North Star Trilogy by Posy Roberts is Complete!

So yesterday was the release day for Flare, book three in the North Star Trilogy by Posy Roberts. I read the first two books back in December and fell absolutely in love with the characters Hugo and Kevin. I’d like to post my reviews here and hopefully entice some of you to give these books a try! One of my favorite series for sure! I’ve included links to where you can buy all of the books and find Posy/Winter at her websites 🙂

Book One: Spark

Spark is a wonderful book written about Hugo and Kevin, two men who were each other’s first love in High School and went through a lot to get to the place they were but lost touch when they went to college.

It’s the adult version of the book and there is a young adult adaptation called Private Display of Affection by Winter Sandberg. I read that book first and I’m really glad I did. It came out after Spark did so some people didn’t get the chance I did to really get to know Hugo and Kevin as teens before reading about their adult counterparts. It was really good to know in depth what they went through to become the people they are today.

That understanding of who they are helped me throughout this book. There are flashbacks in Spark that I read in PDoA and knowing the rest of the story between them made it more clear. There are some sexual scenes from their teens years that more in depth in this book than we got in PDoA which was really nice to know more about that.

In Spark, it’s not hard to see that as soon as Kevin walks unexpectedly back into Hugo’s life the ‘spark’ they had before is reignited quickly and never blows out. It might seem a little fast for them to end up in bed together just hours after they re-connect but if you’d read the YA book first, you’d see that it’s not fast at all, Kevin hasn’t been with a man in 17 years and with Hugo, he’s almost desperate for him to ‘touch him there’ again. These two men are made for each other but that doesn’t mean they both don’t have some obstacles to overcome.

Kevin is in the process of a divorce and shares custody of his two kids with his ex-wife, Erin, who is still a good friend to Kevin. Hugo isn’t sure how he feels about dating a man with kids but it’s Kevin and it’s Kevin’s kids so he gives it a shot and he’s really good with them, which surprises him but not Kevin and Summer (Hugo’s best friend) at all.

Hugo hasn’t had the best of luck with relationships since his relationship with Kevin drifted apart all those years ago because when he went to college he was finally able to be himself all the way and eventually he found out that he really enjoyed performing in Drag shows as Miss Cherrie Pop! and he didn’t want his reconnection with Kevin to end when he found out that Hugo did this as so many of his past relationships had.

All in all, there isn’t too much angst in this book and it’s a nice story about two men who really are soul mates finding their way back to each other and re-learning how to be together with the new challenges in their lives. I’m really looking forward to the second  book which is loaded on my Kindle and ready to go.

 

Book Two: Fusion

Just finished Fusion by Posy Roberts and I can’t make heads or tails of my emotions right now. My eyes are swollen and hurt but it’s the good kind of hurt. I think the last time I cried this much while reading a book was Something Like Autumn by Jay Bell I need time to process… I’ll review tomorrow. I need to sleep now, my face, head, and heart hurt  But I loved it.

*Edit* 12/28/2013

*Tissue Warning* (Like seriously, I was bawling through most of this book and probably used half a box of Kleenex… it wasn’t a pretty site!)

Once I took the time to process all of the intense emotions that this book evoked in me, I realized that I loved this book even more than I thought I did.

Kevin still isn’t really out to a lot of his friends or his ex-wife and is only a few weeks away from the divorce becoming final so that Hugo and he can move on with their relationship.

Things seem to be going well for them, and the Kevin stops answering Hugo’s calls and texts and goes almost an entire week without replying to Hugo, which sends him into a nervous frenzy thinking he pushed Kevin too hard about coming out to people.

A drastic turn of events takes place when they discover Erin has terminal cancer. Kevin is devastated; he thought that even though he was getting a divorce, he would have decades left with his best friend and the mother of his children but that doesn’t seem to be the case.

She has less than a year and Kevin makes the decision to not go forward with the divorce and move Erin back in with him so that she can be with the kids everyday and so that she doesn’t lose his insurance to cover the medical costs. This is a major problem for Hugo because he loves Kevin with his whole heart and wants nothing more than for Kevin to be only his and then Kevin brings him a dog and drops this bomb on him.

Things seem to be so up in the air and it’s devastating for everyone involved.

I really like Erin in this story. I love that the author stayed true to her characters because no matter how much Kevin loves Hugo and wants to spend the rest of his life with him, his best friend and the mother of his children has to be more important at that point. That’s just who Kevin is and that’s just life sometimes. I hate that people are upset that Erin is such a huge part of this story because although this is technically a M/M romance story, Kevin is a bisexual male, meaning there was an entire section of his live where he was married to Erin and had two kids with her. He loved her and she is important to him, that’s important to this story. He didn’t lie to her for years about being gay like so many stories where the man is married and has kids, he genuinely loved her and still loves her as his best friend.

What kind of person would he be if he left her alone to die just so he could run off to be happy with Hugo? Whether it’s his daddy issues or just his internal struggle to prove that he’s the complete opposite of who his father was, Kevin needs to do the right thing to feel okay with himself.

The story is told so beautifully and it’s definitely a heartbreaking tale. Hugo eventually comes around and he and Erin become incredibly close. Hugo isn’t sure where he belongs in their tight knit family but Erin is incredibly supportive of Hugo and Kevin’s relationship.

There are a lot of battles they have to overcome in this story and as you follow them they will drag you through an emotional ringer. You see everyone struggling to deal with Erin’s illness, Kevin struggling with coming out to everyone and Hugo trying to do the right thing and be the rock for everyone.

I look forward to the final installment of this series but on the other hand, I don’t want their journey to be over and I know I will need more tissues for the next book based on the blurb.

Five HUGE Stars for this one!

 

Book Three: Flare

I don’t even know where to start with this one. The book released at 11PM in my time zone and it’s officially 5:25AM… I haven’t slept yet but I didn’t figure that I would once I got my hands on the final book of this series. I’ve been waiting impatiently since I found out the release date, anticipation killing me, and let me tell you, this book did NOT disappoint. Please forgive me as I ramble through my thoughts and try to make sense of my emotions. I’m tired.

So much has happened to our unconventional little family. They all had to mourn Erin’s death in their own way but more than that, each of the kids were going through difficulties that Hugo and Kevin had to figure out how to deal with. Erin’s parents were trying to gain custody of the kids citing that they were living in a harmful environment and then there was all the inner turmoil roiling through Hugo during all of this.

More than anything, I felt so badly for Hugo that it resonated deep in my heart. This man has spent the last two-ish years giving everything he has to Kevin and his family, taking care of Erin and the kids, making sure everyone had what they needed from him and doing his best to make it all happen without losing sight of who he is in all of it.

Hugo has a lot of insecurities to deal with and Kevin does everything he can to make sure Hugo feels loved and treasured and needed, but sometimes our stubborn Hugo doesn’t let Kevin in, not wanting to rock the boat, and so Kevin goes into these emotional fights with Hugo not having a clue as to what he’s actually battling.

I can’t express just how much I love the way Ms. Roberts finalized this series. This book was full of everything it needed to be and we get a sense of finality that is pretty damned perfect. The writing is beautiful and descriptive and of course I cried more than I want to admit but not quite as much as I thought I would. I was too invested in the story and I didn’t want to miss what happened next.

Everyone grew in this story, emotionally and mentally, even physically in some cases but the thing that was most important was that the love between Kevin and Hugo was never questioned or threatened. Hugo had his moments of insecurity, Kevin has his moments of self-doubt, but no matter what happened, they communicated and they instinctively knew what the other needed. Their relationship evolved into something even more special and magical as they fought for their unconventional family.

In the end, I don’t think there was any way possible that their story could’ve ended more perfectly. The book pulls you in from the very start and keeps you emotionally invested until the very last word. That’s the mark of a truly beautifully written story. I’m sad to see the story for these boys end but I take solace in knowing that they will live their life full of love and cherishing the family they have built together. I feel like these boys are a part of me and I don’t want to let them go.

Five humungous stars for a series that captured my heart from the very beginning of Kevin and Hugo’s relationship and an author who so brilliantly and elegantly painted the picture of their life for us. Perfect. Simply perfect.

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