Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Bread Crumbs: A Fallen Fairytales Dark M/M Romance
AUTHOR: Kim Fielding
PUBLISHER: Tin Box Press
LENGTH: 188 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 6, 2024
BLURB:
With their band on the brink of stardom, Johnny Gehrings is cast out by his stepmother and half brothers because he’s not pretty enough for social media. He takes some solace when Zimri Hayes quits the band too—beautiful Zimri, who is Johnny’s secret heart’s desire.
A job at a grocery store and a part-time music gig at a drag club pay the bills, but Johnny is still emotionally adrift, a wanderer abandoned in the forest. And when Zimri is offered a chance to make it big, Johnny fears that a devious manager will eat Zimri alive.
Finding his way out of the woods is hard enough, but Johnny would also like to save Zimri—if Zimri even wants to be saved.
***
Bread Crumbs is a dark M/M romance between a rejected drummer and a rising star, and is part of the Fallen Fairytale series.
Fallen Fairytales is a dark M/M romance, multi-author series. Each book may be read as a standalone, but why not load up your Kindle, kick back, and enjoy sexy men, shenanigans, and deliciously dark fairytale retellings.
REVIEW:
Johnny has been in a band, Cruel Cottage, with his two half-brothers and their friend Zimri. Johnny’s stepmother – his bothers Luck and Shade’s mother – is there manager. She has never been exactly supportive of Johnny, but apparently the band isn’t making enough money so she decides that Johnny needs to go. What they don’t count on is Zimri leaving as well because of how they treated Johnny who is their main lyricist for the band. He follows Johnny out and tells him that he will find them gigs.
Johnny is worried because he has a condo that he has to pay a mortgage on and his finances are not in the best shape. He finds a day job at a local grocery store that he actually likes. Zimri does manage to find them an interesting gig at a local drag club a couple nights a week. It goes well and Johnny is able to keep his job at the grocery to make sure he can make his bills. Things go along pretty well until Johnny has a very off day. When he finally confesses the reason, he and Zimri end up in bed and Johnny confesses his long-standing feelings for Zim. Zimri insists he cares about Johnny too but he’s not able to anything more to him at that point.
Things continue to go well on the band front – their songs and socials are picking up. Johnny is also successful in this grocery job and is offered and he’s on the fence about what to do. When a music exec shows up and once again only is interested in signing Zimri – so Johnny is going to be cut loose again. The last thing he wants to do is hold Zimri back from his dream of fame, stardom and money. That has never been Johnny’s dream. Despite Zimri trying to turn down the opportunity and insist Johnny come with him, Johnny refuses and makes his decision about his day job.
Zimri does move on and becomes a star, but what is the cost? The question is, can Johnny help him make the right decisions and saving him from himself.
This is a really interesting take on the Brothers Grimm version of Hansel and Gretel. There are a lot of reference to being lost in the woods – both metaphorically and physically. Johnny has not had things easy and when his stepmother came on the scene things got worse and when his father died when he was young, he literally had no one in his corner. Turns out Zimri’s life story is even more desperate. They are two men adrift. Can they be each other’s life raft? Well that is a long story. This story covers multiple years in the relationship between these men where they each have to grow up and accept where they are in their lives. They have to come to the understanding of what is important to them in their lives. It takes a long time, some back and forth in their relationship and learning to accept what they can/can’t control. I adored the supporting characters – particularly Mark, Johnny’s boss and Paul/Ginger, the drag club owner. Another wonderful story from this author who is a master of character development and interesting stories of growth and resolution. Highly recommended. Another gem here that is even set in my favorite city 😉
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