man; I'm sorry but sometimes the situation when the nickname was said (like during sex) just didn't seem realistic to me. I know it sounded nitpicky but that was how I felt it.

[Kristan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Consider me completely and utterly charmed

If the sexy, almost naked man in the prompt didn't lure me in, his menagerie of animals certainly did.

Ethan trains animals for a living. It's not all that uncommon to see him leading his Zebra, Bear, down the road while wearing a zebra onesie, or trying to get his clothes phobic eagle to stretch his wings, while wearing little to no clothes. He's funny and sweet with a magnetic personality. He takes one look at Alex and sees a man wearing too baggy clothing, glasses falling down his nose, and a shy demeanor he can't wait to uncover. Nothing could be more beautiful to him than what Alex has to offer. Of course, he's wearing his zebra onesie, so he's not likely to make the best first impression.

What ensues is a lot of humor and sweetness, and a whole lot of squee.

But Alex? I had a bit of trouble with him.

Alex is ruled by his insecurities. He's shy and bookish, but kind. He's got a lot of stuff going for him, but that wasn't quite enough to get me to connect with him. Maybe because I was so enamoured with Ethan, his humour, and his insane family of animals, but Alex tended to spend a lot of time with his self-doubt and his jumping to conclusions? Well, let just say "Bad Alex! Bad!"

This was well written and very entertaining, but I should warn you, there's exclamation points! While it didn't bother me for the most part, there were times where it felt like one character was yelling at the other, when I knew it wasn't the case. And while I loved "Eagle man" and "Mr. Hawk" as nicknames (really, they were cute) - not something you want yelled out during sexy times.

Really, I can't nitpick this too much, because I'd revisit Ethan and his animals any time. Dawn did an incredible job with this prompt.

My thanks to the author for their time and participation in the Love is an Open Road event.

[Lori · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book made me smile. I loved Ethan with a passion. Seriously, he's quirky, nice, funny & cares about animals. I could read more and more and more about him. I have me a new book boyf!

Alex, I liked him alot - even when he was being annoyingly stubborn and or dense! I think there is a lot more behond Alex's character that we don't actually find out in tbis story.

Despite the fact thee was a bit of miscommunication/jumping to conclusions going on, something I usually hate, I just loved this story.

Ethan made it for me, though I really care for Alex and want to know more about him. It was humorous and delightful. Thank you so much for this contribution.

[Debbie McGowan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a brilliantly funny love story with Geordies!

And a zebra.

And a border collie and GSD <- totally sold

I don't do animal stories, because I am ultra-sensitive in this respect, so I guarantee if I can read this anyone can.

And it has a lovely ending.

It's smashing, pet.

A full-length novel for free - thank you to the author and the team on Love is an Open Road.

[Al · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bloody fabulous!! Thanks you to the author and the LOR clan :D

Don't look at this if you are sensitive

[Arch Bala · Rating 4 out of 5]

Okay, so I’m kinda on the fence with this one. I super loved both MCs and the story was real cute but I’m really not sure about the latter part.

It felt that the Kelly angle came out of nowhere and didn’t get resolved in any way or maybe I was just waiting for Ethan to smack her into oblivion. LOL b!tch was too ambitious.

Alex was adorable and so as Ethan. Gah, they’re perfect book boyfriends but seriously, second guessing themselves almost all throughout the story like it was a tennis match between them was a bit too much for me.
But like I’ve said, I really adore this couple and wished the ending was far stronger or perhaps a bit more than that.

It’s a 3.5 stars for me.

Thank you Dawn Sister for this wonderful story with such wonderful characters and gaaahhh Ethan’s crew = just too adorbs!!!

[Suki Fleet · Rating 5 out of 5]

So happy this story is out!!! I love it to bits and was lucky enough to beta read it. It's funny, sexy and original, and eccentric characters FTW <3

All the kudos to Dawn Sister for again writing ALL the words for this event.

Recommended for everyone looking for a great feel-good read :)

[Mir · Rating 2 out of 5]

Contra the title, the story so far seems pretty zebra-oriented.

Zebras keep creeping into my mind, and not the real one I saw outside in the street today. I mean, that was shocking enough, because when that guy appeared and said he'd left his zebra running, I thought he'd been talking about some weird brand of car, not a real zebra. No, I'm not thinking about the real zebra, I'm thinking about the guy, dressed as a zebra. Why? Did he have a zebra fetish? Is there even a zebra fetish scene? Is it here, in this remote corner of Northumberland?

Okay, that's cute, right?
This story was written to a visual prompt, and it starts off strong with a funny meeting between a quirky, outgoing animal trainer and a shy sorta-academic (educated, but doesn't actually work because he's rich, not a favorite set-up for me).

