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Knights and Butterscotch
A story of modern-day knights, paint-splattered artists and a lightning bolt of attraction that hits hard enough to make a knight think he's going crazy. And then things get complicated.
The year is now, the place is somewhere like here but the feeling is very different. Matti Elkin is a modern-day knight and, while he may not have a horse or a suit of shining armour, he's brave and true, has a sense of duty and honour a mile wide and a passionate belief in his king.
There's a war on and the knights are fighting hard, but while on R&R Matti is hit hard with an overwhelming attraction for Jamie, a tall, handsome painter.
Jamie makes his head spin and his cock harden, and has him acting in ways that make him question his own sanity. But when the war takes an appalling turn, they are both thrown into a world of confusion that has them questioning everything they thought they knew.
The year is now, the place is somewhere like here but the feeling is very different. Matti Elkin is a modern-day knight and, while he may not have a horse or a suit of shining armour, he's brave and true, has a sense of duty and honour a mile wide and a passionate belief in his king.
There's a war on and the knights are fighting hard, but while on R&R Matti is hit hard with an overwhelming attraction for Jamie, a tall, handsome painter.
Jamie makes his head spin and his cock harden, and has him acting in ways that make him question his own sanity. But when the war takes an appalling turn, they are both thrown into a world of confusion that has them questioning everything they thought they knew.
- GenresM M Romance
166 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 20, 2013
2 people are currently reading
60 people want to read
About the author
Faith Ashlin
8 books26 followersWhen Faith was clearing out her attic many years ago, she found a book she’d written as a ten-year old. On rereading it she realized that it was the love story of two boys. Over the years her fascination with the image of beautiful young men, coiled together as they fell head over heels in love, became a passion for her.
Since that first innocent book – written in purple sparkly pen – she has written many stories, set in varied worlds but always with two men finding their way to happiness.
Nothing much has changed because now she can be found in a daydream, wandering around the supermarkets of London, or sitting in a meeting at work still dreaming up stories.
Since that first innocent book – written in purple sparkly pen – she has written many stories, set in varied worlds but always with two men finding their way to happiness.
Nothing much has changed because now she can be found in a daydream, wandering around the supermarkets of London, or sitting in a meeting at work still dreaming up stories.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
October 28, 2013
3.5 stars
I was completely sold on the blurb for this one. It's set in modern times, but with a throwback feel full of knights and kings.
The first 1/2 of the book is total and complete insta-lust/love. The sex was scorching and pretty constant, it was how these two connected. I wasn't going to complain about that necessarily but I was waiting for something to happen. Why exactly are we here?
Well, when things started to get real, they got real, real fast and everything changed for the two MC's. This book was truly a wartime romance. It had that desperate feel to the connection that comes with not knowing if your loved one will come home again. It was definitely more about the evolution of their relationship vs. any kind of action or adventure. If you love the idea of reading about wartime romance, but don't want to read about any actual action, then this book is for you. I actually couldn't tell you what the war was about. I know north = bad, that's about it.
For a romance, it was really good though, with noble knights, honor, duty and devotion. Lots of lovin' time and sweet words. Low on the angst so it was a good diversion type story.
I was completely sold on the blurb for this one. It's set in modern times, but with a throwback feel full of knights and kings.
The first 1/2 of the book is total and complete insta-lust/love. The sex was scorching and pretty constant, it was how these two connected. I wasn't going to complain about that necessarily but I was waiting for something to happen. Why exactly are we here?
Well, when things started to get real, they got real, real fast and everything changed for the two MC's. This book was truly a wartime romance. It had that desperate feel to the connection that comes with not knowing if your loved one will come home again. It was definitely more about the evolution of their relationship vs. any kind of action or adventure. If you love the idea of reading about wartime romance, but don't want to read about any actual action, then this book is for you. I actually couldn't tell you what the war was about. I know north = bad, that's about it.
For a romance, it was really good though, with noble knights, honor, duty and devotion. Lots of lovin' time and sweet words. Low on the angst so it was a good diversion type story.
