Member Reviews

Oisin and Trent meet in a bar and are immediately attracted to one another. Their hook up is supposed to be a one off, however, circumstance persists in bringing them together again and again.

There is an age difference between the two, but I found this acceptable since Oisin was quite immature for his age, and Trent, with his experience, tended to stabilise Oisin's spontaneous ways. I have to say that I found Oisin a little annoying at times, and it took until the later part of the story for him to wise up.

There is an element of BDSM in the book, but not a great deal. We are told that Trent is a Dom, which, in my mind, Oisin needed. There is certainly a connection between the two of them, and the chemistry they share is palpable. I didn't realise that there is,a previous book, in which one of the secondary characters in this one is a MC. Since he, Devon, plays a big part in this one, I would recommend reading that one first.

On the whole, I would say that Ms Delaney's writing shows promise. I would have liked more development of the main characters. I do suspect that this lady's writing will improve with experience and I will read future books.

Was this review helpful?

Copy cordially provided by NetGalley~

Great plot with charming characters that you wanna spend the day/night with (Devon)!

Dress up play~YAY!

Oisin and Trent are both very aware of their sexuality and almost instantly build an emotional connection.

There are some cool turns and highs and lows in the story, however I do feel that Oisin is somewhat immature and young for the likes of Trenton but hell mayb he gets off on that!

A firm 3 💖💖💖~Quick Fun read.

Happy reading!



https://www.amazon.com/review/R3EHFA5WEVR9BZ/ref=pe_1098610_137716200_cm_rv_eml_rv0_rv

Was this review helpful?

Waking Oisin by author Grace Kilian Delaney is a fast-paced angst-filled book that I really loved. There is great character connection and this one is an intense but easy read overall.
Oisin is brave, funny, and very hard on himself. He constantly is trying to conform to what others want. But he refuses to give up Sin his cross-dressing name. In that area, he will be himself no matter what.
Trenton meets Sin. He is fascinated by the man. He loves the crossing dressing. He is brave in that he doesn’t care what others think of him.
Overall these two really are well suited to each other. There are few misunderstandings in the way of their love but at the end of the day, they are amazing together.
I loved this one and am looking forward to many more stories from this author, I would love to see what kinds of stories she comes up with next.


Five Shooting Stars

Was this review helpful?

4 stars

Synopsis: Oisin is flunking out of law school because he has no interest in being a lawyer. His father, who is a lawyer, is determined that he will become one. To blow off steam, Oisin goes out with his best friend, dressed as a woman. While out, he meets Trent, and leaves the event with him. When Oisin realizes that Trent works for his father, he doesn't want anything to do with another lawyer, no matter how good their connection was.
When Trent is transferred to the home office, Oisin's father asks Trent to coach Oisin so that he passes his law courses. Even though Trent doesn't realize who Oisin is at first, he eventually does, and even though he is wary of the age gap, is attracted enough to overlook that.

What I liked: the growth in both characters. Trent was just completely focused on his career to the detriment of his love life and his relationships with his family. Oisin was drifting, trying to avoid his father and bemoaning the fact that he can't do what he wants with regards to his schooling. I liked the fact that Oisin and Trent supported each other, and understood what their relationship was.
Oisin and his best friend were so supportive of each other and had a great relationship. I liked that they talked to one another and helped each other through issues in their lives and relationships.
Once Trent found out what Oisin really wanted with regards to his career path, he was so supportive of his dreams.

What I didn't like: Oisin was pretty immature and kept running away from anything resembling a confrontation.

Overall impression: I enjoyed the story and the characters, as well as the writing. I would be interested in reading more by this author.

*I received a copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.*

Was this review helpful?

This book comes with a disclaimer about sex, and rightly so as its pretty graphic. If you don't like graphic sex then this is not for you.

I was interested in this as the main character is Oisin (pronounced Ow-sheen), which is an Irish name, and would not have thought that common outside Ireland.

Oisin is the son of a rich businessman who doesn't seem to understand him. Oisin is bisexual and also has a cross dressing alter ego, Sin. Sin/Oisin meet a man in a nightclub and they spend the night together. But Oisin's father may understand Oisin better then he thinks, as he appoints trusted worker Trenton Fisher to act as mentor to Oisin.

I enjoyed this book, the characters are likeable and there is a happy feel to it. Although the sex may not be to everyone's liking, and it all finished a bit nicely for me. Three stars.

Was this review helpful?

I thought this one sounded cool and sexy when I read the blurb—and, quite a bit of it was—but, Waking Oisin also had me sort of scratching my head and doing double-takes almost as much as it had me swooning or cheering for the characters. I liked both Oisin and Trent immediately, and the story itself quickly sucked me in, but there was something about the writing and the execution that kept throwing me off.

