Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  To Catch a Firefly

AUTHORS:  Emmy Sanders

NARRATOR:  Blake Lockheart & Liam DiCosimo

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  9 hours and 3 minute

RELEASE DATE:  May 24, 2024

BLURB:

He was my beginning. And my never-ending.

Ellis

There’s a lot I’ve never told my best friend. The fact that I love him. That I miss him every day he’s gone. That, sometimes, I ache for him with a ferocity that leaves me breathless.

Lucky Buchanan tore into my life as a boy, wild and daring, my opposite in every way. He drew me in, stole my heart without trying. He hears me, even though I rarely speak a word. But I always knew this place wouldn’t be enough for my free-spirited friend. I knew he wasn’t mine to keep.

So why, when I finally try to get over him, does he sweep back into town? Why is he upset? Why is there tension between us for the first time in years?

I never saw a future where Lucky could be mine. But now, unless I want to lose my friend, I might not have a choice but to tell the truth. My heart belongs to him. It has from the start.

If only I knew how to hold onto a creature that’s meant to fly.

To Catch a Firefly is a standalone, childhood friends-to-lovers romance told in dual POV. There’s epic levels of pining, a neurodivergent MC with selective mutism, two friends who always come back to one another, glass hearts and romantic declarations, and a HEA beneath the night sky.

REVIEW:

Ellis doesn’t talk much.  When Lucky unhappily moves to Nebraska from Chicago when his father get a job at the paper mill, his 10-year old life is upended.  Ellis lives next door and although he’s not the same as everyone else, Lucky thinks maybe it won’t be so bad there.  They are best friends.

Lucky is gay but Ellis doesn’t care – and he doesn’t understand why anybody else does either.  He’s got Lucky’s back and given Ellis’s size, he eventually makes sure that nobody else will mess with Lucky when they are in high school 😉  But Lucky wants a boyfriend and he’s been saying for years he’s going to leave as soon as he can.  He’s never been kissed and there isn’t anyone for him to date.  This makes Ellis sad for multiple reasons.  He does what he can for Lucky, but he knows he’ll never be enough.

When Ellis’s mother has a health issue come up, Ellis gives up any idea of leaving that he might have ever had.  But he knows Lucky is meant for bigger things.  As he learned from a young age, you can’t keep a firefly alive if you catch it.  He tries to be a good friend to Lucky but he misses him something fierce when Lucky does eventually leave.

Lucky gets his dream job and then he’s gone.  He’s all over the world taking gorgeous photographs.  He sends them to Ellis and the talk regularly.  Ellis has his job as a husker.  Over time Ellis realizes that his feelings for Lucky are more than friendship, but he knows that Lucky is meant to be free and that he has to stay where he is.

Lucky goes about his life.  He has hookups but his coworker calls him on his feelings for Ellis.  He doesn’t exactly deny it, but he can’t lose his best friend. What if he doesn’t feel the same way?  How can he know how Ellis really feels?

This is my favorite best friends to lovers stories I’ve read to date.  Ellis’s difficulty communicating with his selective mutism is so beautifully written.  Lucky’s acceptance and love for his best friend from the first time they meet is incredibly sweet.  The ups and downs of their lives.  The Nebraska setting is another character in this story.  Ellis’s mother’s love and acceptance and encouragement and Lucky’s friendship have grounded Ellis for so long.  Lucky moving on with his life was hard, but Ellis was his best friend.  He couldn’t hold him back.  Why?  Because he loves him.  It takes a while for Ellis to figure out exactly how he feels about Lucky and he doesn’t want to make Lucky feel guilty about living his life.  He pours his love for Lucky into his art.  Yes there is some miscommunication, but it’s not in the least bit contrived and the resolution and the way Ellis eventually shares his feeling for Lucky?  PERFECT.  It’s the reality of these two men wanting what’s best for each other and finally realizing what’s best for them is each other.  When they do figure it out – well it’s not all smooth, but it is glorious in the end.

Just when I didn’t think I could love this story any more, I heard this audio.  I cannot imagine how these performances could have been more inspired and perfect.  I have been a huge fan of Liam DiCosimo since I first heard him dual narrate a beloved series back in 2020 -I think it was his first audio book and it was fabulous.  He’s grown so much as a voice performer and this book is absolutely gorgeous – so heartfelt and emotive and just flawless in his take on Lucky.  The growth of Lucky from boy to man – beautiful.  I first heard Blake Lockheart when he narrated another series by another favorite author a couple of years ago – a series that LITERALLY could not be more different from this book.  And yet, his beautifully measured and achingly brilliant performance of the gentle and loving Ellis is so magnificent.   I’ll admit when I read the book, I couldn’t imagine how Ellis and Lucky would actually sound.  I could “see” them, but I couldn’t get a bead on their voices.  Well now I don’t have to.  This is truly one of the most beautiful and compelling stories I’ve ever read and now I have the pleasure of listening to one of the absolute best audio narrations as well.  Bravo to these two narrators who give such nuanced voice and power to this deeply moving story of these two exceptional characters who find their person and their life in each other.  I don’t think I’ve ever read or listened to a more radiant and special story of best friends to HEA.

And the bonus epilogue?  *chef’s kiss*

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Audible