• manga,  Uncategorized

    MANGA: Koishii Revival

    Koishii Revival – Kuroi Tsumuji

    First-year university student Higurashi is suddenly reunited with Yoyama, a senior from his high school track and field club. However, Yoyama has lost all of his memories from high school due to a traffic accident. One day, as bits and pieces of Yoyama’s memory start to return, he asks Higurashi “You confessed to me…?”

    Koiishi Revival is an amnesia trope, second-chance romance story that could have gone angsty and dramatic.

    Higurashi has been crushing on his senpai since high school, fellow track and field athlete Yoyama. Now, in the university, Higurashi is still pining hard.

    Amnesiac Yoyama couldn’t help but notice how Higurashi always went out of his way to help him or keep him company. It eventually jolted some vague long-lost memories of high school connections, until Yoyama asked if Higurashi ever confessed to him.

    There’s still a bit of drama here, but the story is delightfully light-hearted and wholesome, always with a thread of optimism and joy even in the more emotional scenes. Our boy Higurashi won me over immediately with his sunshine personality, even when hurting, still managed to keep his smile.

    There is a slow wooing of Yoyama, the romance going at almost the same pace as his recovering his memories. Yoyama is a bit more serious and his friendship-turned-relationship with Higurashi was deceptively casual in its transition. No grand gestures, no big to-dos, but boy, was it cute!!! The smile on Higurashi’s face was blinding!


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  • book,  Uncategorized

    REVIEW: Angel’s Share by Layla Reyne

    Agents Irish and Whiskey: Angel’s Share by Layla Reyne

    Husbands Aidan Talley and Jameson Walker team up again as Agents Irish & Whiskey for their most precarious case yet in this established couple gay romantic suspense novel.

    FBI agent Aidan Talley just wanted to spend the holiday weekend cheering on his husband’s basketball team. Instead, he’s investigating a cargo theft for the family business and coming face-to-face with a loose end from the case that almost tore him and Jamie apart.

    Coach Jameson Walker may spend his days on the sidelines now, but Jamie refuses to stay there when it comes to his husband. When Aidan is cornered by his past, Jamie will do whatever it takes to ground him in the present, including stepping back into his hacker shoes for the Bureau.

    Aidan and Jamie thought they’d seen it all, but the City of Angels has more than one ghost in store for them. As revenge and redemption collide, Agents Irish and Whiskey will have to trust in their love and their partnership to solve the case for the family they have, for the one they lost, and for the one they want to call their own.

    Angel’s Share is the final book in the Agents Irish and Whiskey LGBTQIA+ romantic suspense series. While it can be read as a standalone, it is best enjoyed after reading the other books in the series.


    Agents Irish and Whiskey by Layla Reyne were among the earliest MM books I’ve read (2017!). I never left Whiskeyverse because the succeeding spinoffs, Fog City, Trouble Brewing, and Perfect Play, kept me immersed in the City of Angels.

    Angel’s Share surprised me because I didn’t expect we’d get another Aidan and Jamie story after the wedding novella. I didn’t want their series to end! I went from rating the first book, Single Malt 2 stars to one of the most memorable couples in MM romance.

    This series finale opens with a luxury cargo stolen from no less than a Talley Enterprise ship. It led to a thrilling car chase with Jamie showing off his death-defying driving skills and Aidan meeting the last person he expected to see.

    Angel is Aidan’s godson and the nephew of his late husband, Gabe. It seemed that the boy and his mother, Izzy, had fallen into hard times after they became estranged from their family due to their homophobic views. Aidan, in his survivor’s guilt after Gabe’s death, also distanced himself and had no idea that his underage godson was involved in illegal activities.

    The plot brings the series full circle, interweaving Irish and Whiskey’s current lives with the case, exorcising past demons, and bringing closure to open threads. As Aidan is the SAC and Jamie is now a basketball coach and occasional FBI consultant/hacker, most of the action was told rather than shown. The rescue of Angel’s friend, Bev, would have been suspenseful, but it was mostly off-page.

