Spread Your Wings

by Edie Montreux

On the way to the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert, Sammy gives Mustafa a chance to escape the Bosnian war.

"Spread Your Wings" is the tale of Sammy Connelly's first job as a CNN Correspondent in Sarajevo in February 1992. The job and rising tensions in Sarajevo do little to calm Sammy's nerves before the biggest concert of his lifetime: The Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert. One of the hotel clerks, Mustafa, helps Sammy with a health scare and distracts him from the war. When Mustafa ends up in the hospital as a casualty of war, Sammy knows he's got to get him to London, and home to Atlanta, if Mustafa will go. Along the way, they experience the largest celebrity tribute concert of our time and find "Somebody to Love."

Genres: Romance

111 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 29, 2018

Reviews

[Mrs.V · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was such a blast from the past!
I was 15 in 1992, when the book is set, and I have always been a huge Queen fan. So in the first months of 1992 I was mourning Freddie’s loss and watching the news (not CNN, we didn’t get it in Italy), horrifies at the war happening just off our doorstep, in ex-Yugoslavia. This book transported me back to that time. It’s an incredible soundtrack for any Queen lover and with a few points here and there summarizes the outbursts of the war in Sarajevo.
Amidst all this Sammy and Mustafa find each other, and they have to fight and flight to keep each other. To make it to the Freddie Mercury Tribute and then back to Atlanta, Sammy’s hometown, to start a new life.

[Erin]

There are two places in this version of the ebook where pages are missing. Especially right at the end I feel like I missed something important.

[Mandy (MP Book Reviews) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sammy Connelly is working as a CNN Correspondent and his first assignment is in Sarajevo in February 1992. He is also looking forward to the Freddie Mercury Tribute Concert in London for which he has two tickets. As tensions arise in Sarajevo and his job gets complicated his need for a distraction is hotel clerk Mustafa who helps him with a health scare as well as a necessary relief from the situation. When Mustafa ends up in the hospital as a casualty of war, Sammy knows he's got to get him to London, and home to Atlanta, if Mustafa will go. When they are in London they experience the largest celebrity concert of their time. Can they get the future together that they want and need?

I loved this story which seamlessly wove a love story between Sammy and Mustafa with the start and escalation of the Bosnian war. The concert was a nice touch and it went well with the story of the two men starting out on a new path for their future. It was great to see that they had a happy ever after. Contains explicit MM sexual content.

[Juniper · Rating 4 out of 5]

The author’s love for, and knowledge about, Queen comes through in this story loud and clear, and it’s sweet and moving that Sammy and Mustafa find in music a common ground that bridges cultural divides and anchors a relationship that took shape amidst plenty of uncertainty and peril. They both have a lot to navigate: Sarajevo in the early nineties is where they meet, with Sammy a newly minted CNN correspondent worried about the possibility his unfaithful ex boyfriend may have given him HIV and Mustafa imperiled by his religion, as well as his sexuality. That part of their story is moving and fraught, and it was easy to get caught up in. The final parts of the narrative, especially those set in Atlanta, were hazier and, at least to me, a bit rushed, but I appreciated the HEA and the epilogue for two characters I liked very much.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.

[Ashish Rastogi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Love amidst war

An unusual setting for a romance novel. The story takes you back to the 1990's. For me, it was like revisiting those dusty old places from memory- a raging AIDS pandemic, Freddie Mercury's death, and the bold grim headlines of the wars in erstwhile Yugoslavia. The author weaves an interesting tale of love in this bleak historical backdrop.

[Kathleen Bradbury (Bulfon) · Rating 5 out of 5]

The writing draws you in and keeps you involved throughout the whole story, I found myself in love with not only the characters but also the world that was created. The descriptions of the characters and their feelings are so involved, you can truly picture it in your mind.

[Jess · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review to come!