What a special story!

M.A. Hinkle drew me right in with a terrific set up between Cathal and Damon, and then continued to tug on my heartstrings through the whole thing. A slow-burn romance of the best kind, where we know they've gotta get together? And we look for clues through the whole story... and constantly wondering, "will this be the time they finally get together?" It was perfect.

A fantastic cast of supporting characters, and I see the sequel of Felix's friends' story has already been published and it's called Diamond Heart.

A very talented author, I'm looking forward to whatever M.A. Hinkle brings us next.

We are first introduced to the two MCs, Cathal and Damon, as the two meet by chance in a gay bar, Damon slightly drunk and slightly out of his element, and Cathal being a judgmental prick. I wondered immediately whether I was supposed to like Cathal, because I sure didn't, and how the author was going to make me care about him.

In the 2nd prologue, we meet Cathal and Damon again, this time under different circumstances, as Damon is dating Cathal's best friend, and she's begging him to get along.

And in the third prologue, the tears started.

From chapter one, grief permeates every scene in the book. Damon doesn't know how to cope after losing his wife, doesn't know how to keep living, doesn't know how to claw his way out of the darkness. He goes through the motions each day, because he has a teenage son (Felix) to take care of, but it is as if every single smidgen of joy has been sucked out of their lives. And Cathal, fulfilling his best friend's dying request, stands helplessly, realizing that his long-held antagonism toward Damon doesn't help one bit.

And so the two men, slowly but surely, begin to forge a new kind of relationship. They still grieve, each in their own way. For years and years and years, Damon struggled with low self-esteem, finding worth in being his wife's husband, and Felix's father, but now that half of him is gone, he sinks back to that feeling of not being good at anything. He was good at being a husband, but that was taken from him. He felt so real, so realistic, and he was hurting so badly, I just wanted to mother him.

And Cathal, judgmental, sarcastic, snarky, hides behind a mask, pushing back against anything that might get too close to the hurt boy hiding behind the massive walls he's built around his heart. He deflects with sarcastic humor and a sharp, sometimes cruel, wit, terrified to show anyone his true self.

Damon is a trained chef, so he cooks food that seems bizarre to Cathal, and since that too reminds him too much of his late wife, he tries to do something he hasn't really done before - he starts to experiment with baking. Cookies, cakes, you name it, Damon bakes it, and uses his son and Cathal as guinea pigs.

This is a pretty long book, and I won't tell you all the things that happen inside. Just know that there is a romance, slow burning, almost surprising our MCs, and Cathal's frozen heart thaws slowly and steadily.

Felix - what a delight. He too read like a real character, like someone you might know, someone you might meet in real life. He is dealing with his first teenage crush, and Damon and Cathal try to help him by being more than supportive.

Damon also meets a single baker, and Cathal grudgingly encourages him to go on a date, even though he hates doing so - he just doesn't quite understand why. Until he does.

This was truly a fantastic read, and I enjoyed every single minute I spend in the pages of this book. The one thing that niggled just a little was the relative time frame in which Damon and Cathal moved from being can't stand you antagonistic to confessing their feelings to each other, considering that they are both grieving still. While I didn't begrudge them their chance at starting over, at loving (again), I thought that maybe the time frame was a bit too short. Still not going to knock off any points from my rating though, because this book was as close to perfect for me as it could have been.

And it's a debut novel. An extraordinary effort from a new author. Superb. Would read again. Not many books make it onto my 'deserted-island' shelf but this one does. The chapter titles were a hoot. The writing is crisp, engaging, and emotional, but not OTT. I giggled so many times at Cathal's biting humor, and sniffled plenty of times also when grief threatens to overwhelm them both. Read this, I beg you.

Death Of A Bachelor is a wonderfully written story of family, grief, starting over and slow burn romance.

The two MCs banter was a pleasure to read, putting a smile on my face many times. Both were well-rounded characters with flaws a plenty but the author did a great job in still making them likeable. If I'm honest I would have preferred less of Damon's inner monologue questioning is self worth every minute of the day. Realistically someone with self worth problems would be like this but it doesn't necessarily make for great reading.

The romance is slowly developed with a lot of care and heart and the story is filled with engaging and compelling characters - a particular highlight being the relationship between the two MCs and the son, which was thoroughly entertaining.

*~~*ARC kindly provided by the author to me in exchange for an honest review *~~*

- Review to come

<a href="">Review</a> originally posted on my blog with added content <a href="https://mikkuchan.wordpress.com/">Mikku-chan / A world full of words</a>

cw: terminal illness

Cathal Kinnery is an arrogant, overeducated jerk, and Damon Eglamore is not afraid to tell him so. But Damon married Cathal’s best friend, so they have an uneasy truce. Then she passes away. Now they’re stuck together in close quarters, trying to honor her memory without shouting at each other all the time.