October 21, 2013
I saw this book at ARe on sale and the blurb sounded good and I decided to give it a go.
This is a new to me author but after reading this book, I'm sure to keep a look out for more of her books.
The blurb is pretty good in setting it up, this is set in what feels like a very modern/current time and place, yet it has throw backs to times past, kings and knights.
It gave the story a modern fairytale feel.
Matti is a knight with all that he is, it defines him, he loves his King, his country and his comrades. While at a wedding reception he meets Jaime. Jamie is an artist through and through, it's all he's ever wanted. This meeting is life changing for both of them. They have an instant and complete connection. They are drawn to each other and the lust is overwhelming.
The first half is definite instant lust and lots of sex.
Then it's still a lot of sex, but it becomes more and then their lives change again, the war rages on, people die and they really become everything to each other.
If you don't mind lightening bolt attraction, secrets, lots of sex and an actually pretty sweet love story all wrapped up in a fairytale bow, the this one might be a good one for you.
This is a new to me author but after reading this book, I'm sure to keep a look out for more of her books.
The blurb is pretty good in setting it up, this is set in what feels like a very modern/current time and place, yet it has throw backs to times past, kings and knights.
It gave the story a modern fairytale feel.
Matti is a knight with all that he is, it defines him, he loves his King, his country and his comrades. While at a wedding reception he meets Jaime. Jamie is an artist through and through, it's all he's ever wanted. This meeting is life changing for both of them. They have an instant and complete connection. They are drawn to each other and the lust is overwhelming.
The first half is definite instant lust and lots of sex.
Then it's still a lot of sex, but it becomes more and then their lives change again, the war rages on, people die and they really become everything to each other.
If you don't mind lightening bolt attraction, secrets, lots of sex and an actually pretty sweet love story all wrapped up in a fairytale bow, the this one might be a good one for you.
September 13, 2013
I find it difficult to come up with superlatives to describe this story. The author has a great 'voice', very distinct. The descriptive passages are rich and beautiful. The way she describes the artwork of one of the MCs brings them to life. The world-building is so very clever. Ashlin has created a fascinating alternate world where war has become an everyday thing. But, best of all, the characters and their relationship. She makes the whirlwind courtship very real and documents their ups and downs so realistically. It's verging on a fairy tale, with its talk of knights, honour and serving one's country, and I just love it.
If you want an absorbing rainy day read, curled up on the sofa with a bowl of butterscotch pudding, then go for it. You won't regret it!
If you want an absorbing rainy day read, curled up on the sofa with a bowl of butterscotch pudding, then go for it. You won't regret it!
November 11, 2016
Okay, there are those two guys. One is tall, the other is called Matti. I don't know anything else about them and I don't care about them. And they instantly fall in love/lust with each other. Why? I don't know. I don't care. They proceed to have lots and lots of sex. And I don't care again. Yeah, I don't enjoy reading about any two guys just having sex, I need some kind of emotional connection with them. No connection with those two at all. Then we have some infodump and they keep having sex.
I know from reviews there's going to be emotional stuff down the road but it's really too boring to get there. DNF.
I know from reviews there's going to be emotional stuff down the road but it's really too boring to get there. DNF.
July 29, 2017
When Matti and Jamie see each other, outside a wedding party for Matti’s friend, it is love at first sight. Not just any love…it is a thunderbolts and butterscotch-whip kind of love. The kind that comes out of nowhere and sweeps them both off their feet. The kind that is addicting and sweet and probably dangerous in large quantities–-though they crave it anyways. After only days of wild sex in Jamie’s hotel room they realize that they can’t let each other go. Not permanently. So before Matti is shipped back to the front line of war, they get married. It is impulsive and crazy and not a little risky, but they simply can’t imagine life without the other in it. But war is not the only thing that will try to tear the honorable knight from his dreaming painter. With secrets and oaths between them, these two might just find that thunderbolts and butterscotch meetings are not enough to hold them together.
