This top 5 Tuesday has become a top 5 Wednesday due to a raging headache yesterday!

I apologize to all my friends if I’ve been scarce since 24 hours but said headache then a visit to my parents and the car shop did not leave me with much time to follow, like and comment!

Top 5 Tuesday is a weekly meme created by Shanah @BionicBookWorm that lead us to explore different topics. Don’t be shy and come play with us!

This week’s topic:

Cozy Winter Reads

What’s a cozy winter read? I pondered on these terms and chose books leaving me with a warm and fuzzy feel. Books without too much angst or plot twists. Just sweet and lovely books.

My weekly choices:

Transcendence by Shay Savage

Ehd is just so sweet and caring and innocent and lost and… Well Sophie luf Ehd 😉

Here is my whole review because it’s worth it LOL

“This is so beautiful and unexpected. It was a really touching as well as unusual story . I loved Ehd! He is a “savage” but he is so sweet and considerate with Elizabeth. He is like a kid at times, cowering and cringing after he did something to upset her, he didn’t dare to look at her, pretending not to exist…
And he really, really broke my heart when he thought she didn’t want to be his mate. He would be alone and lonely again. But even so, he wanted to give her fresh fish to feed her and help her leave him to find her “tribe”. Gosh, I had to grip my tissue and retain my sobs!
And all along without knowing what Elizabeth thinks or says(she is “making noises”), except at the end. We see all through Ehd’s eyes and experience all his thoughts.
At the beginning, he feels so lonely and desperate, he nearly does not want to live any more. And then, he finds Beth! She is his hope and brings him a surge of happiness. He’s found his mate! From that moment on all he really wants is to take care of her, protect his mate and “put a baby in her belly” (it made me smile with his refreshing way of speaking of his desire and his need). But it’s not an easy journey, he’ll have to earn her trust. She is so frightened and he is at loss. Ehd doesn’t know how to stop her tears who break his heart. He’s been cut from other humans for so long he has no one to guide him. Ehd will have to overcome the “non” language barrier and will make mistakes but he is always driven by the need to protect, cherish and help his mate.
Let me say, this “Neanderthal” is much better than many of our contemporary males!
And the end was so tender I had to fight my tears but it was a lost battle(again)!
Truly gorgeous!“

Archer’s Voice by Mia Sheridan

This book was so gorgeous and sweet! You can even find Archer’s interview on this blog just to show you how much this book inspired me!

Here is what I wrote about the book:

“WOW! I love, love, love Archer! What a wonderful book and beautiful characters. Archer touched me deeply, he is such a beautiful soul. He is pure and innocent (in all ways) in a man’s body. He made me remember Blake from Poughkeepsie, an other book I loved. I only have one word: READ IT!“

Running Barefoot by Amy Harmon

It was my first Amy Harmon’s book and the beginning of a fantastic love story (platonic a assure you) with this exceptional writer. She writes the most gorgeous and graceful stories!

Here is an excerpt of what I wrote about the story:

“This is a story of unexpected friendship and blossoming love. It’s also a tale of wisdom, the journey of two kindred spirits to find their own path, to grow up. All of this happening in rural America, in a tiny city (village?) among farmers and a close community.

It shows you how some encounters are life altering helping you to discover your potential, your dreams and to blossom into your true self.”

The Sweet Gum Tree by Katherin Allred

It’s the perfect definition of a cozy read! I’m so sad this author does not write anymore due to health problems.

Book synopsis:

Sweet tea, corn bread, and soup beans—everyday fare for eight-year-old Alix French, the precocious darling of a respected southern family. But nothing was ordinary about the day she met ten-year-old Nick Anderson, a boy from the wrong side of town. Armed with only a tin of bee balm and steely determination, Alix treats the raw evidence of a recent beating that mars his back, an act that changes both of their lives forever.

Through childhood disasters and teenage woes they cling together as friendship turns to love. The future looks rosy until the fateful night when Frank Anderson, Nick’s abusive father, is shot to death in his filthy trailer.

