Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Can you Feel the Maple Tonight?
SERIES: Love in Maplewood
AUTHOR: Bix Barrow
PUBLISHER: Self-published
LENGTH: 271 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 13, 2025
BLURB:
Catching feelings for my friend with benefits? Surely there’s a song about that…
When my musical mentor asked me to help his old buddy put on a music festival in Vermont, I thought it’d be a nice break from my regular life. Not that my life has been regular lately. My twin left to go be an actor, and I’m not on tour for the first time since I was a kid. Working on a project like this is just what I needed.
But I’d barely arrived in Maplewood when I almost ran over a teenager, heard about a local cryptid, and got shouted at by a fanny-pack wearing, floppy-haired, thirty-something veterinarian named Finn. Who was adorable. When he wasn’t yelling, of course.
This being a small town, I keep running into Finn no matter how I try to avoid him. Only, as much as he rubs me the wrong way, I wouldn’t mind him rubbing me the right way if you know what I mean.
Turns out he feels the same, so we agree to stop bickering and start lick…er-ing. Whatever. You get my drift. It’s all just casual, friends-with-benefits fun, a physical release. And that’s all it can be, because I’m only in town until the festival is over. Then it’s back to my regular life.
But someone should’ve warned me that Finn’s actually sweet. He’s always doing thoughtful little things for me, and he’s so supportive of his teenager. How can I keep things casual in the face of all that? But it’s way too soon for either of us to be having “feelings”. Maybe I can find an excuse to stick around a little longer….
Can You Feel the Maple Tonight is a low-angst, small town contemporary MM romance with an age gap, a single parent, musical interludes, something strange in the woods, a giant tortoise, hats for every occasion, and a murder chicken.
With the highest percentage of LGBTQIA+ residents in Vermont, Maplewood is a town where everyone belongs. And with festivals year round, there’s always something fun happening! This multi-author, low-angst queer series features ten standalone romances—each set against the backdrop of a different festival. Come for the celebrations, stay for the happily-ever-afters!
REVIEW:
Drake is on his way to help with a music festival when he sees a teenager run across the road and fall. He stops to help the kid, Charlie, and when he takes him home, he’s given the third degree by the kid’s father, Finn, who thinks he’s done something nefarious with his son. But the whole situation is more complicated than it first appears 😉 And Finn realizes he was wrong.
Finn is a the local vet. He’s only had Charlie with him for a short while after his best friend, Charlie’s mom and his adoptive dad were killed in a car crash. Charlie is still grieving and Finn is doing his best to help. His mother was Finn’s best friend in HS and she raised Charlie with her husband Jin but the visited Maplewood and Charlie always who Finn was. He was named guardian and so Charlie has moved in with him.
Finn and Drake meet again at Zeke’s place. Zeke is the head of the music festival and has asked for help, hence Drake’s arrival. Finn and Drake realize there is chemistry there and they end up hooking up. And maybe it doesn’t have to be a one-off? Drake’s in town for a couple of weeks and what about some fun for both of them?
Charlie is worried that since he’s been with Finn he’s not dating and so he sees the chemistry between him and Drake. He’s doing his best to be a matchmaker. Finn and Drake do enjoy each other and they find time to keep hooking up. But then it gets a bit more serious. Drake shares his past and his pretty messed up family situation. There is some worry about the age game, but they seem to work well together 😉
This is a fun and funny and cute romance! There is music and Dungeons and Dragons and chickens! And of course the Maplewood Monster 😉 I loved the common themes from this series – like the Diner rivalry, the interesting concoctions at the bakery, the festivals, etc. Finn and Drake were sweet together as they got closer and closer. I’m thoroughly enjoying this series and in true Bix Barrow fashion, these characters give us plenty of love and romance and humor and sexy times 🙂 Recommended!
RATING: 
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