I’m a big fan of love-at-first-sight type stories. If they are done right. There is just something about watching life unfold after ‘first sight’ that I find so entertaining. Because no matter what happens when the guys first meet, life is always more complicated and messier than can be overcome by a simple I Love You. It is what comes after the thunderbolt that attracts me. It is the struggling to find a place in each other’s lives. It is the realizing that life is not rose-colored. It is the falling in like, after love has already been declared. When it comes down to it, love-at-first-sight is just as messy as the long slog through maybe and want and can this really work? that comes in all other stories. They just get the order a little mixed up.
If there is one thing that I really like about this story it is the interactions between Matti and Jamie. The whole scene when they first meet is really great. You can really feel their instant attraction as well as their confusion as to what exactly is happening to them. Neither of them expected to look up and simply fall. And fall hard, fast, and permanently. But the way that they seem to be pulled like magnets is great, especially when they kept trying to resist and talk some sense into themselves. I also really like how after a while they actively tried to make their relationship about more than just the sex. That they start to talk, and then to go out, and try and make some type of foundation for this crazy emotion that came out of nowhere and smacked them upside the head. If they hadn’t tried to be more than just hot sex on legs for each other, there is no way that I would have believed them weathering the issues that happen in the second half of the book.
However there is a lot of sex in this book and while it was incredibly hot and enjoyable to read, it began to feel like scenes between bedroom antics were simply there to move them to the next time they could get their clothes off. I think this mainly came from the fact that for the first half of the story, Jamie and Matti were only able to see each other when Matti came back from the front. The frantic need to reconnect when they have so little time with each other is understandable, but because we only saw them during those few days where Matti comes back, it was like that was all that was important to the story…when in fact there was a damn lot going on in the story that we never got to see. And a damn lot that we needed to see, but never did.
(The next part is a bag and a half of SPOILERS. There is simply no way to talk about it without spoiling some pretty big surprises so if you don’t want to know you should probably not open up the tag.)
I never got this world, really. I had problems trying to place this country (was it supposed to be England?) and had no clue who these invaders were supposed to be, or what they wanted. Everything felt incomplete, and half-constructed. We get The Godfather movie references, and there are cars and phones, and tanks…but it also tried to create a world where Knights and Kings and honor and fealty were real, tangible things. Which was certainly an interesting idea, and made me want to read this book, but because we never get a good idea of this society and this world, it is mainly confusing and bland.
To be honest, half this book reads like a PWP (porn w/o plot). And when the plot finally does show up it makes little sense in context with the first half of the book. The character never really have a chance to become more than stereotypes till the end of the book, and by then it really is too late to make much of a difference. And while I really love the sex scenes, there were way too many of them. Had the book taken a few more risks, and not pulled a few of its punches, it could have told a great story and not just a titillating romance. But if all you are looking for is a nice story about two guys falling in love, this might just be the book for you. I think I’m just not a PWP kinda gal. (Probably something more like 2.75 stars, but going to round it up to 3)
This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
I’m a big fan of love-at-first-sight type stories. If they are done right. There is just something about watching life unfold after ‘first sight’ that I find so entertaining. Because no matter what happens when the guys first meet, life is always more complicated and messier than can be overcome by a simple I Love You. It is what comes after the thunderbolt that attracts me. It is the struggling to find a place in each other’s lives. It is the realizing that life is not rose-colored. It is the falling in like, after love has already been declared. When it comes down to it, love-at-first-sight is just as messy as the long slog through maybe and want and can this really work? that comes in all other stories. They just get the order a little mixed up.
If there is one thing that I really like about this story it is the interactions between Matti and Jamie. The whole scene when they first meet is really great. You can really feel their instant attraction as well as their confusion as to what exactly is happening to them. Neither of them expected to look up and simply fall. And fall hard, fast, and permanently. But the way that they seem to be pulled like magnets is great, especially when they kept trying to resist and talk some sense into themselves. I also really like how after a while they actively tried to make their relationship about more than just the sex. That they start to talk, and then to go out, and try and make some type of foundation for this crazy emotion that came out of nowhere and smacked them upside the head. If they hadn’t tried to be more than just hot sex on legs for each other, there is no way that I would have believed them weathering the issues that happen in the second half of the book.