At first, they have no idea how to move forward. Damon is a chef, but all his favorite recipes remind him of his late wife. Cathal would love to start tomcatting around town again, except for that annoying promise he made to his best friend about looking after Damon.

Can they trust each other long enough to make it last, or will they fall into old bad habits again?

Welp, this book just wasn’t my jam. I picked it up* because a friend suggested it to me, as she had really enjoyed it. And it’s not bad, I can see why someone who likes what it does would like this book.

This is basically 300 pages of bickering, bantering, enemies-to-lovers** fic. And I know someone reading this just made grabby hands and got excited and my friend THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU. Stop reading this, go buy it, you’ll like it more than I did.

But for me, it was missing something. There’s not much substance to the book’s world outside this little found-family bubble. There’s no money trouble (even though Damon’s wife just died of an unspecified but serious illness and he’s not working for any of the book). His son’s biggest problem is he has a crush he doesn’t know what to do with (even though his mom died). Cathal’s on sabbatical or something – it’s unclear, but doesn’t really matter anyway. These characters just kind of float around, occasionally mentioning they miss Era (Damon’s late wife), and bickering about what counts as weird food until they realize they don’t actually hate each other.

That’s the other thing – in the first few pages we see Damon meet Cathal, we see Damon and Era together, and then we learn she’s dying, and dead. All in what’s labeled the prologue, all to kick off Damon and Cathal’s romance. It hit me right in the “fridged woman” trope and left a bruise that didn’t stop hurting for the rest of the novel. Was it, in this instance, handled in a particularly bad way? Not at all. But it’s pattern I’m tired of and nothing later in the book redeemed it for me.

*as an ARC, full disclosure
**there’s no on screen sex in this book – I knew that going in, and want to pass on that caveat to set expectations for erotica seekers.

Death of a Bachelor at Ninestar Press | Amazon | Kobo |

This is such a delightful story about grief and romance and moving on after an important figure in three people's lives dies. I adored every interaction between Damon, Cathal and Felix! The two, who are low-key enemies since they both thought the other didn't like them, and the teenager, who is so delightfully bright and optimistic, make such a perfect family. I adored Hinkle's writing. It gave me warm feelings.

Damon rencontre Cathal, sauf que cette première rencontre ne se passe pas super bien. Plus tard, Damon retrouve Cathal... qui est en fait le meilleur ami de sa compagne. Bien des années après, la femme de Damon tombe gravement malade. Dans ses derniers souhaits, elle avait demandé à ce que Cathal veille sur Damon et leur fils Felix, après sa disparition.

Cathal est un personnage qui ne s'attache pas aux gens, excepté Era, sa meilleure amie. Il va pourtant tenir sa promesse et supporter Damon.
J'ai bien aimé la relation qu'il entretient avec son neveu, le fils de Damon. D'une manière générale, j'ai vraiment aimé tout ce qui tourne autour de la famille et aussi la cohabitation entres les deux hommes qui s’insupportent l'un l'autre.

Après, le sujet du deuil est très délicat. Le souci ici c'est que déjà l'auteur ne prend pas le temps de nous immiscer dans la vie du couple, du coup, le décès d'Era est survolé. Ensuite, je trouve que Damon passe vite cette épreuve, dans le sens où il songe à se remettre vite en selle, sous les conseils également de Cathal.
Après, si je fais abstraction de tout ça, j'ai bien aimé ma lecture. J'aime lorsque les personnages se chamaillent. Ici, Cathal et Damon deviennent avant tout ami, ce qu'ils n'ont jamais été. Leurs moments tous ensemble avec leur ado sont mignons. Et puis, j'ai aimé que la romance n'arrive pas de but en blanc, elle arrive très tardivement d'ailleurs et c'est une bonne chose.

J'ai passé un bon moment en la compagnie de cette petite famille :)

What a great book! Cathal is Damon’s late wife best friend and he made a promise to help Damon get over his grief. Neither man expected to have romantic feelings for each other, nor the friendship. Felix and his father have a great relationship. The book was funny, romantic, and beautifully written.
This is a new author to me and I enjoyed her book. Looking forward to the next book.

Blurb:
Cathal Kinnery is an arrogant, overeducated jerk, and Damon Eglamore is not afraid to tell him so. But Damon married Cathal’s best friend, so they have an uneasy truce. Then she passes away. Now they’re stuck together in close quarters, trying to honor her memory without shouting at each other all the time.

At first, they have no idea how to move forward. Damon is a chef, but all his favorite recipes remind him of his late wife. Cathal would love to start tomcatting around town again, except for that annoying promise he made to his best friend about looking after Damon.

Then Damon’s son comes to them for help, convinced the only way to win over his first crush is a gender-bending Shakespeare production. After that, Cathal talks Damon into taking up baking as a new way to use his talents. Next thing they know, they’ve begun a new life working as a team instead of jumping at each other’s throats. But can they trust each other long enough to make it last, or will they fall into old bad habits again?

