When Irish Eyes Are Sparkling

O’Shaughnessys #2

by Tom Collins, Thirteen

This book is no longer available.

Liam O’Shaughnessy wasn't expecting to fall in love again, not so soon after yet another painful break up. Then Oliver Sutton, paramedic in training, walked into his Aunt's Irish Pub, and shocked Liam's wounded heart back to life. The fiery eyes were irresistible; the magnetic draw between them was undeniable, but the man himself was an enigma. Still, Oliver had much to teach Liam, and Liam was a very willing pupil.

Oliver Sutton only expected to have a brief, summer fling with Liam O’Shaughnessy, but as the young waiter eagerly learned all about gay sexual pleasure, Oliver felt less and less willing to give him up. Yet Oliver knew the relationship could not last. Sooner or later, Liam would come to know Oliver’s other, less civilized self, and that would be the end.

Unbeknownst to Oliver, however, Liam, too, had another self, one he also was keeping secret: his twin.

Genres: M M Romance, Contemporary, Romance, Gay For You, Contemporary Romance, LGBT, Gay

348 pages, ebook

First published February 1, 2009

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.
(2)gay romance

Reviews

[Daisiemae · Rating 5 out of 5]

When I bought this book, I wondered how much I was really going to like the duel first person aspect of it. As a non-fan of first person in romance, I generally make efforts to not read that many of them. But, I thought knowing what was going on in both of the heroes minds by their point of view quite interesting. Honestly, it took me several pages to get used to it, but once I did I liked it.

Another thing I really liked about this book was the how family oriented Liam is. I laughed out loud from some of the antics and typical family squabbles that is going on most of the time. It was refreshing to see one of the heroes being very close to a very extended we’re-always-in-your-business-because-we-love-you family dynamic. It was very obvious that although they might not agree on things, they loved one another and did what they could to support each other. I liked that.

Liam has had a run of bad luck with relationships. He has been known to fall quickly for the woman he is interested in, and usually ends up running her off because he tries too hard to keep them. Although he has never dated a man, he has always found them attractive, so he decides to give into his curiosity and go out with a man. Liam has been accused of being flighty by his family at times, so no one really knows what to think of this new bi-curious/bi-sexual epiphany


Liam works at his Aunt’s pub as a waiter. When his paramedic Uncle walks in with his new partner. Liam is captivated by his honey colored hair and his amber eyes. Deciding that he should maybe flirt a little and see if the new man is interested, he ends up being klutzily endearing, but sexy at the same time. Liam can’t decide if the his Uncle’s new partner, Oliver, is interested or just thinks he is a bumbling idiot.

Oliver has had a hard day. His new partner has been difficult at best, and now to try to break the ice he has agreed to have dinner with him at his new partner’s families pub. The last thing he expected is to meet and be waited on by a beautiful man who seems to be either flirting with him, or is possibly teasing him in some way. Liam isn’t playing the game like other men do when they want to hook up with Oliver, so he doesn’t quite know what to think.
Later when Oliver is able to feel Liam’s Uncle out about him, he realizes that Liam was flirting with him, and not being a tease. Liam was sending Oliver signals as if he was wooing a woman, not a man.
Flattered and excited, Oliver decides to ask Liam out.

The next time Oliver and Liam’s Uncle return to eat at the pub, Liam is prepared. He has decided to up his game plan, and make sure that Oliver notices him. Even if he has to show a little skin to do it. (You’ll have to read it to see what his wardrobe consist of. He was very sexy)
Liam is more than pleased when Oliver seems to flirt back and seems to appreciate Liam’s new dress code.

When Oliver and Liam go out, their relationship builds so sweetly. I truly loved both of them. Oliver is afraid that Liam really isn’t bi-sexual, but even with those worries, decides to take a chance on Liam because of the chemistry and connection they obviously have between them. Liam on the other hand, can’t imagine being with another woman again, once he has been around Oliver. He is falling in love with him, and only hopes that Oliver will feel the same.

There isn’t a lot of angst in this book. There is some miscommunication between Liam and Oliver. But, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. There were several times I laughed out loud at Liam’s antics, and there are some very hot moments between Liam and Oliver that were both sweet and sexy. I have to say as much as I liked Oliver, Liam really stole the show on this book, too. He is loveable, sweet and very sexy. Oliver never stood a chance once Liam set his mind to have him. Lucky guy!