However there is a lot of sex in this book and while it was incredibly hot and enjoyable to read, it began to feel like scenes between bedroom antics were simply there to move them to the next time they could get their clothes off. I think this mainly came from the fact that for the first half of the story, Jamie and Matti were only able to see each other when Matti came back from the front. The frantic need to reconnect when they have so little time with each other is understandable, but because we only saw them during those few days where Matti comes back, it was like that was all that was important to the story…when in fact there was a damn lot going on in the story that we never got to see. And a damn lot that we needed to see, but never did.
(The next part is a bag and a half of SPOILERS. There is simply no way to talk about it without spoiling some pretty big surprises so if you don’t want to know you should probably not open up the tag.)
I never got this world, really. I had problems trying to place this country (was it supposed to be England?) and had no clue who these invaders were supposed to be, or what they wanted. Everything felt incomplete, and half-constructed. We get The Godfather movie references, and there are cars and phones, and tanks…but it also tried to create a world where Knights and Kings and honor and fealty were real, tangible things. Which was certainly an interesting idea, and made me want to read this book, but because we never get a good idea of this society and this world, it is mainly confusing and bland.
To be honest, half this book reads like a PWP (porn w/o plot). And when the plot finally does show up it makes little sense in context with the first half of the book. The character never really have a chance to become more than stereotypes till the end of the book, and by then it really is too late to make much of a difference. And while I really love the sex scenes, there were way too many of them. Had the book taken a few more risks, and not pulled a few of its punches, it could have told a great story and not just a titillating romance. But if all you are looking for is a nice story about two guys falling in love, this might just be the book for you. I think I’m just not a PWP kinda gal. (Probably something more like 2.75 stars, but going to round it up to 3)
This book was provided free in exchange for a fair and honest review for Love Bytes. Go there to check out other reviews, author interviews, and all those awesome giveaways. Click below.
April 25, 2021
Solidly good. Based in an alternate reality based on life just a few years ago (pre-smart phone) but in a country with a monarchy and military service, with elite troops being known as knights, who are loyal to king and country.
Love story between two men: an artist and a knight who meet by chance during wartime and experience a "coup de foudre", or thunderbolt, of attraction/lust at first sight.
Love story between two men: an artist and a knight who meet by chance during wartime and experience a "coup de foudre", or thunderbolt, of attraction/lust at first sight.
September 29, 2013
4 1/2 Hearts
Review written for MM Good Book Reviews
Matti is a modern day Knight, fighting for his King and the safety of his country. On a rare day off and at a co-workers wedding Matti meets a painter who rocks his world and has Matti acting in ways he never has before. Jamie is astounded at the attraction he feels for Matti, but he grabs the feelings Matti evokes and embraces the moment. But when the war takes a bad turn Matti discovers that he might never have really known the true Jamie, and Jamie has to convince Matti that he is really the only one who knew the true him. Jamie has no choice but to embrace a duty that he turned away from, but with Matti by his side he can be the person that the country needs while being the man he really is in private.
This is a brilliant story in an alternative world, with two strangers acting on their instant attraction leading to a love that can withstand any shock or surprise. Matti has dedicated his life to his King, he is loyal and fiercely dedicated, as a Knight he protects the country and with a war against the Northern invaders he has little time off. Jamie left his old life behind to become a painter, he loves his life of painting and just wants recognition in the Gallery's. When the two meet sparks fly and before they part they ensure they will see each other again. With Matti fighting a war their visits are brief and just as they are getting to know each other better disaster strikes and Matti has difficulty in seeing Jamie as the man he fell in love with.