It could have been a really fun humorous short story, but instead the author decided to drag it out to novel length with a series of implausible misunderstandings (why does Alex go off on Ethan about animals rights, when there's no sign later that he actually thinks trained animals are abused?), unpleasant encounters, and ridiculous self doubt. There's only so many time each person can think "I can't believe he's really interested in me" when they've been chasing each other about for weeks, gone on some dates, and eventually slept together. There's really no reason for either to doubt the other's sincerity.

It's hinted from the beginning that Alex has some awful secret or suffered a trauma so enormous that he had to more to the countryside and hide. This turns out to be that someone cheated on him a couple years ago. I refuse to even spoiler-fold that because it is so weak as a reveal.

If you want to know who is a bad person just note whether they're introduced as attractive or not. Anyone fat will certainly be horrible.

Trigger warnings for attempted sexual assault and victim-blaming.

[Dee Aditya · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. I did. It's funny, and sweet, and it has a ton of amazing animals, and two wonderful MCs who were engaging and really made me care about them.

The language used was really nice to read, and I liked the whole plotline. And it's a slow burn with plenty of humor and emotion, and I adore books that can make me laugh and also make me hurt, so it's not that big a surprise that I liked this so much.



Thanks to the author for participating and giving us this wonderful book FOR FREE!

[Pamela Su · Rating 5 out of 5]

Animals! Half naked animal trainer! I'm totally there.

I loved Ethan and his animal crew. I admired his passion for his animals and for the people around him. Alex is the character I was most able to relate to with his insecurities.

The story hooked me from the start and I wasn't too bothered by the miscommunication that occurs in the story.

This was a charming and sweet story. Fantastic read.

[Sunny · Rating 4 out of 5]

First impressions = entertaining story, loveable characters...so many grins :D

Sweet, adorable, funny, this was a solid five star read for me even with a couple continuity issues my brain latched on to. But then a line showed up that stopped me in my tracks.

"...Dave sweats like a fat lass.”

The lighthearted story took a mean turn and I didn't like it. My mood soured and the delight I was experiencing took a nosedive. It didn't take long for Ethan and Alex to charm me again, though, and my enjoyment settled in at 4.5 stars.

Then we got to a big scene with the vet. Talk about a WTH moment. It didn't fit, and was too over the top. The angsty melodrama was irritating and the story went off track for me. The ending was sweet, but I had already checked out.

The first 70-80% made this worth 4 stars, though, so that's what I'm going with.

Side notes:
I was disappointed the first penetrative sex was off page :(

I liked the dual POV, and the changes were clearly marked, but it was still disorienting at each change.

The crew was awesome! :D

[Shelba · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF @ 5%. Four chapters is enough to let me know that a) I don’t really care for the writing style and b) Ethan might forgive Alex, but I’m still of the opinion he is a “rude, arrogant prick”, and since this book seems to be about casting judgment at glance, it seems fitting to DNF early.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

I picked this up for free because it had good reviews and sounded like it might be nice. It didn't work for me for lots of reasons, including: very little of interest happens, both main characters are annoying and whiny, it's way too long, it's way too repetitious, the lack of character development, the awful and bitchy OTT female villain who is really awful and bitchy and OTT, the tension of the story involves a good old big misunderstanding, the embarrassing nicknames of the title are used ALL the time (even in the naked scenes), and more. I didn't care for the characters or the misogyny and fat-shaming of the weird villainous vet subplot. One of the main characters has this tragic backstory--the reason he's suddenly moved to country--and we never really hear what happened, which was frustrating. The first half was pleasant, but it went downhill from there. I almost dnf'd due to lack of interest. I liked the animals, which is what most reviews of this book say, and they are the best part. Novel-length contemporary romance rarely works for me, and this one definitely didn't. Most people really liked this, though, so I'm in the minority.

[MostlyDelores · Rating 2 out of 5]

I loved the animals. (Although, what the heck were raccoons doing in England? But you could say the same about the zebra I suppose, so I'll let that go.) (Hey, according to Google, people have introduced raccoons to Britain by bringing them over as pets or for zoos, and they have happily adapted to life in the wild as well. Now we know.)

Anyway, yes, the animals were great. The people were less so. Alex was neurotic and annoying, and the "Hawk" nickname was twee, but the big problem Kelly the Villainous Vet. She was grotesquely over the top and the simpering romance took a left turn into WTF-ville after her big moment.

Also, here is the obligatory harrumphing about misogyny and fat-shaming. Harrumph.

[Laura · Rating 5 out of 5]

The prompt was a real good one, but the author here has really created a smashing story with all the best ingredients. Ethan and Alex are two diamonds in the rough. From now on, though, every time I will see a zebra on TV or live I’ll be turning into a laughing jack, looking for a striped man near by…

[Elsi · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Best LOR story I have read so far and I have read quite a few. The MCs are so adorable and there is loads of cute animals.. Anything between Zebra and a Raccoon can be found in the story. The story is a funny feel good read with very little angst..

