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Once Upon a Lullaby Lane
Growing up, Colt Grieves would’ve sooner died than let his friends step foot into his family’s home on Lullaby Lane. Everyone knew that his dad was a hoarder, but knowing it and seeing it are very different things. When he moves out on his own, Colt’s content to wedge distance between himself and the house—and his father. When he gets the call that his dad’s passed away, he feels like he shouldn’t be surprised, and yet the news hits him like a bag of bricks.
Colt arrives back home with a knot in his stomach and a sense of choking dread. He’s stunned to find another man living in a trailer on the property—someone who’s been helping Mr. Grieves out these last seven years. Sera Howell is tall and gorgeous and could charm a rabid badger, but Colt can’t help the gnawing insecurity and guilt that some stranger had more of a relationship with his old man than Colt ever did.
The house looks worse than ever, and Colt’s nerves are frayed from the moment he steps inside. There is no running anymore, though. Sera will be at his side whether he likes it or not—and he does start to like it—but Colt must dig up the ghosts of his family’s past to come to terms with it. Secrets won’t stay buried, not even under the weight of the house on Lullaby Lane.
Once Upon a Lullaby Lane is a part of the multi-author series Once Upon A Holiday Story. Each book can be read as a standalone and in any order. What links these books together is The Hook’s Book Nook Traveling Library, a library on wheels owned by two old ladies in love.
Colt arrives back home with a knot in his stomach and a sense of choking dread. He’s stunned to find another man living in a trailer on the property—someone who’s been helping Mr. Grieves out these last seven years. Sera Howell is tall and gorgeous and could charm a rabid badger, but Colt can’t help the gnawing insecurity and guilt that some stranger had more of a relationship with his old man than Colt ever did.
The house looks worse than ever, and Colt’s nerves are frayed from the moment he steps inside. There is no running anymore, though. Sera will be at his side whether he likes it or not—and he does start to like it—but Colt must dig up the ghosts of his family’s past to come to terms with it. Secrets won’t stay buried, not even under the weight of the house on Lullaby Lane.
Once Upon a Lullaby Lane is a part of the multi-author series Once Upon A Holiday Story. Each book can be read as a standalone and in any order. What links these books together is The Hook’s Book Nook Traveling Library, a library on wheels owned by two old ladies in love.
125 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 26, 2024
55 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Kelley York
23 books604 followersKelley resides off the coast of Northern California with her wife, dogs, cats, and birds. In addition to writing, she has her A.S. in Anthropology, and is a graphic designer with a successful book cover design business called Sleepy Fox Studio. She spends her spare time playing video games and tabletop games like the nerd she is. Her specialty is LGBT+ fiction, usually with a dark twist.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
December 6, 2024
✰ 3 stars ✰
“But as he stood in the shadow of his childhood home, surrounded by the ghosts of what could have been, he couldn’t shake the feeling he was still that small boy, desperate for approval and belonging, forever trapped in a corner of a cluttered room.”
Kelley York has this innate way of describing a character's emotions in such a visceral way that their raw and intense feelings feel so tangible that every feeling clings to you. And twenty-five-year old Colt's grief, shame, guilt, fear, and resentment upon returning to Lullaby Lane to manage his father's estate after his death was overwhelming. 😞 An exploration of a tenuous father-son relationship heavily rooted with regret & sadness over being unable to clear the air or ask the pending questions - the swirl of thoughts that wondered what could have been - why was it this way - when did hoarding items feel more important than caring for his own son - which memory could overshadow the other to make the memory of his father be a happy one. The air was heavy with loneliness and also, anger. A simmering kind of anger that still wondered about the what if. 💔
“For the first time in years, he felt a spark of something he’d long forgotten —the sensation of taking comfort in another person’s presence.”
