ARC Review: A Charm of Finches by Suanne Laqueur

Title: A Charm of Finches
Author: Suanne Laqueur
Series: Venery #2
Publication: November 1st 2017
Genre: Contemporary, Romance
Purchase: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | iBooks | Kobo | Smashwords
Rating: 4.5/5★

“I swear. Give me one more chance and I will make the most of it.”

Ex-escort Javier Landes is asking for his third chance at love. And the third time is the charm. He meets an art therapist named Steffen Finch and what starts as casual deepens into a passionate relationship—everything Jav has ever wanted, and everything he fears losing.

Stef’s business card reads Curator & Sailor. His creativity and insightful nature have made him into a talented therapist, the one to call for tough cases. His professional success can’t conceal a deep need to connect with someone, but Javier Landes is the last person Stef expected.

Geronimo "Geno" Caan is Stef's most challenging case. To cope with his ordeal, he's allowed an alter-ego called Mos to make decisions, and now lives a double life within a web of lies. Under Stef’s navigation, Geno uses art to express what Mos forbids to be spoken aloud. But as Geno’s attachment to Stef gradually extends to Jav, the boundaries between professional and personal begin to blur.

Over the course of a year, Jav, Stef and Geno form an unexpected and unconventional triangle, revealing how men make love in times of war and how love is a great wisdom made up of small understandings. The long-awaited second book of the Veneryseries, A Charm of Finches is an epic tale of survival and secrets guaranteed to make you think and feel and remember.

First of all I need to say that A Charm of Finches was an outstanding read. The story focuses on some heavy themes but it is also a very important book. I feel like everyone should read it at least once in their lifetime. So why didn't I give it the full five stars? Well, I struggled quite a bit with getting through this book, especially in the beginning. It took me over two weeks to read it, which is a very long time for me to read and finish a book but the book was pretty lengthy in itself as well. This doesn't mean that A Charm of Finches was a bad book because obviously it was an excellent read. I just had a hard time with it up until the first 50%. It was only then that I really starting getting into the story. 

This book introduces us to the new character of Geronimo "Geno" Caan who goes through the worst kind of trauma imaginable. Not only is he a victim of rape, but he also loses his twin brother and father in a short time span. I can't express how bad I felt for him. Everything he went through just cut right into my heart and soul. The story also followes Javier Landes, who we met in An Exaltation of Larks. After retiring from escorting he feels kind of lost. He wants love but he's also scared for it at the same time. Then he met art therapist Stef, with who he felt a connection pretty much right away. 

To be honest, it took me a while to warm up to Stef. He was a perfectly nice guy and I enjoyed getting to know his character but I also was a bit wary of him because I didn't want Javier to get hurt. This might seem weird since they're just fictional characters but I have such a soft spot for Javier. I just wanted him to be happy. I shouldn't have worried because soon enough I fell in love with Stef and his relationship with Javier was beyond amazing. I ended up shipping the hell out of them through the story and just praying that nothing would happen to screw it all up. Of course I'm not saying if that happens or not.

Anyway, back to Geno... By now he's in college but really not doing well at all. He's been having a very hard time to deal with his trauma. After a bit of a mental breakdown he ends up in therapy with Stef, which is actually the best thing that could've happened to him because Stef is a wonderful therapist. This is where the two stories started coming together. 

The story featured had some appearances of old characters we know from the previous book like Alex, Val and some others but it also introduced us to a bunch of new and unforgetable ones. I especially thought that the character of Micah was really well-written and a part of one of the reasons why everyone should read the book, in my opinion.

Overall, A Charm of Finches was an exceptional read. The start was hard but in the end the story and characters hooked me so much. I don't know how Suanne Laqueur does it but as heavy as this story was at times, it was also amazing and I'm just so glad I got to read it. The writing was beyond beautiful and very eloquent. I don't know what else to say except that everyone who's reading this review should go buy this book and read it as soon as possible. You won't regret it! 

About Suanne:
A former professional dancer and teacher, Suanne Laqueur has gone from choreographing music to choreographing words. Her goal is to create a new kind of emotionally-intelligent romance that appeals to the passions of all readers, crossing gender, age and genre.

Laqueur's debut novel The Man I Love won a gold medal in the 2015 Readers' Favorite Book Awards and was named Best Debut in the Feathered Quill Book Awards. Her follow-up novel, Give Me Your Answer True, was also a gold medal winner at the 2016 RFBA.

Laqueur graduated from Alfred University with a double major in dance and theater. She taught at the Carol Bierman School of Ballet Arts in Croton-on-Hudson for ten years. An avid reader, cook and gardener, she started her blog EatsReadsThinks in 2010. Suanne lives in Westchester County, New York with her husband and two children.

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