    This one is a me problem. I can’t exactly point a finger at a specific sentence, but the author has a way of writing, or maybe it’s the narrator’s style of delivery, that makes things seem more dramatic than they actually are. This is why I can’t finish the Perfect Play series. I kept rolling my eyes at how overly emo things sound. Here, it’s not as emo, and the story is very compelling.

    Gripes aside, I loved the book! It felt like catching up with old friends! I am thrilled with everyone making appearances, from my fave badass babes, Mel and Helena, to Nick and Cam, even Levi, Marsh and their son, David, and of course Danny (my fave Talley). Even the other FBI agents who have their own books or I wish have their own books brought something fun to the table.

    The newer characters were standouts as well. Angel went from a surly teenager to a protective friend and eager mechanic apprentice. It was a brief mention of them talking on the balcony but I’m totally shipping Angel and David. Hopefully, we get a book when they’re older.

    Bev, our girl is feisty, sassy, and hella smart. Years of abuse and foster care didn’t dampen her spirits, and I’m happy she finally found her home.

    And, of course, Aidan and Jamie giving me life with their strength and unconditional support to each other! It’s not so common to see the lives of married couples after the wedding, apart from epilogues. So I enjoyed seeing an established couple working together, saving their loved ones, with that absolute faith that his husband has his back no matter what.

    Still with that palpable chemistry, that deep emotional connection, and that seamless synchronicity in work and personal life that makes Irish and Whiskey unforgettable even after all these years!

    I complained about the “tell” parts earlier. The thrilling takedown made up for it, bringing in the big guns, bounty hunter Mel, and ninja assassin Helena, with Aidan’s team taking down mobsters, and dodging explosions. This is the action I’ve been waiting for!

    Angel’s Share is about loss, grief, and long-buried fears, but it also reminded Aiden and Jamie of what matters most: love and the family we have or found. Fast-paced, and emotional, it’s happy forever we could wish for our Irish and Whiskey!

    Rating:
    4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bits

    Soundtrack: The Angel’s Share
    Artist: Elly
    Album: The Angel’s Share

    P.S.

    Agents Irish and Whiskey books are best read in order. Don’t miss the spinoffs, especially Trouble Brewing (Nick and Cam are top faves!), and Fog City (Silent Knight wrecked me!). Don’t listen to me about Perfect Play. I think most people will like that series.


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    ANGEL’S SHAREKindle I Audiobook

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  • song,  Uncategorized

    SOUNDTRACK: The Angel’s Share by Elly

    Soundtrack to Agents Irish and Whiskey: Angel’s Share by Layla Reyne

    The Angel’s Share by Elly for a book about loss and grief, love and healing.

    The bitter and sweet, and dance around me
    I tend to wonder if the ebb and flow will ever drag me under
    If the lessons that we learn are dressed in many colors

    The angel’s share we pay to Heaven
    Comes to all of us

    I learned to live again and feel the love that’s all around me
    And it’s so beautiful, beautiful
    The dark, the light, the faith, the fight
    It leads me to believe
    And it makes it beautiful, beautiful

  • quote,  Uncategorized

    The bitter and sweet, and dance around me
    I tend to wonder if the ebb and flow will ever drag me under
    If the lessons that we learn are dressed in many colors

    The angel’s share we pay to Heaven
    Comes to all of us

    I learned to live again and feel the love that’s all around me
    And it’s so beautiful, beautiful
    The dark, the light, the faith, the fight
    It leads me to believe
    And it makes it beautiful, beautiful

    It’s finite, the time that we have keeps running faster
    How long do any of us have?
    Oh, I don’t, I don’t, I don’t really know
    When I close my eyes, see bluer skies

    I learned to live again and feel the love that’s all around me
    And it’s so beautiful, beautiful
    The dark, the light, the faith, the fight
    It leads me to believe
    And it makes it beautiful, beautiful

    The angel’s share we pay to Heaven
    Comes to all of us
    The angel’s share we pay to Heaven
    Comes to all of us

    I learned to live again and feel the love that’s all around me
    And it’s so beautiful, beautiful
    The dark, the light, the faith, the fight
    It leads me to believe
    And it makes it beautiful, beautiful