I don’t like to leave things on any type of negative note—especially with books that I overall enjoyed—so, I’ll quickly get the things that didn’t work as well for me out of the way. The writing itself lacked a little polish at times, but my main issue had to do with some inconsistencies. First, the BDSM aspect wasn’t well defined. Trenton had a significant history with playing and living the lifestyle; he trained as a Dom, and his ex, Nic, broke things off with him in some part because Trenton didn’t want to live the D/s relationship 24/7. But, things were very loose and unestablished with Oisin. At times it seemed like he wanted to be a Dom to Oisin, even expecting Oisin to call him Sir, which Oisin gladly did, but it wasn’t consistent. I felt like even if they were going to do scenes just every now and then, there should have been some kind of discussion between them, but there never was. I also thought Oisin’s father’s behavior was very inconsistent. He would sound like the most loving, caring parent one moment, talking about how worried he was about Oisin, and how much he cared for him, and the next moment he acted like his son was the biggest pain in the ass, who was such a chore to deal with. The way he was written gave me whiplash.

Now, back to the things I really liked about the book! I liked Oisin mossst of the time. He was spunky and smart, and so kindhearted and sweet, which was very endearing. I adored how much he loved animals and that he wanted to be a veterinarian; it was sad that he felt so trapped into going to law school and felt like he couldn’t pursue his dream. I loved, loved Oisin’s best friend, Devon, and everything about their friendship. There was so much history and loyalty and love between them. I definitely want to go back and read Devon’s story in Seven Minutes. And, I really did love Oisin and Trent together. They had excellent chemistry, and their sex scenes were on fire. I liked their dynamic a lot. Trent’s levelheadedness and maturity were a great counterbalance when Oisin decided to get bratty and throw one of his tantrums. Trent’s entire family was also amazing, as was Oisin’s mom. The supporting cast was very strong overall, and I liked where everyone ended up.

So, yeah, this one was definitely sort of a mixed bag. There were parts that I really liked, and other parts I struggled with. Overall, though, it was quite fun and I did enjoy reading it. If you’re looking for a low angst romance with some light kink, you could absolutely give Waking Oisin a go.

Was this review helpful?

I really wish that I liked this book because I don't enjoy giving new-ish authors low ratings, but Waking Oisin just didn't do it for me.

I was intrigued by the summary of the book and decided to take a chance on a new-to-me author, something I don't do too often. I love a drag queen in my romance books, and I was excited to see where this story could take me. Answer: not much of anywhere.

The writing style was immediately off-putting. First of all, I didn't know this book was part of a series, and I could tell right away that there was backstory that I was missing. I was confused and overwhelmed by the character/info-dump.

Also, the writing style was all telling and barely any showing. The author explained every emotion, every action to the reader, leaving very little up for interpretation or organic development. I just hate that style of writing.

Oisin was immature, the plot was messy and full of extremely convenient coincidences that would never happen in real life, and the BDSM-aspect felt just thrown in to add another twist to the already crowded story.

I debated giving less than two stars, but, despite my issues, there was something compelling about the story. It wasn't all bad, but it felt very amateurish to me, unfortunately. I have hopes, however, that this author can come up with some great things in the future.

*Copy provided in exchange for an honest review*

Was this review helpful?

**ARC provided by NetGalley and publisher in exchange for an honest review. **

So, as previous reviewers mentioned, this book does build heavily on the first book as Devon and Stone (and their relationship) is mentioned regularly, but I do believe it can be read as a stand-alone.

That being stated, this is a quick, dirty read with insta-lust/love. The characters relationship begins almost immediately, and while they do get to know one another, the general basis for the beginning of the relationship is strictly sexual as they share the same interests in bed.

Oisin’s relationship with his father was a constant theme throughout the book as the father was a driving force/headache for Oisin. Occasionally, the father appeared to have Oisin’s best interests at heart, yet a few pages later he would think nothing of berating his son. I couldn’t quite figure out what caused the fluctuations in his moods, so his character was not a favorite of mine. I wish there had been more stability to his characterization.

All in all, it was a good read.

Was this review helpful?

Thank you to Net Galley and Ninestar Press for providing me with an e-ARC copy! All opinions in this review are my own and are honest.

This is the second book in a series with the first book being ‘7 minutes’ – I didn’t realise this when I requested it however this could definitely be read as a standalone. 7 minutes follows the story of Devon and Stones relationship which is mentioned in this book and I presume also mentions Devon’s and Oisin’s friends with benefits time that they had but I didn’t feel like it left me at a disadvantage coming in to read Waking Oisin.

This follows Oisin who is bisexual and currently at Law school but has zero motivation to do the work as he really wants to go to veterinary school. Oisin also cross dresses with his friend Devon and this is how he ends up meeting Trent and having a one-night stand. Trent is gay and works at Oisin’s fathers law firm which presents problems with Oisin and Trent’s ‘relationship’.
There were a lot of great points in this; we get to see a lot in regards to sexuality. Devon decides in this book that he’s going to identify as gender fluid and we learn that Oisin’s previous relationship broke down because his girlfriend didn’t know how to handle his bisexuality and thought that he would run off with a man at any moment due to his sexuality. This book also dealt with Oisin pursuing a career that he didn’t necessarily like because that’s what his father wanted which I think a few people may be able to relate with. Not necessarily pursuing a career because of fathers but family pressures or pressures to do a certain career that will bring in money and I did enjoy that this was made a large subject in this book. This also featured cross-dressing with a really positive spin which again was nice to see included in a book and was actually something I haven’t seen in any books that I’ve seen.