Suddenly, Nick is gone—leaving Alix alone, confused and pregnant. For the next fifteen years she wrestles with the pain of Nick’s abandonment, a bad marriage, her family and friends. But finally, she’s starting to get her life back together. Her divorce is almost final, her business is booming, and she’s content if not happy—until the day she looks up and sees Nick standing across the counter. He’s back…and he’s not alone.

Once again Alix is plunged into turmoil and pain as Nick tries to win her love, something she resists with all her strength. Only one thing might break the protective wall she’s built around her emotions—the truth about Frank Anderson’s death. But when that truth comes out and those walls crumble, neither Alix nor Nick is prepared for the emotional explosion that could destroy as well as heal.

Wolfsong by TJ Klune

This book was pure beauty and wonderful feelings! I gave it 6 stars and was the first astonished as it’s was my first MM read and I would never have expected a MM book to move me so deeply. Talk about preconceived view!

I will share with you some quotes who either broke my heart either filled me with happiness:

How his father saw Ox and how he saw himself for a very long time: “Dumb as an ox,” he said. It didn’t sound mean coming from him. It just was. (…) It was okay. He was my dad. He knew better than anyone. “You’re gonna get shit,” he said. “For most of your life.” (…)“People won’t understand you,” he said. “Ox. People are going to be mean. You just ignore them. Keep your head down.” “People aren’t mean. Not always.” I didn’t know that many people. Didn’t really have any friends. But the people I did know weren’t mean. Not always. They just didn’t know what to do with me. Most of them. But that was okay. I didn’t know what to do with me either.”

He took care of his mom. He was barely a teen when his dad left and he promised her he would always protect her. This scene was the second of the many cracks in my heart… “She touched my face. Her hands smelled like salt and french fries and coffee. Her thumbs brushed against my wet cheeks. “What happened?” I looked down at her, because she’d always been small and at some point in the last year or so, I’d grown right past her. I wished I could remember the day it happened. It seemed monumental. “I’ll take care of you,” I promised her. “You don’t ever need to worry.”
He was desperate, bills piling up and went to the auto shop his dad worked for before leaving. He asked the boss Gordo to give him a job because: ”I’d do good, Gordo. I would do good work and I’d work for you forever. It was going to happen anyway and can we just do it now? Can we just do it now? I’m sorry. I just need to do it now because I have to be the man now.” My throat hurt. “

And when years later he got his gift from Gordo on his sixteen’s birthday with his name embroidered: ” Ox, the work shirt read. Like I mattered. Like I meant something. Like I was important. Men don’t cry. My daddy taught me that. Men don’t cry because they don’t have time to cry.” I was looking like a panda on the train, all mascara running on my cheeks…

When Joe met Ox for the first time: He shook his head. “No, no, no. It’s something bigger.” He walked toward me, his eyes going wider. Then he was running. He wasn’t big. He couldn’t have been more than nine or ten. He collided with my legs, and I barely took a step back. He started climbing me, hooking his legs around my thighs and pulling himself up until his arms were around my neck and we were face to face. “It’s you!” I didn’t know what was going on. “What’s me?” He was in my arms now. I didn’t want him to fall. He took my face in his hands and squished my cheeks together. “Why do you smell like that?” he demanded. “Where did you come from? Do you live in the woods? What are you? We just got here. Finally. Where is your house?” He put his forehead against mine and inhaled deeply. “I don’t get it!” he exclaimed. “What is it?” And then he was crawling up and over my shoulders, feet pressed against my chest and neck until he clambered onto my back, arms around my neck, chin hooked on my shoulder. “We have to go see my mom and dad,” he said. “They’ll know what this is. They know everything.” He was a tornado of fingers and feet and words. I was caught in the storm. (…) “Mom! Mom. You have to smell him! It’s like… like… I don’t even know what it’s like! I was walking in the woods to scope out our territory so I could be like Dad and then it was like… whoa. And then he was all standing there and he didn’t see me at first because I’m getting so good at hunting. I was all like rawr and grr but then I smelled it again and it was him and it was all kaboom! I don’t even know! I don’t even know! You gotta smell him and then tell me why it’s all candy canes and pinecones and epic and awesome.”

What are your top 5 cozy winter reads?

My deepest apologies to Shanah for posting so late!

Sophie