Counting Parakeets

by H. Lewis-Foster

Pete is a doctor. He’s working the night shift, and desperately needs to get some sleep. But he hasn’t a chance, with Ollie, a chattering parakeet who's decided to perch on Pete's gate post. He finally cracks and follows the bird to a classy house on the far side of town, where he finds Ollie’s owner, Andy, hanging upside-down.

Delightful as Andy is, Pete’s too tired to be tempted by the performance artiste, who promises to keep Ollie under control. But Pete’s curious to know ... What does a performance artiste do exactly? There’s only one way to find out.

ebook

First published November 18, 2012

About the author

H. Lewis-Foster has always worked with books in one form or another and is delighted to have found her literary niche in gay romantic fiction. Her stories might be set in the present or past, and her characters travel all over the world, but they always have a touch of British humour.

H. is currently working on new projects, while listening to the cricket on the radio and hoping rain doesn't stop play!

Reviews

[Vio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ollie the Parrot Parakeet hunts down potential lovers for his owner Andy by flirting perched on the gatepost with his endless chatter....its a good plan, if you are gay to lure them home, they follow Ollie in an attempt to shoo, scare or kill the pest lol! Pete does just this and meets Andy ready to rant about Ollie, disturbing his sleep, his anger melts away , he cant help be fascinated by Andy who is an "Artiste". I enjoyed it and had a good laugh and the idea is a good one. The only downside its way too short and seemed as if I only got a preview instead of a full story. Still cute.

[Gabbi · Rating 3 out of 5]

Counting Parakeets is a humorous, fun romance with interesting characters and a parakeet named Ollie, whom I adored. I liked how both men seem to be polar opposites, but the heat and interest that sizzled between them really made the book a sexy and fun read. I needed a quick pick-me-up today, and Counting Parakeets really fit that bill for me. My only gripe about the book is: I wish it had been longer. It’s really a quick glance at the wonderful, romantic possibility between two sexy heroes. If you are looking for a funny, sexy and quick romantic and enjoyable read, Counting Parakeets is definitely something to consider!

Reviewed By: Gabbi

[Lindsey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Very sweet story but too short really for the characters to be fully developed. Would like to read a longer version of this.

[Jenn (not Lily) · Rating 2 out of 5]

In this version, Pete's name has been changed to Saul, otherwise the description sums up the whole story.

[Tam · Rating 4 out of 5]

This review can be found at .

This is a cute little story, which the blurb mostly describes well. Pete is starting to get really annoyed with the bird that has shown up on his garden fence, given that he needs his sleep. Finally he just can’t take it anymore and is determined to find out who owns the bird and give them a piece of his mind. He follows the bird in his car into a very high-end part of town, to find the bird in a pool house, behind a large mansion. That’s when he finds Andy, a performance artiste. Andy apologizes for the bird’s behaviour and invites Pete to his show.

Pete is a bit of a snob and judgmental to boot. He’s sure a show like that is for weird people, but he finds himself showing up despite his certainty that he’s going to hate it. Only he’s surprised to find “normal” people there, including some other medical personnel from the hospital. It’s seems Andy is kind of a Cirque du Soleil type acrobat, and Pete is quite impressed with his muscle control. Andy then invites him back and perhaps it’s the beginning of something good.

I was a bit torn by Pete. I felt for him and his frustration with having a yappy bird keeping him awake, his fit of pique chasing the thing was funny. Then I was annoyed with his snobby attitude about what Andy did, but I figured at least he gave it a try and was willing to change his views about it. Andy was fun and came across as kind of a free spirit, but as it’s Pete’s story, you don’t find out too much about him as a person, just some of his background.

It was a cute story without a lot of angst and a very mouthy bird. I have to say I’ve never really heard a parakeet talk, although if you are looking for parakeet facts, my friend (who owns three – who don’t talk) posted some interesting facts. Apparently the bird with the most vocabulary has over 1,700 words, so maybe there is an Ollie out there bring folks together. :-)

[Penumbra · Rating 2 out of 5]

Counting Parakeets is a very short story, only nine pages on my NOOK. It’s about a parakeet named Ollie that plays matchmaker for his owner, Andy. Ollie does this by annoying the man he has decided is a good choice for his owner to the point where said person, in this case Pete, jumps in his car and chases Ollie to his owner’s home. Here, Pete confronts Andy about his parakeet. The story is slowly filled in after that.

There isn’t much dialogue in this book, mostly inner monologue as Pete is annoyed with the parakeet and his thoughts about Andy. I would have liked it if Ollie had figured more into the story. I think it would have made the story much more interesting. As it was, the story was OK, nothing angsty or lively about it.

The one thing that stood out for me in the book was that the author used the word ‘mouth’ to describe Ollie’s beak at one point. That was odd and gave me a very strange visual.

Counting Parakeets was a very fast, no stress read. I give this story 2 stars.