Reviewed by Valerie 

TITLE:  Lark

SERIES:  Firsts and Forever Stories #5    

AUTHOR:  Alexa Land

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  239 pages

RELEASE DATE:  April 29, 2022

BLURB:   

What if the most unlikely person you’d ever consider is exactly what you need?

Lark

Most of the guys I meet just want to get me into bed. Then there’s this sexy firefighter named Dylan. I’m not sure what he wants from me, and I don’t think he knows, either.

Even though we have nothing in common, we have a great time together, and our attraction is undeniable. The only problem? He’s still mourning the loss of his husband years later, and I’m not sure if he’s ready to move on. Even if he was, would someone like Dylan really want someone like me?

Dylan

Lark Genardi and I couldn’t be more different. He’s uninhibited, carefree, and eight years younger than me, and he embraces life in a way I’ve never seen before. Whenever we’re together, I’m happier than I’ve been in a very long time. But whatever’s happening between us makes me feel disloyal to my late husband’s memory.

I’m not sure if I can find a way to reconcile my past and my future. But I find myself wondering—what if the most unlikely guy I could ever imagine is exactly what I need?

Lark is a lighthearted, opposites attract MM romance. It’s part of Alexa Land’s Firsts and Forever Stories. Each book in this series can be read as a stand-alone and features a different couple.

REVIEW:   

Oh, how I adore this wonderful love story! Like me, you probably fell in love with Lark in Casey and Theo’s book, Bad Ideas. He’s adorable, precious, kind, thoughtful, and more than a little fanciful, like when he goes to bed cuddling one of the best gifts he’s ever received – a tiny donkey piñata from Dylan, his love interest. Dylan is likewise winsome in this heartwarming story of two men meeting in an unlikely way and finding an enduring love.

Lark is twenty-six but looks many years younger in his cutesy outfits like glittery red sneakers, a cropped mesh t-shirt, and unicorn “daytime” pajamas (I can relate to those). Life hasn’t always been easy for him: he was kicked out by his parents for being gay at fifteen, then lived with his beloved Gran who died four years ago. Now he’s happily living with his found family in the hot pink Victorian in San Francisco. He’s a cam boy performing sexually on camera online. He’s a pro at being flirty and sexy but that’s a role he plays; in real life he’s awkward with men.

Dylan also appeared in a previous Alexa Land book – All I Ever Wanted – as a widowed firefighter and River’s failed date. It’s now been six years since his husband died. He does okay living in the present; his difficulty lies in past memories and worries about future uncertainty. That’s when his anxiety spikes. Dylan is tired of friends trying to set him up so he decides to meet his needs on online sex sites similar to OnlyFans.

That’s where he sees Lark whom he later describes with the following: “His joy was contagious. I’d never seen anyone so radiant, so effervescent, so unapologetically themselves. It reminded me of what I already knew— that Lark was truly something special.” Dylan and Lark get to know each other online and through texting then coincidentally meet in person. They start spending time together and it’s effortless, whether they’re cooking, singing karaoke, or snuggling on the sofa.

Even though Lark makes Dylan feel happier and better about himself, Dylan doesn’t open up easily. If he keeps Lark at arm’s length, he won’t get hurt again, he reasons. Lark misconstrues Dylan’s hesitancy as not wanting to date a sex worker. But they stumble along until Dylan faces a crisis that leaves him demoralized and defeated. Can Lark offer the comfort he needs – but doesn’t feel he deserves – or will Dylan’s anxiety and identity crisis get the better of him and destroy their fledgling relationship?

“I saw now that he needed me, too— not to be perfect, or a pillar of strength. He just needed me to be there for him. We both knew he could have handled this mini-crisis on his own, but like so much of life, it felt better dealing with it as a team.”

As mentioned, Lark is a darling character but Dylan becomes endearing, too. Opposites attract in this love story and Lark is the perfect man to make Dylan feel alive again and give him a reason to look forward to the future. I sympathized with the loss and pain he’s endured and his battle to feel whole again. His anxiety is something relatable to many of us and he needs to learn not to view it as a character flaw, a lesson society as a whole needs to understand.

Lark and Dylan aren’t the only wonderful characters. One of my favorite things about the Firsts and Forever Stories series is the tight knit found family that really came together in Bad Ideas and continues here. All the Victorian’s current and former residents – Yolanda, JoJo, Casey, Theo, Kel, and Eliot – are here. Other memorable characters are Dylan’s supportive friends from work and his family.

This book has all the humor we’ve come to expect from Ms. Land. I’m in awe of how her brain concocts one wacky idea after another like the Buckingham Phallus sex shop. And Lark is continuously laugh out loud hilarious. There are also plenty of sweet swoony moments, like the perfect ending of their first date or the time Dylan carries Lark to the couch.

I haven’t read a book by Alexa Land I haven’t enjoyed yet – and I’ve read thirty-three of them. I have so many favorites and this one is right there among them. This is her first dual POV and it works wonderfully to provide us with both of the leading men’s thoughts and feelings. There’s something extra special about Lark and Dylan’s love story – and the characters themselves. It’s gentle and comforting and lovely. Highly recommended.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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