It did not help matters that the one person offering him a kind helping hand is one that he pretty much got off on the wrong foot with - handsome and patient thirty-four-year old Sera Howell, who was there when his father died - there for him when Colt was too afraid, too reluctant, too stubborn to come home and start a relationship with his father again. With so much colliding in his head and his heart, it will take courage, love, and kindness for Colt to remind himself that memories may be memories, but that does not mean he cannot make new ones or cherish those that still remained. 😔
Sera and Colt were sweet together. Despite his reservations and hesitation, Sera's gentle and reassuring touch and sly, cheeky smile were an unexpected blessing - a helpful strength in more ways than one. It was so nice to see how they both were each other's strength and support, and how Colt turned to him to find some inner peace of understanding about his father's behavior. 😢 'A person can be a mess and still be a good person,” Sera said. “No less deserving of being loved…and missed.' He was so taken by him from the start, but it was through his calmness and kindness that really awoke in Colt the desire to have affection returned. He was the last tie-in to his father - a path that gave him a chance to a glimpse of the man he did not know, and it was cathartic for them, both. Their romance grew slowly over the weeks as they worked together to clear out years of belongings and sift through items that gave Colt a chance to reflect on the past and soothe the hurt that still remained. ❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹
“You know why, a voice, weary with time and age and grief, whispered in the back of his mind. If forced to make a choice…
You weren’t convinced he’d choose you.”
When the conflict struck, I was really worried it was about to head in a direction similar to another book's plot; thankfully, it did not. But, it was such a heavy way to have Colt move on from his father's death; tinged with such a helpless feeling, but still enveloped in a warm tenderness that Sera showed him. 🫂 All the anger, frustration dimmed in the knowledge that there was someone - here - that cared for him - that was neither running away or putting his own needs above him. 'Tomorrow would bring new challenges, but for now, he had a piece of his past to hold onto—a reminder that not all memories were painful.' Money cannot buy happiness, nor can it be a replacement for affection. It is a hard lesson to learn, but Kelley York wrote it with such a gentleness that I really felt every bit of longing and repressed rage that consumed Colt. 🥺
It is a novella, so it does end just when in my opinion, the real angst would have begun; but I suppose it was a fitting end - a closure that Colt may not have realized he needed, but one which was necessary for him to truly move on. 'It was a lot, but it wasn't everything.' 🤧 It hurt, but it also healed. It made it easier for him to let go of a house that stole him from a family - of a life - a time that was simply Once Upon a Lullaby Lane did not have to be all that he was or ever will be. 🫶🏻🙏🏻
“But as he stood in the shadow of his childhood home, surrounded by the ghosts of what could have been, he couldn’t shake the feeling he was still that small boy, desperate for approval and belonging, forever trapped in a corner of a cluttered room.”
Kelley York has this innate way of describing a character's emotions in such a visceral way that their raw and intense feelings feel so tangible that every feeling clings to you. And twenty-five-year old Colt's grief, shame, guilt, fear, and resentment upon returning to Lullaby Lane to manage his father's estate after his death was overwhelming. 😞 An exploration of a tenuous father-son relationship heavily rooted with regret & sadness over being unable to clear the air or ask the pending questions - the swirl of thoughts that wondered what could have been - why was it this way - when did hoarding items feel more important than caring for his own son - which memory could overshadow the other to make the memory of his father be a happy one. The air was heavy with loneliness and also, anger. A simmering kind of anger that still wondered about the what if. 💔
“For the first time in years, he felt a spark of something he’d long forgotten —the sensation of taking comfort in another person’s presence.”