However, there were a few things that I disliked about this. There was a lot of inconsistency with things that happened and went on. Firstly, Oisin’s father seems to care about his happiness and well-being one minute and then couldn’t give a crap the next and cuts him off. It was confusing and didn’t really make much sense as to why his father would flip so suddenly. Oisin himself was also very inconsistent throughout the book; he seemed to act very mature and then would turn into a spoiled, whiny brat who threw a tantrum when he didn’t get his own way or freaked out and then he goes back to being incredibly mature.

I did enjoy the book overall however I would definitely recommend it if you’re looking at reading an LGBTQIA romance book and are looking at an easy, quick read. I manged to fly through this and enjoyed it. This does contain some steamy m/m sex scenes so keep that in mind if you’re looking for just a romantic book with no steaminess.

Was this review helpful?

3* You need to suspend disbelief somewhat to read this - I didn't quite buy that Trenton didn't recognise a single thing about Oisin out of drag.

This isn't badly written but you the title pretty much tells you my thoughts on the tale. I get that Oisin was in drag when the leads met, but there were still things that made him identifiable, so I kind of fixated on that inconsistency, which detracted from the storyline. And, said storyline touched a little too much on too many things, which made it a little disjointed, but it's an OK tale to pass the time, and it does follow the blurb, mostly.

On reading the 'about the author' at the end, there's mention of her recently identifying as genderfluid and bisexual, and to me, as a long-time reader of LGBTQIA books, it felt as if was a little too much 'planting' in the tale, as if the author wanted to emphasise her support/love/orientation, which would have been fine, had it been organically done, as so many LGBTQIA authors manage. It didn't meet the mark, unfortunately. The tale tries too hard, with phrases such as, 'I've heard that transgender members of the community...' in a conversation between father and son, and with us being privy to one lead's thoughts about, '...she was probably a schoolgirl or schoolboy, or maybe non-binary. I'd have to find how she identified.' and, 'if you think I'm only attracted to cis men and women, hen you've misunderstood what it means to be bisexual.' It's great to educate readers, but not when it's so obviously didactic.

On top, I'd politely suggest/ask that the (named) editor invests in a dictionary and/or a style guide, as there are several errors in this, e.g. effect/affect consistently used wrongly, phased instead of fazed, discrete instead of discreet, pallet instead of palate, flare instead of flair, apostrophes used where they're not needed (driver's instead of drivers', client's instead of clients', parent's instead of parents', etc. etc.), and lol! viola instead of voila.

This tale had too many things to distract from it, IMHO, hence the rating. With some help from a good beta and editor, it could have been a more flowing read, more organic read.

ARC courtesy of NineStar Press, LLC and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

Was this review helpful?

*I received the copy via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review*

This relatively short book is happening in the same place, and with the same characters as Seven Minutes (by the same author, of course). I have realised that only after I have finished the book and added it on Goodreads. However, as it says in the synopsis, it can be read as a standalone.

The only problem I had with the book was that I was kind of thrown into it, with little introduction of characters, but that all became clear once I saw that it is the second book by the same author.

An acclaimed lawyer working for Oisin's father, Trenton Fisher, and Oisin get to 'know' each other not long after their respective relationships crash. Trenton's because of his preoccupation with job and Oisin's because his fiancee did not believe he would be faithful to her based on his sexuality.

Oisin is bisexual, Trenton is gay, and Devon (one of the main characters from the first book) is gender-fluid. At least that's the realisation he comes to after thinking about how to identify himself, one of the things a lot of people go through. He likes cross-dressing and going out in a drag is something Devon and Oisin did (and still do) together.

As the book is quite short, the relationship between Oisin and Trenton begins almost instantly, when Trenton meets Oisin in drag and introducing himself as Sin. After they meet again, Trenton does not recognise Oisin at first. They go through some strains in their relationship, which are dealt with in a good way despite the limitations.

Besides the relationship between Oisin and Trenton, the book deals with family issues, especially when it comes to Oisin's father, as well as with Oisin finally stop trying to please everyone around, while forgetting to care about himself.

As a cat-lover (and thus a fan of pretty much all animals), I loved how much emphasis there was on Oisin's dedication to his studies to become a vet and his love for Maggie, a stray dog he rescued. The author's appreciation for animals is also very obvious in Acknowledgements:

Oisin loves animals, and if you do too, please donate to your local shelter or volunteer. If you need financial aid for vet bills, visit Bestfriends.com* for a list of companies in your state. Oisin thanks you and so does his fur baby, Maggie.

Was this review helpful?