[Justin Nova · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute story with some funny parts. I didn't really see the reason for the stuff with the vet and think it would have better without that. Thanks to author for participating in this event!

[JoAnn]

Marking dnf... I’ll look up the percent I read later.

Unfortunately contemporary just doesn’t do it for me most of the time. And honestly the two characters were already on my nerves. Eagle (I don’t even remember his name!) was fun and eccentric but Hawk was flat and boring, honestly nothing other than Eagle trying to get Hawks pants seemed to drive this plot.

[Line]

Freebie at the zon.com right now: https://smile.amazon.com/Eagle-Man-Ha...

[Jeanne 'Divinae' · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this story. I had such a fun time reading it and following both our men to their happy ending.

Alex had decided to strike out on his own. He bought a cottage in the middle of nowhere with his closest neighbor being three miles away. He prefers books over people. He is ready for some peace and quiet. Though his sister calls him all the time to keep up with him. All is okay until he meets the man in the zebra onesie. He didn’t know but that was the day his life would go from peace and quiet to the opposite.

Ethan walks into Donald’s, his friend, hardware store in his zebra onesie. His damn zebra he training insists he will only obey him if he wears it. Oh well, it’s not the craziest thing he has done to train an animal. For that is what he does. He is a animal handler/trainer. Besides his own crew, two raccoons, two Siamese cats, a cockatoo, and two dogs, he has other various animals on his property. If not for training for movies or TV, he is rehabilitating them so they can be released back into the wild. It’s a full-time job and takes all his time, but he loves it. Then he runs into the most shockingly handsome man he has had the pleasure to set his eyes on him.

He wants him.

But he quickly finds out that Alexander Hawking, Hawk for short, isn’t like his other conquests. Let alone does he seem disgusted by him, he isn’t the least a bit in awe over Ethan and his job and trying to jump into bed with him.

They both want each other, but both feel they have flaws. Alex cannot comprehend why Ethan, sexy, successful, kind man would want someone like him. His only success is getting a Masters Degree.

This story was long. But it was very good. I liked everyone, but the vet, and the ‘crew’ are just as involved in the story as the two main characters. They were strong secondary characters, despite only being animals. I enjoyed watching them come together and though the timeline isn’t that long, it seems much longer.

[Raquel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Realmente se quedaría con 3´5 estrellas.
Después de la trilogía de Captive Prince busqué algo ligero y encontré este libro en mi Kindle. Y fue lo que estaba buscando, algo ligero y divertido.
La autora no se complica demasiado con la trama; hay cosas,sobre todo hacia el final, que no me terminaron de convencer pero el libro se lee fácil y te hace pasar un buen rato.

[... · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an unexpected delight! Very, very sweet 🥰

[Julesmarie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderfully sweet. Great fun to read.

Some Favorite Quotes:
"Who the hell has a pet zebra and calls it Bear?"

Books love you just the way you are. Books are so much better than people.

The things I do for my art are not conducive to building normal healthy relationships. I hadn't really realised that until now, when there is someone I might want to try and have a normal, healthy relationship with.

"I don't know about you, Eagle Man, but what I look for in a man is not his ability to spell the word planet."

[Lillian Francis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved this. No, I wanted to love this, actually I was charmed and enjoyed this for the most part.
Occasionally the constant questioning of motivations and feelings frustrated me, but overall I enjoyed it.
All the animal related sections were brilliant.
Really, I loved it and then the final conflict happened. It felt contrived and I felt insulted by the stupidity of the situation, dammit. Then just to add salt into the wound it also annoyed me that Alex never explained to Ethan why he reacted that way. These problems in the final few chapters took some of the gloss away from the story.

[Didi]

Thank you Dawn Sister for some uproarious laugh I was having from reading this book (I really need that this week). :D Ethan and his menagerie pets were just too adorable and cute!!

As the story went on though, I got annoyed with the other character for his indecisiveness. So... I'd just sleep on this and gather my thoughts later.

[Lumina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sweet story with lovable characters. Ethan is adorable from the start while Alex comes of as a little snobbish, but that is more from embarrassment than anything else. The story progresses slowly and is quite straight forward until the end, when out of nowhere there is drama uncalled for. I didn't quite understand the twist and it doesn't get sorted. I hate loose ends like that. Could we please kill her off?

[Sandra]

Offered for FREE from the M/M Romance Group's Love Is An Open Road event. Thank you too all the amazing authors who participated!

[Pati · Rating 2 out of 5]

I have to split this up to give my honest opinion.
The first 84% 4 stars... 85% onward 1 star