I loved this story, the way that the story was written so the old world values were brought into the modern day war was brilliant and the attraction between Jamie and Matti seemed to leap off the page. While their relationship started off with a high and while they were happy, they still had things to sort out to become closer and get to know each other better in the short flashes of time they had together. When Jamie's secret come out I was surprised, there was no hint just a sudden revelation. Matti's reaction was brilliant and I loved the way he struggled with the revelation but managed to find a way to help and support Jamie in his desperate time of need.
This is a really good storyline which flows smoothly showing a great couple who manage to conduct a relationship even though they are apart for a large amount of time, it also shows us the difficulties they both face as they come to grips with the truth of their situations and the love and support they both offer the other. We only get a little information on the world they live in, but it reminded me of long days past when counties invaded each other for land. We see both Matti and Jamie stepping into roles they aren't quite comfortable with but with them standing together they dig deep within themselves and shine.
I recommend this if you love alternative worlds where Knights still roam (in armor plated vehicles), painters proving to be more than they first seem, hot sex in snatched moments, a love that can stand a shocking revelation and a great cheeky ending.
Review written for MM Good Book Reviews
Matti is a modern day Knight, fighting for his King and the safety of his country. On a rare day off and at a co-workers wedding Matti meets a painter who rocks his world and has Matti acting in ways he never has before. Jamie is astounded at the attraction he feels for Matti, but he grabs the feelings Matti evokes and embraces the moment. But when the war takes a bad turn Matti discovers that he might never have really known the true Jamie, and Jamie has to convince Matti that he is really the only one who knew the true him. Jamie has no choice but to embrace a duty that he turned away from, but with Matti by his side he can be the person that the country needs while being the man he really is in private.
This is a brilliant story in an alternative world, with two strangers acting on their instant attraction leading to a love that can withstand any shock or surprise. Matti has dedicated his life to his King, he is loyal and fiercely dedicated, as a Knight he protects the country and with a war against the Northern invaders he has little time off. Jamie left his old life behind to become a painter, he loves his life of painting and just wants recognition in the Gallery's. When the two meet sparks fly and before they part they ensure they will see each other again. With Matti fighting a war their visits are brief and just as they are getting to know each other better disaster strikes and Matti has difficulty in seeing Jamie as the man he fell in love with.
I loved this story, the way that the story was written so the old world values were brought into the modern day war was brilliant and the attraction between Jamie and Matti seemed to leap off the page. While their relationship started off with a high and while they were happy, they still had things to sort out to become closer and get to know each other better in the short flashes of time they had together. When Jamie's secret come out I was surprised, there was no hint just a sudden revelation. Matti's reaction was brilliant and I loved the way he struggled with the revelation but managed to find a way to help and support Jamie in his desperate time of need.
This is a really good storyline which flows smoothly showing a great couple who manage to conduct a relationship even though they are apart for a large amount of time, it also shows us the difficulties they both face as they come to grips with the truth of their situations and the love and support they both offer the other. We only get a little information on the world they live in, but it reminded me of long days past when counties invaded each other for land. We see both Matti and Jamie stepping into roles they aren't quite comfortable with but with them standing together they dig deep within themselves and shine.
I recommend this if you love alternative worlds where Knights still roam (in armor plated vehicles), painters proving to be more than they first seem, hot sex in snatched moments, a love that can stand a shocking revelation and a great cheeky ending.
November 13, 2014
I'm not 100% sure how I feel about this one but I'm going with all of the positives because I was entertained. It started off terribly, instalove, goofy dialogue, PWP... Matti is a knight, on leave for a wedding of two of his fellow soldiers. He meets Jamie on a balcony and it's "thunderbolts". Matti has to return to his men but makes his way back to Jamie whenever he can. At this point I started to like these two together but I wondered where the story was going. Well eventually a plot shows up and while it was frankly impossible I did like the relationship between these two so I'm going with that!
September 12, 2013
I adored this, the story is wonderful and the writing just beautiful. Full review coming soon.
November 27, 2013
I liked it. The last 30% or so went a bit wonky for me but not bad.
June 29, 2015
DNF but only because it wasn't my kind of book, nothing against the writer or the writing.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews