Book 54, 2023

[chez_jae]

Cherry Picked by May Archer

My rating: 5 of 5 stars



I used my day off to finish reading Cherry Picked, which is the third book in May Archer's "Sunday Brothers" series. I deliberately waited until this weekend to begin the book, as I knew I wanted to wallow in it. LOL! Story is told in alternating first-person pov between the main characters, Hawk Sunday and Jack Wyatt.

Hawk has been carrying a torch for Jack, his brother's friend and his boss, since he was 17. Now that he's 24, Hawk is tired of waiting for Jack to notice him as anything other than a friend, an employee, and a de facto little brother. Hawk is also tired of reading about romance and not experiencing it himself. Therefore, while out hiking with Jack one day, Hawk asks him to be his first.

Jack adores Hawk; he has ever since they met seven years ago. He can't imagine his life without Hawk in it, but Jack doesn't do relationships. When Hawk propositions him, Jack is utterly bamboozled. He turns Hawk down, but now he can't help but notice that his "little brother" is all grown up and hot as hell. And when Hawk starts talking about creating a Grindr account, Jack is horrified. Worse still is when Simon, the slick, handsome representative of Evola (the company that wants to build a resort near Little Pippin Hollow) starts sniffing around Hawk. Jack is convinced Simon just wants to use Hawk, and he's not going to sit by and allow it to happen.

As always, it's the characters that make these stories so wonderful. Not just the main characters, but familiar ones from previous books, as well as familiar townsfolk. I utterly adored Hawk's friend Crys. She was a riot! Hawk is dead set against the development project, for fear Evola will destroy the pristine wilderness they want to pitch as a marketing ploy. Jack is looking at the development from a more practical standpoint, as in the influx of money that could boost the Hollow's revenue. Hawk takes his stance to the extreme when he initiates a one-man camping protest. While Jack admires him for taking a strong stand, he also can't help but miss Hawk and worry about him. Muddled feelings, misunderstandings, and mix-ups abound, but it all adds to the story and makes the ending that much sweeter.

Favorite lines:
♦ Fortunately, the death blow to my pride and the slow bleed of my smashed-up heart didn't have visible symptoms.
♦ Spontaneous human combustion in Little Pippin Hollow! Film at eleven.

♦ Things were hot as fuck on that mountain trail because Satan himself sent Hawk Sunday to torment me.
♦ Stranded on this island of Want But Can't Have, caught between the safe harbor of Platonic Friendship and the chaotic waters of Super-Unplatonic Cherry Poaching.
♦ "I think even the cows in the field know and are placing wagers with their bovine bookies about how long it would take you to catch on."
♦ Trying to fix something and lighting it on fire instead was a really fitting metaphor for the day.
♦ "How could you not want to see pictures of a cat loafing in the sunshine?"
♦ "You can't say fuck when Millicent Bowdoin and her little girl are right there! Say 'tup'. Then she won't understand you."
♦ I was still pretty convinced Crys had purchased herself a pair of handcrafted old-lady shanks. I couldn't quite imagine someone using a set of double-pointed needles to take down an enemy, but if anyone could do it, it would be Crys.
♦ "As William Hale Thompson once famously said, 'Fuck early and fuck often.'" // "I think that was about voting."
♦ Picking my way through the rubble in my brain felt a bit like an archaeological expedition--probably a lot like the ones where historians took a second look at some pottery shards depicting Achilles and Patroclus, and said, "I can't believe anyone thought they were just friends."
♦ When Gage moved to town, everyone in the Hollow knew his favorite kind of cheese, his top five Christmas memories, and his thoughts on the Bruins' playoff chances within the first week."
♦ "It's a chance to one-up your neighbor by bringing the latest TikTok-trendy dish. Think cinnamon rolls in multiple 'original' variations, nacho tables, and so many feta pasta incarnations you'll be able to pinpoint the day you became lactose intolerant."
♦ "One year, Big Johnson Brats came through in their Brat-Mobile and threw wieners at everyone. Naked buns and sausages all over the place. Norma Hart got so excited she had to be hospitalized."
♦ Maybe happily ever after was just the beginning of the story.

A delightful read, and one I've been looking forward to for quite some time. Can't wait for the next one, which I'm guessing will feature Reed Sunday and other-Chris. Did this book have its drawbacks? Sure, but I loved it and I'm giving it five stars.