It did not help matters that the one person offering him a kind helping hand is one that he pretty much got off on the wrong foot with - handsome and patient thirty-four-year old Sera Howell, who was there when his father died - there for him when Colt was too afraid, too reluctant, too stubborn to come home and start a relationship with his father again. With so much colliding in his head and his heart, it will take courage, love, and kindness for Colt to remind himself that memories may be memories, but that does not mean he cannot make new ones or cherish those that still remained. 😔
Sera and Colt were sweet together. Despite his reservations and hesitation, Sera's gentle and reassuring touch and sly, cheeky smile were an unexpected blessing - a helpful strength in more ways than one. It was so nice to see how they both were each other's strength and support, and how Colt turned to him to find some inner peace of understanding about his father's behavior. 😢 'A person can be a mess and still be a good person,” Sera said. “No less deserving of being loved…and missed.' He was so taken by him from the start, but it was through his calmness and kindness that really awoke in Colt the desire to have affection returned. He was the last tie-in to his father - a path that gave him a chance to a glimpse of the man he did not know, and it was cathartic for them, both. Their romance grew slowly over the weeks as they worked together to clear out years of belongings and sift through items that gave Colt a chance to reflect on the past and soothe the hurt that still remained. ❤️🩹❤️🩹❤️🩹
“You know why, a voice, weary with time and age and grief, whispered in the back of his mind. If forced to make a choice…
You weren’t convinced he’d choose you.”
When the conflict struck, I was really worried it was about to head in a direction similar to another book's plot; thankfully, it did not. But, it was such a heavy way to have Colt move on from his father's death; tinged with such a helpless feeling, but still enveloped in a warm tenderness that Sera showed him. 🫂 All the anger, frustration dimmed in the knowledge that there was someone - here - that cared for him - that was neither running away or putting his own needs above him. 'Tomorrow would bring new challenges, but for now, he had a piece of his past to hold onto—a reminder that not all memories were painful.' Money cannot buy happiness, nor can it be a replacement for affection. It is a hard lesson to learn, but Kelley York wrote it with such a gentleness that I really felt every bit of longing and repressed rage that consumed Colt. 🥺
It is a novella, so it does end just when in my opinion, the real angst would have begun; but I suppose it was a fitting end - a closure that Colt may not have realized he needed, but one which was necessary for him to truly move on. 'It was a lot, but it wasn't everything.' 🤧 It hurt, but it also healed. It made it easier for him to let go of a house that stole him from a family - of a life - a time that was simply Once Upon a Lullaby Lane did not have to be all that he was or ever will be. 🫶🏻🙏🏻
November 29, 2024
Heavy but lovely.
KU but adding this one to my permanent library as part of my efforts to support queer authors in general and, in this case specifically, a queer author whose voice I love. I don’t just mean her books either, I appreciate Kelley York’s voice and advocacy on social media and in her newsletters as well.
Support queer authors. Read diverse books. Resist systems of oppression.
KU but adding this one to my permanent library as part of my efforts to support queer authors in general and, in this case specifically, a queer author whose voice I love. I don’t just mean her books either, I appreciate Kelley York’s voice and advocacy on social media and in her newsletters as well.
Support queer authors. Read diverse books. Resist systems of oppression.
November 26, 2024
I really liked the issues explored in this book. Would have loved it to be longer and with more depth.
December 10, 2024
Once Upon a Lullaby Lane
This was an intense story about a man who goes back home after his father passes and tries to deal with the house of a hoarder. Finding a person already there just sets off all kind of feelings.
I enjoyed reading this book. Highly Recommended
This was an intense story about a man who goes back home after his father passes and tries to deal with the house of a hoarder. Finding a person already there just sets off all kind of feelings.
I enjoyed reading this book. Highly Recommended
October 15, 2025
This one had the most interesting themes in the series, dealing with some heavy stuff like a painful past and hoarding. But it was just too short to do it justice. We never really get to know the characters enough, like Sera, or understand why Colt stayed away from his dad for so long when they lived in the same state. The ending was also a bit of a letdown—it felt super rushed.
December 3, 2024
**Esta resenha foi traduzida eletronicamente para o inglês.
*
Dark for a Christmas romance. It left a lot of things open. 'Ah! But in the end, Colt found the closure he needed.' Good for Colt, because I didn't find the closure I needed while reading.