[Stacey Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this one 5 shiny stars. It's got a place on my all-time favorites shelf. Reading it was like like drinking a glass of Irish wiskey... makes you warm and fuzzy. I absolutley loved this book!!! I loved the style that the author used where you were given the scenes from both perspectives. I love knowing what Oliver and Liam were thinking and how they could both be in the same moment, but see things so differently.

Liam is an absolute doll who "wears his heart on his sleeve" and gives it away freely, even if he knows he'll loose it and have it torn to pieces. On the outside he's resilient and happy, but on the inside, he's afraid he'll never find his true love.

In walks Oliver, literally, into the pub Irish Eyes, owned by Liam's very large and loving Irish family. Oliver has had a hard life and his past has caused him to have some dark secrets about himself that reflect negatively on himself and his ability to have a relationship. He's immediately struck by Liam's beauty and charisma and they soon find themselves on their first date.

So begins their relationship. The author does a fabulous job at going back and forth between Oliver and Liam so that you know exactly what each of them are thinking during the relationship. Neither one is good at communicating what they are thinking to the other so you want to strangle them sometimes but it's so interesting to know what each is thinking. The supporting characters in the story are just as warmly written as Liam and Oliver. No one is superfluous, or just thrown in for fluff. The entire cast adds light and meaning to the story.

As I said, this book gave me the total "warm and fuzzies". It was sad at times, frustrating at times, but overwhelmingly happy... a real "feel good" story. I'm really glad I spent some time with them. Good times!

[Natsroshan · Rating 5 out of 5]

First of all i have to admit that it was a little difficult for me to get used to the writing of this story: i'm always impatient, so having to read the same scene again by the point of view of the other main character bothered me a little.

But i wanted to know what brought so many people to like this story a lot and i forced myself to continue: what a wonderful surprise!!

Oliver: 22 and too mature for his age, gay and lonely, sensible and reserved.
Liam: 19 and impulsive, straight but..., outgoing and true to himself and to others.

Their relationship begun with Liam falling hard for Oliver and he'll do everything trying to fit in whatever relation Oliver want to have with him.
And Oliver falling for him too but thinking (and resigned) to be merely an "experiment" for the Straight-Liam.
Their differences made them do stupid things, make a fool of themselves (on this one, the champion is Liam!!!), try to repress their inner feelings and needs...

And all of that made them insecure and take wrong decisions and wrong assumptions...
I liked them both a lot.

The secondary characters have a strong place in the story. They are a big part of Liam and Oliver's life but not in a wrong way: they add a lot of fun and sweetness in the story.

A beautiful story. There are loving moments, funny ones, angsty ones; all of that beautifully told.

[JenMcJ · Rating 5 out of 5]

I didn't write a review because I thought Amanda did a fine job, but I really liked this book. It is on my recommend list. It switches POV from Liam to Oliver to look at events from both perspectives which gives it a unique flavor.

I really liked the relationship between the uncle and Oliver toward the end when he sees through Oliver and realizes who the really sensitive one is. Plus when Liam goes for advice from his gay uncle. Priceless.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. Very good m/m romance about a bi-curious artist with a heart of gold (whose family own the Irish Eyes pub) and a paramedic who avoids emotional entanglements. I was briefly afeared that there was going to be squicky twin action in this book and am very glad there wasn’t! My only complaint is a plot thread involving a voicemail and an attack that never went anywhere. (If it sways anyone’s opinion on the book, there are kilts. Yum.)

[GymGuy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well, after reading the reviews about this book, I had high hopes. However I can't go five stars. Not really even 3.

The positive: This was a cute story about a couple really cute and sexy guys. The author tried to be unique in developing a POV by switching back and forth between Liam and Oliver. The characters seemed to develop over the course of the story.

But...the negative: In my humble opinion, writing both Liam's and Oliver's dialog in first person was highly confusing and disruptive to the flow. I understand what he was trying to do: explain each scene from both points of view, however it simply didn't work. It meant that he had to repeat virtually every scene twice. I really didn't see a reason for this method, as most books written in 3rd person accomplish the same thing and don't require the constant switching. If I put the book down in the middle of a dialog, I'd have to page back just see who was speaking. Even at times the author got confused.

I also found there to be far too much sex in the story. Out of 300+ pages, a good 200 were hard-core sex scenes. It seemed that the story focused mainly on the sex and threw in a bit of plot for transition. While I enjoy a good sexual interlude, I don't want to just read page after page, scene after scene of it.

