The Winter Courtship Rituals Of Fur-Bearing Critters (2011) - Plot & Excerpts
Ben moves to tiny Granby and his neighbor is grumpy recluse Rance “Craw” Crawford who runs the Alpaca farm/yarn store. As noted in the blurb, the only apparently two gay men in town are now living side by side. As the title suggests, most of the story revolves around a bizarre method of courtship (knitting) as Craw pursues Ben using the most subtle seduction technique EVER!Craw is afraid Ben will think he is only wanted because he’s the only guy around, and Ben was burned before in a bad relationship and not eager to be hurt again.In this, the first of the knitting series, we meet all the wonderful secondary characters that show up in the rest of the books. This is actually the weakest of the series, in my opinion… the secondary characters are so richly developed that they almost over-shadow the romance between Ben and Craw. Of course we see more of them in the other’s books, which is awesome, but I would have loved to spend more time with Ben and Craw as a couple here.This is a fairly angst-free, almost tongue in cheek romance, different from Amy’s more tissue-laden stories and is a fun, light read. If you intend to read the entire series – which I HIGHLY recommend – do so in order.Story: 4 of 5 heartsNarration:Not my favorite narration. Sorry. I just thought there was so much more that could have been done with the voices – Stanley was a bit over done when compared to the absence of variation between Ben, Craw and even Ariadne. I was so ready to hear the bearish, growly, rumbly Craw and the smooth tones of Ben as a lovely contrast, so I was bummed when Philip essentially just read everybody in the same tone.The editing is good and the sound quality is fine. His reading voice is pleasant, but I wanted more. 3 of 5 heartsOverall 3.5 of 5 hearts for the Audio This book was just not for me, I felt like at least 1/3rd of the book talked about wool or knitting or some other such thing. I don't knit and know nothing about the subject so I found all of the references horribly boring. I did not like either Crawford or Ben nothing was special about these guys. The writing was choppy and the characters boring. Amy Lane is a hit or miss author for me, too bad this was for sure a miss.
What do You think about The Winter Courtship Rituals Of Fur-Bearing Critters (2011)?
It was a cute story, but it didn't 'wow' me. I don't think I felt very connected to the characters.
—juulsp
This was adorable and really makes me wish I could knit. Definitely have to read the next one.
—ketch4