So many problems reported in this book, thrown there for the reader to swallow and accept without further questioning. After all the anguish Colt has experienced with the problems caused by his father's hoarding, that information simply comes in the last two chapters of the book and that's it. But how come? I confess that I had already imagined at the beginning of the reading that that would be the direction the author would go, but I didn't imagine that it would end there. There are many layers of 'what if' and 'how?' to unpack and simply end with a "let's go to the library".
Colt's father suffered his entire life for what happened, without knowing why it happened. What if he had had a sudden illness that caused him and the baby to fall? How can you blame him for what happened without more precise information? And the mother left without worrying about the pain of her husband and her own son. What kind of love is this that makes you abandon a child because of the loss of another without ever returning and trying to get closer to the living child? And where does the uncle fit into all this? I initially thought she had run away to be with him. Very strange. And that doesn't even cover Sera's problems. It's clear that he has more baggage than Glenn, but his story was completely ignored. This book is about Colt, his initial suffering and final revelations. Sera has no weight here other than being a guide for Colt.
This book deserved double or triple what was written to tell this story as it needed. But, despite that, it was well written, well described. It was emotional from beginning to end. This is a sad, painful and melancholic book. Nothing here screams Christmas story, nor joy or new beginning, nor the ending.
I would say that a sequel would be great, but I doubt the author will do it. So, if you're going to read this one, be aware that you might be frustrated at the end. More questions than answers.
Unique POV: Colt. (Maybe, he's just a decoration.)
Melancholic and suffering.
Loss of a hoarder father due to COVID.
Child neglect.
Psychological/emotional illnesses on all sides.
Pain/Pain
Quotes: Homophobia; Anxiety; Panic Attack; Snobbery; Neediness, etc.
Could have gotten a better rating if it didn't seem like the author gave up on writing the book.
*
Dark for a Christmas romance. It left a lot of things open. 'Ah! But in the end, Colt found the closure he needed.' Good for Colt, because I didn't find the closure I needed while reading.
So many problems reported in this book, thrown there for the reader to swallow and accept without further questioning. After all the anguish Colt has experienced with the problems caused by his father's hoarding, that information simply comes in the last two chapters of the book and that's it. But how come? I confess that I had already imagined at the beginning of the reading that that would be the direction the author would go, but I didn't imagine that it would end there. There are many layers of 'what if' and 'how?' to unpack and simply end with a "let's go to the library".
Colt's father suffered his entire life for what happened, without knowing why it happened. What if he had had a sudden illness that caused him and the baby to fall? How can you blame him for what happened without more precise information? And the mother left without worrying about the pain of her husband and her own son. What kind of love is this that makes you abandon a child because of the loss of another without ever returning and trying to get closer to the living child? And where does the uncle fit into all this? I initially thought she had run away to be with him. Very strange. And that doesn't even cover Sera's problems. It's clear that he has more baggage than Glenn, but his story was completely ignored. This book is about Colt, his initial suffering and final revelations. Sera has no weight here other than being a guide for Colt.
This book deserved double or triple what was written to tell this story as it needed. But, despite that, it was well written, well described. It was emotional from beginning to end. This is a sad, painful and melancholic book. Nothing here screams Christmas story, nor joy or new beginning, nor the ending.
I would say that a sequel would be great, but I doubt the author will do it. So, if you're going to read this one, be aware that you might be frustrated at the end. More questions than answers.
Unique POV: Colt. (Maybe, he's just a decoration.)
Melancholic and suffering.
Loss of a hoarder father due to COVID.
Child neglect.
Psychological/emotional illnesses on all sides.
Pain/Pain
Quotes: Homophobia; Anxiety; Panic Attack; Snobbery; Neediness, etc.
Could have gotten a better rating if it didn't seem like the author gave up on writing the book.