The best parts of the book were the first chapter or so when the main characters were being introduced and then the fight scene. The rest was pretty ho-hum.

Then there was the twin thing. I understand that twins have a very special relationship. However Liam's sharing of the most personal details of his and Oliver's relationship with his twin because he "shares everything" was totally inexcusable. Then as the story progressed, he and his twin, Brendon wanted to share the relationship...like a manage-a-tois. Just WAY to kinky for me.

Finally, the author needs to take a course in basic English grammar. I found multiple and consistent grammatical errors, which indicates to me the author simply is writing the way he speaks...which is wrong.

If this book were just OK, I would have given it a 3-star, but given these issues, I can only rate it a 2-star book. Sorry guys.

[Fangtasia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another one for my "favorites" shelf. THIS is how switching POV between MCs is done. Perfect! Each main character has his own angst, though Oliver more than Liam, and totally different reasons. Their journey is far from smooth, but completely reasonable and believable. The story hooks the reader from the start, you want to hug them, scream at them, hit each of them upside the head at least once a chapter, but you are in for the ride until the very end. And then some.

The secondary characters are very good, too, all helping the main characters and the story develop. The author did an excellent job of explaining what the relationship between Liam and Brendan was like. What their relationship was like, apart and together, with Jillian. It was so very endearing to understand how Brendan yearned to have Oliver in his life, as Liam had Jillian. Superb job of showing and not telling where the conflict stemmed from, how communication issues typical of men were the main cause of their problems. The scene where they finally talk through most of their misunderstandings was truly a work of art, not the usual drivel of having men talk endlessly of their feelings and such, which is what most writers do. We all know this is a highly unlikely development in most relationships with or between men.

The guys at the flower shop? Genius!

The editing is superb, there's not one scene missing or too many, making the story flow seamlessly. I laughed, cried, and there were times I did both at the same time. Overall, a fabulous read. Highly recommended.

[Serena Yates · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a wonderful book. The characters are real, have several flaws, and struggle through their relationship to the point that everything falls apart before they realize what's really important.

Liam has suspected that he's bi-sexual for years, but has never acted on it, has never had a date with a man. When he meets Oliver, he knows that he has no choice but to see where his attraction can lead. There are some cute misunderstandings at the beginning of the relationship, because it takes Liam a while to figure out how to relate to a man when dating. His love for Oliver is all consuming, but he's afraid of admitting it. He's always been called too clingy, so he holds back.

Oliver is amazed Liam is even interested in him. He hasn't been loved by anyone except his stepmother, and believes the situation is too good to be true. He loves Liam almost immediately, but doesn't admit it for fear of driving the younger man away even more quickly. Three weeks into a torrid love affair his fears seem to come true, but he's too in love not to try to save the situation.

I loved the deep feeligns both men have for each other. Their different perspetives were fascinating, and the development of the misunderstandings frustrated me, because as a reader, it all seemed so obvious. The gradual evolution of trust and understanding toward the end was very well done, and as believable as the previous miscommunication.

[Feliz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Angsty, so sweet it got almost tacky at times, and two characters who pine away after each other over a misunderstanding born from lack of real communication - not something I usually swoon over, but it was done so masterful here that I couldn't put the book down.
Both Liam and Oliver were such great characters! Loved their voices (the book is told in alternate 1st person), loved their personalities. Liam, so resolute in his loyality - once he gives his heart, he gives it fully. I can see how this can be much too much for someone else, that degree of intensity all directed to one person, but it fits him to be as devoted to his lover as he ist to his art. Oliver, on the other hand, admittedly had a shitty childhood and poor excuses for parents, but this was more than made up by his stepmother Sandy, who was another great character. He was a tad too whiny, but I forgave him because he managed to grow up, and I ended up loving him just as much as I did Liam.

The secondary cast was remarkable, from Liam's uncle Gabe, his twin Brendan and Brendan's fiancee Jillian down to his grandmother, his gay uncles and so on. Every single one of them was a person in their own right and an enrichment to the book rather than an ornament. Highly recommended.

[Amanda · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fabulous novel. Although it may not be for everyone because of the use of double first person point of views, I thought it was perfect the way the authors showed every nuance of each event through both of the character's eyes. Highly recommended.

[Emma Sea]

MandyM calls this one of her top 5 m/m romances. No longer available, but read if can find.

[Angelica · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a quick and entertaining read despite the more than 300 pages to it. I got Oliver and his issues and understood where he was coming from, and Liam with his artistic nature and his head in the clouds was also easy to relate to. They had very distinct personalities, and I was not bothered by the first person narration, though it got a bit repetitive at times. The characters had very good chemistry, but there was way too much sex, which I don't mind, except that in this instance it took away from plot development.

There were also some grammatical errors. Since it was first person narration, it could have passed as usual mistakes people make when they talk, but they were a bit annoying.

I could have enjoyed it better without the usual misunderstandings due to lack of communication, but I was interested enough to want to know how it would end, hence the three stars.

[Antonella · Rating 2 out of 5]

The story is sweet and angsty.

It has many negative points for me though:
- I understand one MC is just discovering sexuality with a man, still... there is too much sex
- the story is told switching points of view between Oliver and Liam: too often we get repeated sentences and events, this is very annoying
- there are grammatical and (many) spelling mistakes
- the characters are a bit cliche, especially the secondary ones

All of this could be acceptable for me in a fanfic, but not in a published book I paid for.

[Lucytif · Rating 1 out of 5]

Boring main characters and cliched secondary characters. Thought I'd like it with all the good reviews, didn't.

[~Nicole~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Can I say that this book is my guilty pleasure? . It was crazy at times, OTT , the whole twins dynamics was just weird and eww most of the times but I really really enjoyed it. The start was a bit too slow (almost DNF) but then it picked up. I really liked Liam !!!

[Plainbrownwrapper · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is definitely better written than its predecessor, When Irish Eyes Are Smiling. I don't know whether that's due to the change in half of the writing team or simply to more writing experience, but it was a welcome change.

Unfortunately, there are still some problems throughout the book. For example:

1. those annoying tense fluctuations still appear, scattered here and there. Most of the book is past tense, but every once in awhile it leaps into present for no discernible reason. Here's one irritating paragraph to illustrate:

My uncle’s gay, but I’m not. I love girls; in fact, my twin’s girlfriend who waits tables with me is about as hot as they come—not that I’m interested in getting with her. Why would I be? I have her, in a way, because she’s Brendan’s. No, what I’ve been thinking about for some time is the idea of trying men. It’d been on my mind more frequently these days. The desire had become even more compelling since Tammy broke up with me a few days before summer vacation, but I’d yet to see anyone who really interested me.

(And just to be clear, this character isn't even waiting tables any more by the end of the book -- and by the end he has *already* tried men quite thoroughly.)

2. there was still some awkwardness in the writing at times that made some of the scenes read like Penthouse letters -- a sort of self-conscious amateurishness, not exactly bad writing, just a bit off-putting at times. It wasn't as noticeable as in the first book, and certainly not enough to ruin the book as a whole.

3. the insecurity of the MC Oliver seems over the top IMHO. I understand how his history would have screwed up his sense of self esteem, but he seemed to simply ignore all external cues in his determined attempts to lambaste himself for imaginary offenses. That occasionally made me roll my eyes at times when I should have been "feeling his pain".

4. there was some odd, almost-incestuous / almost-menage teasing with Liam's twin going on there for awhile. I mean jeez, guys, either go for it or leave it out of the book, don't tease us! Somehow that didn't really seem to fit comfortably into the book as a whole, though Oliver's own discomfort with it was both understandable and entertaining.

Nonetheless, this is still an enjoyable read for the most part. In fact, it's really quite romantic and sentimental in tone, much like the first book, which is a bit surprising considering that one author at least uses a male nom de plume ("Thirteen" is a female according to her author info, but I didn't find any gender info about "Tom Collins" with a very cursory search). Both characters were appealingly constructed -- a lean, outgoing, green-eyed artist (Liam) and a muscular, emotionally-repressed, amber-eyed EMT (Oliver) -- and their emotional development throughout was engaging.

Speaking of male authors, though, a note for the squeamish: I know that some readers object to armpit sniffing and licking and such (I happen to like it myself, but I've seen complaints from others), so be aware that there's quite a bit of pit play in both these books -- and, actually, a lot of licking in general. I personally say "more power to ya, dude"! ;-)

This is better than the first book, so a bit higher rating -- 3.4 stars. Not enough better for me to round up to 4, though.

[mlady_rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I frequently get bored with straight (as in straight-forward) contemporary romances, but I really enjoyed this one. A free spirited bi-sexual artist who's only been in relationships with women meets a highly regimented gay EMT who's used to one night stands and back alley hookups. Lust at first site, on both their parts.

Both the main characters, Liam (the artist) and Oliver (the EMT), as well as the wide variety of secondary characters are well drawn out, and likeable. The narrative has alternating first person POVs, but they are clearly demarcated. Most of the time one perspective drops and the other picks up immediately, but there are a few cases of "rewind and see it from my POV" instances.

The main conflict of their romance is based on radically different perspectives on their growing relationship, which is completely understandable given their night and day backgrounds. Liam grew up and lives in a huge extended family, not to mention he has a twin who he's almost inseparable from. Oliver, on the other hand, was barely tolerated by his parents, only ever loved by a step-mother, and forced to earn his way largely on his own.

I was especially intrigued by the relationship between Liam and his twin brother Brendan. Unlike most twins who work for individuality, these brothers seem to think of themselves as a unit, with their brother's pursuits and romantic relationships being both an extension of their own and a case of "what I'd be if I walked a different path".

They are monozygotic mirrored-twins. (Yes, I had to look it up to remember the term.) Literally mirror imaged. Brendan's organs are literally on the opposite side as Liam's, including his heart. Liam is left handed; Brendan is right handed. So, not only fascinating for their psychology, but for their physiology.

Anyway, tangent aside, great story, and a nice "touch of Irish" just before St. Patrick's day.

Review written 03/17/2010.

[Brittany · Rating 2 out of 5]

Pros:
*Liam and Oliver have sizzling chemistry.
*The first 160 pages or so are kind of cute.

Cons:
*The writing is repetitive. The story did not benefit from two points of view.
*There were too many lengthy sex scenes. They provided sexual development for Liam and Oliver, but no substantial (i.e. character or relationship) development. Unless a sex scene is going to provide character development, I think they are utterly useless. That being said, this book didn't need half of the sex scenes they included.
*Both men let their bodies do the talking. They didn't know how to communicate like adults.
*Their lack of communication lead to many misunderstandings aka a whole lot of unnecessary BS.
*Liam and Oliver don't make much emotional progress in 348 pages. I don't understand how the author could even suggest that marriage was in the works for them. I know they were cute together, but saying they had lasting power is a little far fetched. They didn't even know how to sit down and have an honest conversation. They walked on egg shells around each other because they were scared of saying the wrong thing and having the other break up with them. Liam and Oliver's relationship stood on such fragile ground, I don't even know how they could even be considering marriage. They made progress, but they didn't make THAT much progress. I know this is just a book, however lets keep a few things in perspective.


Overall, When Irish Eyes Are Sparkling gets 2.5 stars from me. It's driven mostly by sex and misunderstandings. I was tempted to round up the rating and give it 3 stars for the OTP's awesome chemistry, but in the end I decided against it. As cute as Oliver and Liam are together, their relationship didn't have enough substance to warrant it.

[Trix · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was such a sweet story!! I could hardly put it down, even when my eyes were bloodshot and tired from reading until the wee hours of the morning.

The two points of view in the story was so disintctly apart and yet each compelling and strong, making the reader feel those emotions, walk, talk and act as the respective character. Both Liam and Oliver had their own traumas darkening their past and affecting their present. And it was amazing to see how what each thought was their flaws affected their relationship but ultimately turned out to be the foundation for love, respect and long term commitment.

I was at first surprised how easily Liam adjusted to being attracted to the same gender and how eager he was to try everything out... excel actually, as if it were a test. But that just went along with his seemingly flaky personality. And as the story progressed, I came to love his airy, dreaming charm and the ease with which he passed Oliver's defenses and struggled for their relationship.

Oliver was so bashfully sweet from the beginning with his lack of trust and confidence in himself. I felt sorry for the abuse he endured at the hands of his real parents and seem to be a walking contradiction between his cool facade of EMT and shaking young man looking for true love. He seemed a bit too fixated on his flaws but then again, after so long, it was hard for him to see anything else.

What else can I say about the book? Liam and Oliver were breathtaking be it together or apart. Even the sexual between them was spiced with loving gestures and romantic poetry. The side characters were funny and charming. And Brendan was an interesting perk to the story, giving the whole thing more depth and complexity.

5 star rating all the way!

[Tristan · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5/5

When I started this book after I did a quick skim through the plot, I must admit I was expecting a quick fluff read but I wound up getting a lot more than I bargained. The actual plot is simple enough, but it's the depth of Oliver character that truly shook me. His trouble past and the damage it has done on his ego. It was all written in such a way that made me ached for him.

The book was written in duel first-person pov where both perspective take turn to share their views on each event sequentially. This irked me, since I don't like reading the every event twice. I couldn't but feel like the book should have been half its actual length if it wasn't for this. However the different in perception between the 2 main characters and the writing did help making it easy to get accustom to this.

Overall, this was a nice and pleasant read with a few touch of heart-clenching moments.

[Tatiana · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.5 star

This book is ridiculous.

What I liked:

▪ Liam was cute.

What I didn’t like:

▪ The writing style and the weird word choices, like “hemorrhaging precum” or “he positioned himself at my panting opening”.
▪ It is told in dual point-of-view narrative of the worst kind – everything is repeated twice, through the eyes of each MC. And there’s not a lot happening in the story.
▪ One half of the book is a big bag of misunderstanding and the other half is sex. Plot? What plot?
▪ Insta-lust on both sides from the very first pages. And a couple of hours later, formerly straight Liam came out as bisexual to his family. Really? That fast?
▪ The other MC kept taking offence at every little thing and torturing himself through the whole book about not being good enough.

So, yeah, this book sucked.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Amazing book! This is the best m/m book I've read. I hope this author has more books soon. I will read them all! I loved the characters, especially Liam. He and Oliver are such an amazing couple and to watch their romance evolve was wonderful. There is a lot of love and humor, especially with Liam and his out-there personality. I also loved the big Irish family who accepted Liam and Oliver without any hesitation. If you have to read any m/m book this year read this one! The sex scenes are hot and steamy but also sweet.

[Vio · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I am in the minority with this book. I had one big major problem, so many long and descriptive sex scenes. They went on forever, I am not joking, there were pages and pages. I skimmed in the end. I felt the focus was sex orientated and less about the emotional aspect of the relationship. Liam and Oliver were nice enough, but their relationship was based on misunderstandings, conflict and sex. Not my type of romance.:(

[Wendy❤Ann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved it and wasn't expecting it to be as great as it is. I absolutely adored Liam as one of the main characters - felt like I constantly wanted to reach out and hug him! The story had great length and depth, wonderful characters, hot m/m action, humor, angst, made me laugh & cry - basically, it had all the key elements to make it a 5 star read for me!!

[heardtheowl · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really really enjoyed this book. It had me laughing out loud over and again. This author is going on my automatic purchase list!

I even looked up my family tartan (O'Rourke!)...feel the need for a kilt. LOL

[Mira · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars
This was a challenge for me to really get into. The dual first person POV was rather distracting. The switches were very frequent and made it difficult for me to keep track of who's head I was in. I know that's just me. The author did it a little different by repeating a lot of scenes from both MCs POV. For some reason I found that annoying. But being in both MCs head while they were all over the place just wasn't enjoyable for me. I found them rather immature sometimes and other times way too mature for their actual ages. And though not insta-love (definitely insta-lust), the speed that the relationship developed just felt too fast and unrealistic. I found the entire story disconnected and hard to get into. It wasn't poorly written by any means, but it was very difficult to connect with, and therefore care about, the characters.

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a sweet modern day romance. Liam is from a HUGE Irish Family. He is an artist, he has a twin brother and up until now he has only dated females although on some level he's always been bisexual. He just has decided that now is the time to try men. Oliver has lived a sort of lonely existence. He is in training to be an EMT and he is assigned to Gabe, Liam's uncle. He also has a lot of emotional baggage, but something about Liam just calls to him.

The romance unfolds and it is sweet. The characters are interesting and flawed and the story unfolds naturally. The story is told from alternating first person POV so you really get to see how very different the two men see the same situations and what things they find important. The story does get a little weird and bogged down in a whole twin element. Not twincest, just this very strange connection the twins have and need to explain, at length and it still doesn't quite come off for me as anything but very strange.

