Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny’s Lair
SERIES: Knitting #5
AUTHOR: Amy Lane
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 244 pages
BLURB:
Sequel to Knitter in His Natural Habitat
A Granby Knitting Novel
After three years of waiting for “rabbit” Jeremy to commit to a life in Granby—and a life together—Aiden Rhodes was appalled when Jeremy sustained a nearly fatal beating to keep a friend out of harm’s way. How could Aiden’s bunny put himself in danger like that?
Aiden needs to get over himself, because Jeremy has a long road to recovery, and he’s going to need Aiden’s promise of love every step of the way. Jeremy has new scars on his face and body to deal with, and his heart can’t afford any more wounds.
When their friend’s baby needs some special care, the two men find common ground to firm up their shaky union. With Aiden’s support and his boss’s inspiration, Jeremy comes up with a plan to make sure Ariadne’s little blackbird comes into this world with everything she needs. While Jeremy grows into his new role as protector, Aiden needs to ease back on his protectiveness over his once-timid lover. Aiden may be a wolf in student’s clothing and Jeremy may be a rabbit of a man, but that doesn’t mean they can’t walk the wilds of Granby together.
REVIEW:
Ok. So I’m going to give a hopefully brief synopsis of the previous books, in case you haven’t read them for a while… If you haven’t read them you need to before you read this book. Trust me, they are soooo worth it. But seriously, you need to know about Jeremy and Aiden before you read this story.
Rance Crawford owns a textile mill in Granby Colorado, raising sheep, alpaca and rabbits, harvesting the fur, processing and dyeing it. In to Craw’s life comes Ben, an animal loving computer nerd. They have a very gentle romance, and fall in love. Theirs is the easier story of the collection. So Aiden and Ariadne have worked for Craw for some time, Aiden in the mill, Ariadne in the store. Prior to the arrival of Ben, Craw heads to Boulder once a month to make a delivery to a yarn store, and a “delivery” to Stanley, who works there. Craw finds Jeremy panhandling on the street outside the store one day, buys him some food and gets his story. Jeremy is a recovering con man, having witnessed his father get shot by a mobster, and had his life saved by a man named Gianni. He made an attempt to live on his own, got caught and spent two years in jail. He wants to live a straight life, but needs help. Craw gives him that help. Back to Granby they go, where Jeremy meets the barely 18 year old Aiden and falls in love….
Then we have Aiden and Jeremy, first they learn how to be friends, then move on to lovers. Jeremy is a scared bunny, not good enough for Aiden, not good enough for any of them really. Jeremy comes to trust him and they admit their love and settle in to a life together. Stanley is a recovering club kid, a twink at 30, with hair plugs, and an art degree, working in a yarn store in Colorado. When Craw stops his deliveries to the yarn store, he hires a delivery service, and in walks Johnny. They start to date, and out comes Johnny’s story. Stanley’s Johnny is Jeremy’s Gianni. Stanley and Johnny fall in love, but as things go in Amy world, it all goes to hell. The bad guys come for Johnny through Stanley, Jeremy steps in and gets the crap beaten out of him, thinking he’s paying the piper for his years of bad behavior. He spends two months in the hospital, sharing a room with Ariadne who is pregnant and not doing well. That all doesn’t sound too bad, but it really is. You have to read the books to get the whole story. The good and the bad.
So this story picks right up with poor Jeremy in the hospital, scared and miserable, convinced this is the price he has to pay for the cheating and lying he did with his daddy years before. We thought he felt unworthy of Aiden before? Now that he is broken and scared, he’s even more sure he isn’t good enough for love or friendship. Aiden has to start back at square one, rebuilding his trust all over again. The first quarter of the book is painful, Jeremy and Ariadne in the hospital, lonely and knitting. Getting the occasional visit from Craw and Ben, Rory (Ariadne’s husband) Aiden, and Stanley. It’s so sad. Jeremy is such a sweetheart, I love him dearly, but I want to shake him! He just will not see his own worth no matter what any of them say. It takes the others a long time to realize how screwed up Jeremy is by all of this. Aiden has a hard time for a while, he’s scared, but also mad. How dare Jeremy sacrifice himself when he could have run? Aiden is barely able to look at Stanley, knowing he’s the reason Jeremy did what he did. Well, Johnny really, but it was to directly save Stanley’s life. Eventually they get home, and try to settle back in, with Jeremy barely healed and barely sure he should be there.
What follows is a wonderful story about the growing community these people have made for themselves. Jeremy reluctantly comes to accepts his place within the group, slowly and carefully working in the store as he heals. They all start a project, I won’t say what, but Jeremy works on it and grows and grows. He works through issues with some old farts in Granby, earning their trust. He meets and adjusts to having a boyfriend with a family. He works through his trust issues in a new home. He’s accepted by the folks on the mill obviously, but also by their customers. All of that is great. Then there is his and Aiden’s relationship. Hard and tough on the outside, Aiden is a wolf in sheep’s clothing, fiercely protecting Jeremy, but also calling him out on his baloney, challenging him on his issues, eventually letting him do a bit of growing. Soft and gentle on the inside, taming Jeremy Bunny with love and care. Jeremy and Ariadne form a deep bond as well, I loved seeing that. He’s had no women in his life, Ariadne becomes his mother and sister in one. So sweet.
There’s honestly not a lot of drama or angst in this book, that has all happened. This is about love, acceptance, recovery, redemption, growth, community, and commitment. There is a baby, new critters, old critters, a big wonderful thing the boys all do, and a fabulous ending. They are all happy and settled, content and together. It’s just perfect. No one dies, no one gets hurt, none of the animals die, it’s just a gentle story.
Amy is a fantastic author, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. She’s one of the best in this genre. Flawed characters, angsty stories, and happy endings (eventually!) every time. Some of her books are sweet, some are so tearful I’ve only been able to read them once. Blackbird is definitely more toward the sweet end, the last one had the painful bits, this is just the icing on the cake. You will need a tissue to wipe a tear now and then, but not the whole box!
By the way, I was reading this book at work today. I finished a chapter that ended with “blackbird singing in the dead of night” as Aiden sings to Jeremy. That song runs through the story, and as I was working on a client ten minutes or so later I found myself singing the song. Then it dawned on me it was on the radio, not just in my head!
I waffled between 4.5 and 5 stars on this one, it really is a fabulous book, but in comparison to some of her other books with so much drama, angst, pain, joy and love, I’m going with 4.5. I want to give all of her books 5 stars cause she’s Amy, but if I gave a book like Mourning Heaven 5 stars, this needs to be 4.5.
RATING: 
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