May 7, 2025
3.5 stars
POV: 3rd person, past tense
Colt has returned to the town he grew up in to clean out his father's house after his death. The task is monumental, because Colt's father was a hoarder. And because of the shame that Colt feels, it makes it hard to let anyone else see the house. However, in recent years, his father had hired someone to take care of upkeep around the yard, and, eventually, Colt asks him for help. Sera hasn't really had anywhere to call home, except for his camper, since he left his ultra religious family when he was a teenager. As they work together to clean out the house, two very lonely and alone souls come together.
I thought this was well done. Colt's reactions and his feelings about his father rang true for me. And he and Sera just seemed to fit. The reason why this isn't rated higher is because Colt was pretty closed off, so I never really felt that I got to know him. Plus, with all his baggage and issues, I would have liked to see a mention of therapy, even if it was just of the "I booked an appointment" variety. And, with everything that Sera had gone through, I felt that this needed a longer story to explore everything. Well written, but a lot got sacrificed to length.
POV: 3rd person, past tense
Colt has returned to the town he grew up in to clean out his father's house after his death. The task is monumental, because Colt's father was a hoarder. And because of the shame that Colt feels, it makes it hard to let anyone else see the house. However, in recent years, his father had hired someone to take care of upkeep around the yard, and, eventually, Colt asks him for help. Sera hasn't really had anywhere to call home, except for his camper, since he left his ultra religious family when he was a teenager. As they work together to clean out the house, two very lonely and alone souls come together.
I thought this was well done. Colt's reactions and his feelings about his father rang true for me. And he and Sera just seemed to fit. The reason why this isn't rated higher is because Colt was pretty closed off, so I never really felt that I got to know him. Plus, with all his baggage and issues, I would have liked to see a mention of therapy, even if it was just of the "I booked an appointment" variety. And, with everything that Sera had gone through, I felt that this needed a longer story to explore everything. Well written, but a lot got sacrificed to length.
December 24, 2024
Hording has always confounded me, I never thought it would come up in a story but here it did and surprisingly it made for an amazing tale of loss, overcoming and a renewal on life. Colt returns home to sort out the house and contents after the death of his Father and finds his old home stacked with old boxes and other miscellanea. He soon learns more about his Father and the past then he ever knew, including what really happened to his Mother. A very sad and touching tale but an incredible read worthy of more than five stars as far as I'm concerned
August 15, 2025
Not a classic romance (don't worry, the romance part is not lacking). A major theme is the problem of growing up as the child of a hoarder, dealing with shame, self-criticism, and whether you are doing the right thing when you try to force your father to change.
In this context, the romance also feels a bit like therapy, a gentle acceptance that you have tried your best, even if it did not have the desired success and you cannot control everything for others. The book was very well written, the characters are memorable, and the emotions are conveyed very well.
In this context, the romance also feels a bit like therapy, a gentle acceptance that you have tried your best, even if it did not have the desired success and you cannot control everything for others. The book was very well written, the characters are memorable, and the emotions are conveyed very well.
December 27, 2024
Although I read this series out of numerical order (honestly, they are not connected except a bus and two married lesbians in a rainbow bus with books). This is the story of two guys that live lives of solitude with horrible pasts that find each other on Lullaby Lane in upstate California..
November 30, 2024
3.5 stars
December 19, 2024
It’s intense
But it’s really well written. I would have liked for it to be longer but that’s just me. I really enjoyed the characters and how they interacted.
But it’s really well written. I would have liked for it to be longer but that’s just me. I really enjoyed the characters and how they interacted.
December 25, 2024
3.5*
This was a heavy and upsetting read at times. But I liked the characters and their slow burn.
This was a heavy and upsetting read at times. But I liked the characters and their slow burn.