The editing in this book is pretty bad at times. Which especially is awkward at places because the author is already writing in a rhythm specific to the characters (which I think is really well done- especially the character that speaks a lot of yiddish)- and when there is a typo it makes you wonder if there is a typo or a really poor constructed sentence trying to give the flavor of their speaking rhythms.

But I think the biggest problem by far is the fact that the plot actually ends about 55 pages (my book was 303 pages) before the story does and the rest reads like a really long epilogue. It either needed to finish sooner, go much longer and get into the depths of their new relationship or end after the resolution and write a short story that covers everything else including some more about Oliver's life because when all is said and done, he's the character that changes the most in this story. Also gay or straight, I would love to see a story about Liam's cousin Erin.

ETA: Incase anyone was curious I made the tuna salad they both talk about in this book and it's good. And I don't usually like tuna! Just another thing to like, a healthy eating suggestion!

[Tris · Rating 4 out of 5]

When Irish Eyes Are Sparkling by Tim Collins is a sweet and comforting read about two young men at different points in their life and making their way through it together.

Oliver and Liam are two young men who have their own hang ups in life. One does not "do relationships" whilst the other is always easily losing his heart to another person. Together they fit each other perfectly: Liam is messy but Oliver, who has this need to save people mentality, will clean up after him. Oliver tries to get Liam to be better but he never quite gets there, which I thought was a lovely touch because it showed how the two men did not try to change the other but instead found ways to accept each other's differences.

This book was a different sort of read for me because it explored the relationship between a gay guy and a guy just coming to terms with the fact that he might be bisexual. Having never read any books on bisexuality before I wasn't quite sure what to expect of the relationship between the two main characters.

I'm glad that I had the chance to read When Irish Eyes Are Sparkling. While there were gaping loopholes in this book, like why Liam had the sudden urge to want to "experiment" with a guy when all his life he has only had relationships with females (who he believed he was n love with). However, the authors were able to do justice to the story by writing an ending that was just the touch needed to make this book perfect

Collins is a new author to me and is someone who I will definitely be going back to.

[Dre · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm not sure what's wrong with me because I seem to be in the minority for every single book lately, but I couldn't get into the writing. Not sure if it was the flightiness of Liam at the beginning, but he rambled, even in his thoughts, which made me crazy, and the writing seemed a bit stilted. I also disliked that when the POV switched, we got a rehash of the last couple of lines from the previous POV. It took me a minute to figure out that we had gone backwards in the story a bit, which kept pulling me out of the story. I did end up loving Liam's artsy flightiness, and I could sense him being grounded by Oliver even before Gabe mentioned it, so I did enjoy his growth as a character, but I hated that he felt guilty about what Bren did and felt he needed to apologize and was constantly blaming himself. I thought his harsh words to Oliver were very justified, and I wish he'd have pushed the issue of Oliver cruising right after their fight. Which also threw me off because he went cruising, so 1.) whether he actually did anything isn't the real issue although if he had it would have been worse, but you can't just go off looking for a hook up because you had a fight with your boyfriend, and 2.) when they were reconciling Oliver seemed outraged or confused by Liam thinking they broke up. Based on how Oliver just left Liam in the way he did without saying anything, and what he ran off to do, ummm... yeah, I thought you were broken up too. Why wouldn't Liam make that assumption?!

I'm actually really disappointed because this has been on my to read list forever, pretty much since I started reading MM romance a few years ago.

[Rellik · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars

The characters were likeable, and I enjoyed reading about Liam and Oliver.

Still, it was not without its flaws. While the writing was mostly smooth, there were some missing or incorrect word used (either instead of neither etc.) throughout the book. The time jump from a character's point of view to another were mostly well done (also, it was nice to know both protagonists point of view), but some also did quite a time jump at the same time and can be quite confusing.

The plot twist could be seen form a mile away, but still was strangely obvious and unexpected at the same time. Another part of the plot that I was unsure about was the twin factor and the length of explanation that went into it. I was uncertain if there was really a point to it, especially since it only kicked in right at the end of the story. The endless barrage of good fortune near the end was also a bit too much.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading about Liam and Oliver's relationship both how and why they fit together so well. The supporting characters were good additions to the story, although they tend to rant off on odd topics or have a way too obvious reason of why they are chucked at certain points of the story such as Uncle Gabe's with Oliver when he was hospitalised which I thought was very strange things to say to your co-worker. There's also Uncle Joel's single appearance in the book just to give his lawyer perspective on things.