Review, spoilers!!!:
Where to start, this book touches many topics…. I`m ashamed to say the cover first drew me in, then the blurb and I am sooooo glad I read this book. I have so many feels…..
After the death of his wife Damon doesn`t know what to do with himself. Her best friend (Cathal Kinnery) comes to live with Damon and his son Felix. As a promise to Era, Damon`s late wife.
The UST is stong!! Will they be able to grieve together, learn about/from each other and give in?
This is a story about grieve, LGBT and much much more.
What I liked:
This is a new to me author, but I will follow her to see what else she writes.
Sigh…. I kinda have a crush on Damon. Sigh! And Cathal is a hoot!
I liked that Felix also got a bit of a story within Damon and Cathal`s story.
I hope he gets a book, although I don`t want him and Gareth breaking up.
What I didn`t like:
Not a thing.
Favourite quote/lines in book:
Damon leaned down and kissed him before Cathal could start talking again, since that only got them in trouble.

I loved this book! Cathal is such a smart smartass, that I immediately fell in love with him, because that is my favorite kind of person! Damon is such a sweetheart, him and Cathal were just perfect for eachother in that whole opposites attract relationship. Felix was a breathe of fresh air, that really made the story pop even more for me, and I’m really looking forward to reading his story next! I loved, loved, loved the build-up between Cathal and Damon, it was amazing when they finally got together. This was a long book, but it was funny and sincere, and I loved it!

I absolutely loved this book. It's the perfect romantic comedy setup; two people who have long disliked each other are suddenly forced into close quarters and realise that the other person is not as bad as they thought. The slow-burn romance is masterfully written, and compelling all the way through.

I liked that, although it's very much about Cathal and Damon's developing relationship, Damon's late wife Era is still very much a strong presence in the novel. The author does an amazing job of establishing very early on a real sense of her character and exactly why both men loved her so much, small touches like how she decorated the guest bedroom, which gives the book much more emotional depth as the reader truly feels the loss of the characters.

It's very funny and full of witty one-liners, and the father/uncle-son dynamic between Damon and Cathal and Felix is adorable. Actually, Felix is adorable, full stop.

Sometimes it felt like the main characters' deep rooted issues were brushed over a bit too quickly, though they do inform the plot, but overall this is a highly enjoyable and entertaining novel that also packs an emotional punch.

This was a cute story but a very slooow burn. There is a lot of talk about feelings, and nothing explicit. The characters are cute, and I like how the off screen death was handled, as well as the eventual romance. It felt respectful to everyone involved. This gets bonus points from me for having a bisexual main character, who feels attraction to both genders and never once gets treated poorly for it. In fact, pretty much the whole spectrum is represented here like some kind of LGBT utopia. It's a bit unbelievable that everyone in this school/school district seems to be gay/bi/ace/lesbian etc. It's a nice setting for romance, but as much as I'd like the world to look that way, in my experience it isn't.
This was really fun and light despite the mentions of illness and death and worth checking out.

What a gem!

This is the funniest, cleverest slow-burn romance I've ever read. It is told in short, punchy scenes with no small amount of pain for the loss of a wife and best friend, and yet the teen son's antics, and the antagonism between her best friend and her husband, are just... I didn't mean to read this straight through. But Himkle's style is addictive. My only complaint is it maybe could've used a punchier last few lines, but honestly I don't care. This is a delightful book for those of us who adore humor in our romances.

Death of a Bachelor is a smartly written love story surrounded in grief, starting over, and family. It has a unique storyline, two men who are hard to read in different ways, and a teenage son who's just as interesting and not at all as stuffy as the two main guys. Damon is now a widower, and he has no self esteem or self worth and doesn't know what to do with his life. Cathal is an emotionally closed off smart pants who deflects with sarcasm and sharp humor. This is a slow burn and even a slow build, taking me a minute to warm up to these characters. I do like them, though, and enjoyed their love story.

This was honestly so fun and cute~

Death of a Bachelor follows Cathal and Damon in the aftermath of Era’s death. Era was Damon’s wife and Cathal’s best friend, and in many ways she’s kept each of them held together. Damon is bisexual and first meets Cathal at a gay bar where Cathal tells him off and does make some bimisic comments. They meet again approximately six months later when Damon is with Era and she wants him to meet her best friend. Damon and Era also have a teenage son, Felix, who has his first crush on new boy, Morgan. He initially hesitated to tell Damon about his crush because of how his dad was dealing with his grief.

This book was really fun and funny, even while working through Damon and Cathal’s grief. I loved the intersections and their antagonism towards one another, especially as their barbed words become softer and fonder. I also adore Felix and it makes me so excited that the next book will be about Felix and his romance~

There was some predictable elements, but overall this was just a fun, quick read that I would definitely recommend.