February 17, 2025
Reviewed for Love Bytes Reviews
While this is definitely a holiday story, it is a lot heavier than I expected, with grief and baggage by both MC. Colt has come back to 42 Lullaby Lane after his father died. He hasn’t been back home in years and he carries a lot of guilt. But the reason for his being gone was so understandable. After the death of his mother, Colt’s father, Glenn, just lost control of his hoarding, including the bedroom where young Colt slept. Having had a relative who was a hoarder, though not to Colt’s father’s extent, I could understand the mortification, sadness, and desire to just not be there. Colt kept trying to get his father to get help but he never did. So now his father has passed and his back to figure out what to do with the house. He has a little time because the house needs to be cleaned out before anything can happen, and Colt has to wait for the unexpected money his father left him. “He wondered what dreams Glenn had harbored for this money, what future he’d envisioned for his son while burying himself alive in his own past.”. It was so devastating.
A complication comes in the form of Sera, a man who has been staying on Glenn’s property in his camper and helping out. He cared for Glenn at the end of his life and has been working to clear the house. While their initial meeting was not good, Colt comes to realize he needs the help, and Sera is a kind person.
Some things just tore at my heart. While Colt urged his father to get help, he never cut him off entirely or gave him an ultimatum: either clean it up or I’m gone. And why? “You know why, a voice, weary with time and age and grief, whispered in the back of his mind. If forced to make a choice…
You weren’t convinced he’d choose you.”
Heartbreaking.
Sera has his own baggage. Named Seraphim by ultra-religious parents, “Thought naming me after the highest order of angels would make me holy or something.” And we know how that comes out. Sera hasn’t spoken to his family in years. He is such a warm, caring, loving character I wanted to hunt down his parents and slap them.
As these two wounded souls start to bond as they clean out this hoarder's house, they share secrets, memories, and support, and it was so lovely. The first half of the book is heavy, but the last half is uplifting and just right. Sera is there for Colt when he finds out the truth of why his mom left, and the terrible burden his father had been carrying.
This is a sad book at times, definitely painful at times, and there is a lot of grief and sorrow. But it is also hopeful, tender, and worth the emotional wringer.
While this is definitely a holiday story, it is a lot heavier than I expected, with grief and baggage by both MC. Colt has come back to 42 Lullaby Lane after his father died. He hasn’t been back home in years and he carries a lot of guilt. But the reason for his being gone was so understandable. After the death of his mother, Colt’s father, Glenn, just lost control of his hoarding, including the bedroom where young Colt slept. Having had a relative who was a hoarder, though not to Colt’s father’s extent, I could understand the mortification, sadness, and desire to just not be there. Colt kept trying to get his father to get help but he never did. So now his father has passed and his back to figure out what to do with the house. He has a little time because the house needs to be cleaned out before anything can happen, and Colt has to wait for the unexpected money his father left him. “He wondered what dreams Glenn had harbored for this money, what future he’d envisioned for his son while burying himself alive in his own past.”. It was so devastating.
A complication comes in the form of Sera, a man who has been staying on Glenn’s property in his camper and helping out. He cared for Glenn at the end of his life and has been working to clear the house. While their initial meeting was not good, Colt comes to realize he needs the help, and Sera is a kind person.
Some things just tore at my heart. While Colt urged his father to get help, he never cut him off entirely or gave him an ultimatum: either clean it up or I’m gone. And why? “You know why, a voice, weary with time and age and grief, whispered in the back of his mind. If forced to make a choice…
You weren’t convinced he’d choose you.”
Heartbreaking.
Sera has his own baggage. Named Seraphim by ultra-religious parents, “Thought naming me after the highest order of angels would make me holy or something.” And we know how that comes out. Sera hasn’t spoken to his family in years. He is such a warm, caring, loving character I wanted to hunt down his parents and slap them.
As these two wounded souls start to bond as they clean out this hoarder's house, they share secrets, memories, and support, and it was so lovely. The first half of the book is heavy, but the last half is uplifting and just right. Sera is there for Colt when he finds out the truth of why his mom left, and the terrible burden his father had been carrying.
This is a sad book at times, definitely painful at times, and there is a lot of grief and sorrow. But it is also hopeful, tender, and worth the emotional wringer.
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews