What do you think?
Rate this book
Chasing Butterflies
When a heat wave wrecks Nolan Brooks’ rental car, leaving him stranded in a sleepy little Tennessee town, the goal of spending the summer running his best friend’s beach-side bar begins to flutter out of reach. He’s trying to be responsible and ambitious for the first time in his life, and spending the weekend at a local festival celebrating the migration of the Purple Lacewing butterfly doesn’t fit into those plans.
But he’s stuck for the duration, and making the best of a bad situation doesn’t seem so difficult when a shortage of hotel rooms means he’s spending it with the charming, if mysterious, Gray Ashton. Gray isn’t too fond of tourists, but despite his misgivings it seems he’ll make an exception for Nolan.
When Nolan succumbs to the charms of the town, the butterflies and Gray, he has to re-evaluate what he really wants. But the secrets in Gray’s past and the obligations in Nolan’s future won’t make that any easier than chasing butterflies.
But he’s stuck for the duration, and making the best of a bad situation doesn’t seem so difficult when a shortage of hotel rooms means he’s spending it with the charming, if mysterious, Gray Ashton. Gray isn’t too fond of tourists, but despite his misgivings it seems he’ll make an exception for Nolan.
When Nolan succumbs to the charms of the town, the butterflies and Gray, he has to re-evaluate what he really wants. But the secrets in Gray’s past and the obligations in Nolan’s future won’t make that any easier than chasing butterflies.
73 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 28, 2010
47 people want to read
About the author
Cat Kane
14 books10 followersCat Kane is a puzzle wrapped in a mystery wrapped in an enigma wrapped in chocolate. Despite sharing her home country with approximately ninety billion sheep, she worships her namesake animal and is ready to bow down as a loyal minion once cats develop thumbs and take over the planet. Cat has been writing M/M romance for long enough that it scares her a little when she thinks about it. Cat is also vaguely weirded out by writing about herself in the third person, but above all is very grateful to you for reading her books.
You can contact Cat at catkanewrites@gmail.com, or via Twitter, Facebook, or her blog
You can contact Cat at catkanewrites@gmail.com, or via Twitter, Facebook, or her blog
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
April 24, 2014
This was a guest review for the Boys In Our Books *Spring Cleaning*
http://boysinourbooks.com/2014/04/22/...
So when Ami asked me if I had a book collecting virtual dust on my virtual bookshelf I had to laugh.
Do I ever, way too many. Ami checked my shelves and told me I HAD to do some spring cleaning and while I was at it, a guest review of my dust bunny book.
I picked a book that I bought a loooong time ago, so long ago that I hadn't added it to GR and the publisher doesn't exist anymore.
The title and the blurb sounded like something I'd like, but I didn't really enjoy it as much as I'd hoped.
Nolan, the narrator, gives the impression of being flighty and unreliable. His boyfriend seems to love reminding him of his failings and lack of ambition.
So after his boyfriend tells him he needs a break, Nolan decides to prove, if to no one else, at least to himself that he can follow through and be reliable.
It doesn't work out quite the way he hoped and he ends up stranded in a small town whose only claim to fame is the yearly migration of a very rare butterfly species.
“It was better than waiting. It was better than staying. The longer he had to pause and reflect, the more likely he'd be to turn tail and run.
He had nothing, no one to turn around and run back to.”
I had hoped this would be more of Nolan really finding himself and seeing himself in a new way, and I guess he did, to an extent. But he meets Gray and their relationship frustrated me.
They seemed to both jump to conclusions ( wrong ones) and expect more or have higher expectations that just didn't seem realistic on such a short acquaintance. They just met, jump in to bed and both of them know that Nolan has places to be, yet Gray acts like Nolan owes him answers and explanations when he himself is keeping his own secrets.
I felt they both behaved as if they we already in a serious committed relationship when it came to their expectations of the other man, yet they themselves act appropriate considering they only met 2 days ago and really only have sex, secrets and issues.
I think the novella length just wasn't enough to see Nolan realize his own potential and see the reason for the love/attraction between Gray and Nolan. It was all just too fast for me.
I did enjoy the setting of the book. This small town, I could picture the atmosphere, the people and the close knit community. There is also the love-hate relationship with the tourists that keep this town alive yet also disrupt it.
And I do love butterflies, which is probably why I bought this one in the first place.
http://boysinourbooks.com/2014/04/22/...
So when Ami asked me if I had a book collecting virtual dust on my virtual bookshelf I had to laugh.
Do I ever, way too many. Ami checked my shelves and told me I HAD to do some spring cleaning and while I was at it, a guest review of my dust bunny book.
I picked a book that I bought a loooong time ago, so long ago that I hadn't added it to GR and the publisher doesn't exist anymore.
The title and the blurb sounded like something I'd like, but I didn't really enjoy it as much as I'd hoped.
Nolan, the narrator, gives the impression of being flighty and unreliable. His boyfriend seems to love reminding him of his failings and lack of ambition.
So after his boyfriend tells him he needs a break, Nolan decides to prove, if to no one else, at least to himself that he can follow through and be reliable.
It doesn't work out quite the way he hoped and he ends up stranded in a small town whose only claim to fame is the yearly migration of a very rare butterfly species.
“It was better than waiting. It was better than staying. The longer he had to pause and reflect, the more likely he'd be to turn tail and run.
He had nothing, no one to turn around and run back to.”
I had hoped this would be more of Nolan really finding himself and seeing himself in a new way, and I guess he did, to an extent. But he meets Gray and their relationship frustrated me.
They seemed to both jump to conclusions ( wrong ones) and expect more or have higher expectations that just didn't seem realistic on such a short acquaintance. They just met, jump in to bed and both of them know that Nolan has places to be, yet Gray acts like Nolan owes him answers and explanations when he himself is keeping his own secrets.
I felt they both behaved as if they we already in a serious committed relationship when it came to their expectations of the other man, yet they themselves act appropriate considering they only met 2 days ago and really only have sex, secrets and issues.
I think the novella length just wasn't enough to see Nolan realize his own potential and see the reason for the love/attraction between Gray and Nolan. It was all just too fast for me.
I did enjoy the setting of the book. This small town, I could picture the atmosphere, the people and the close knit community. There is also the love-hate relationship with the tourists that keep this town alive yet also disrupt it.
And I do love butterflies, which is probably why I bought this one in the first place.
April 24, 2022
3.5 stars
April 5, 2011
2.5 but I won't ever read this again, so I'm rounding down.
I love the title of this novella. It was one of the reasons why I decided to give it a whirl when the blurb didn’t necessarily scream buy me. But unfortunately, my reservations from the blurb ended up prevailing.
Nolan is on his way to Savannah, to help out an ex with his bar. He’s trying to re-imagine his life and identity after his most recent boyfriend kicked him out because he thought Nolan needed to learn some responsibility. Nolan’s good intentions get ground to a halt when his car rental breaks down outside a tiny Tennessee town. He’s forced to find a room, but lucky for him, he’s arrived just before most people are expected to come for the town’s annual butterfly festival. He meets Gray, a local who seems as much as a free spirit as he’s always been. Gray’s personal life seems to be in turmoil, but when he makes it known he’s attracted to Nolan, Nolan eventually gives in.
Nolan is presented as charming but irresponsible. This promise to help his ex is his first planned step in refocusing his life. Something has to be better than renting out the living room walls to art students and getting dumped. It’s entertaining at first, but Nolan’s reactions to Gray begin to grate fairly early. Gray has been kicked out of his house by a woman named Maddy, but rather than get the whole story from Gray or anybody else in town, Nolan creates his own version of events.
Therein lies my problem.
Absolutely all of the conflict stems from this Big Misunderstanding. Gray does it, too, which only compounds my frustration. All of the angst, all of the emotional drama, comes from assumptions made by both men, assumptions that could have been cleared up if they ever bothered to actually finish a conversation. It’s so blatant from such an early point in the story that I spent more time wanting to shake some sense into them than getting invested in their romance.
The writing itself is not to blame. It’s clean and unassuming, rarely getting in its own way. That lapses toward the end of the story when the butterfly metaphor gets heavy-handed. Any delicacy it might have had throughout the duration of the story – and it was there, I noted more than one the similarities between Nolan and the butterflies – was turned into a sledgehammer.
None of this has soured me on this author, though. There’s a terrific sense of place and small town charm surrounding the leads, and Nolan, outside of his rather annoying assumptions, was really quite adorable. I just had no tolerance for the misunderstanding that fueled this contemporary, proving that this particular romance wasn’t for me.
I love the title of this novella. It was one of the reasons why I decided to give it a whirl when the blurb didn’t necessarily scream buy me. But unfortunately, my reservations from the blurb ended up prevailing.
Nolan is on his way to Savannah, to help out an ex with his bar. He’s trying to re-imagine his life and identity after his most recent boyfriend kicked him out because he thought Nolan needed to learn some responsibility. Nolan’s good intentions get ground to a halt when his car rental breaks down outside a tiny Tennessee town. He’s forced to find a room, but lucky for him, he’s arrived just before most people are expected to come for the town’s annual butterfly festival. He meets Gray, a local who seems as much as a free spirit as he’s always been. Gray’s personal life seems to be in turmoil, but when he makes it known he’s attracted to Nolan, Nolan eventually gives in.
Nolan is presented as charming but irresponsible. This promise to help his ex is his first planned step in refocusing his life. Something has to be better than renting out the living room walls to art students and getting dumped. It’s entertaining at first, but Nolan’s reactions to Gray begin to grate fairly early. Gray has been kicked out of his house by a woman named Maddy, but rather than get the whole story from Gray or anybody else in town, Nolan creates his own version of events.
Therein lies my problem.
Absolutely all of the conflict stems from this Big Misunderstanding. Gray does it, too, which only compounds my frustration. All of the angst, all of the emotional drama, comes from assumptions made by both men, assumptions that could have been cleared up if they ever bothered to actually finish a conversation. It’s so blatant from such an early point in the story that I spent more time wanting to shake some sense into them than getting invested in their romance.
The writing itself is not to blame. It’s clean and unassuming, rarely getting in its own way. That lapses toward the end of the story when the butterfly metaphor gets heavy-handed. Any delicacy it might have had throughout the duration of the story – and it was there, I noted more than one the similarities between Nolan and the butterflies – was turned into a sledgehammer.
None of this has soured me on this author, though. There’s a terrific sense of place and small town charm surrounding the leads, and Nolan, outside of his rather annoying assumptions, was really quite adorable. I just had no tolerance for the misunderstanding that fueled this contemporary, proving that this particular romance wasn’t for me.
December 31, 2013
4.5 stars. For a novella, this story and its heroes have surprising depth. And though there are butterflies in the story, this is about breaking away from preconceptions of oneself as a loser and a failure and deciding to seek happiness instead.
Nolan’s ex throws him out, always subtly or less-than subtly calling him a failure. On his way to a new job in a new town, Nolan meets misfortune and ends up stuck in a small town which only booms during a short visit by rare butterflies but now suffers under a heat wave. Years ago the town had been taken in by a con man, and the folks are now distrusting of strangers. No one more so than Gray. Yet he and Nolan are compatible in every way, especially sexually. But… Nolan made a commitment to begin anew, no screw-ups, and Gray appears to have a pretty wife tucked away. Then the ex, Elias, shows up, and everything’s a mess.
We get the story from Nolan’s point of view only. Yet both men come through as emotionally real, tangible men who wish to change but don’t know how and are trapped by their own resignation. The characterization is vivid and profound. It’s easy to sympathize for both men. And Elias is easy to detest, always belittling and selfish. Nolan’s emotional journey is shown deeply here, the hurt, the sadness, the desire to give up and yet want more. His wish to find a place to call home, a place of acceptance and love, is one anyone can relate to.
The pace is about average, not too fast or slow. Yes, the sexual affair between Nolan and Gray happens real fast, but it’s understandable because both men are desperate to find even a sliver of happiness. The plot revolves around Nolan’s self-discovery, a few inherently male miscommunications, and secrets kept and blown out of proportion by mistrust. There’s a lot of sex, hot and steamy, and a few friendships forged. And the elusive butterflies? Guess you’ll just have to read the story to find out.
A good romance, well worth a look or three. Recommended.
Nolan’s ex throws him out, always subtly or less-than subtly calling him a failure. On his way to a new job in a new town, Nolan meets misfortune and ends up stuck in a small town which only booms during a short visit by rare butterflies but now suffers under a heat wave. Years ago the town had been taken in by a con man, and the folks are now distrusting of strangers. No one more so than Gray. Yet he and Nolan are compatible in every way, especially sexually. But… Nolan made a commitment to begin anew, no screw-ups, and Gray appears to have a pretty wife tucked away. Then the ex, Elias, shows up, and everything’s a mess.
We get the story from Nolan’s point of view only. Yet both men come through as emotionally real, tangible men who wish to change but don’t know how and are trapped by their own resignation. The characterization is vivid and profound. It’s easy to sympathize for both men. And Elias is easy to detest, always belittling and selfish. Nolan’s emotional journey is shown deeply here, the hurt, the sadness, the desire to give up and yet want more. His wish to find a place to call home, a place of acceptance and love, is one anyone can relate to.
The pace is about average, not too fast or slow. Yes, the sexual affair between Nolan and Gray happens real fast, but it’s understandable because both men are desperate to find even a sliver of happiness. The plot revolves around Nolan’s self-discovery, a few inherently male miscommunications, and secrets kept and blown out of proportion by mistrust. There’s a lot of sex, hot and steamy, and a few friendships forged. And the elusive butterflies? Guess you’ll just have to read the story to find out.
A good romance, well worth a look or three. Recommended.
July 17, 2010
Nolan is trying to get to Savannah where he is going to manage his friend’s bar when he’s on vacation after Nolan’s BF suggested they “take a break”. Everyone figures Nolan is a screw-up who can’t do anything, so he’s determined to prove them wrong and when the planes aren’t running he rents a car and heads off. He ends up with car trouble in a small town just as their butterfly festival is about to start. At the guest house he meets Gray who charms his way into sharing his room because he’s had a fight and can’t go home. Needless to say things progress quickly despite Nolan knowing it’s a bad move and that he’s leaving soon. Maybe not so soon, the parts aren’t there so he’s stuck. He and Gray have a falling out when a BM takes place and Nolan’s ex shows up to bail him out. The misunderstanding is pretty complicated and I don’t really blame Nolan for thinking what he thought, but I hate when people talk around something “Oh, I can’t talk about their business” kind of thing but drop just enough hints to fuck everything up. I was also happy to see Nolan grow a spine and stand up to his ex, and even Gray, doing what was right. So despite the BM which usually makes me crazy (and it was clarified within 24 hours so didn’t drag on) it was an entertaining read and I really liked Gray’s personality when he wasn’t all defensive and stupid and Nolan was likable as well.
July 30, 2014
Nolan and Gray. What can I say? I liked them. I didn't really believe that Nolan was the screw up that people thought he was. For some reason that really bothered me. I think I needed to see it. I think I needed to really believe that he was a screw up, because even HE said he was.
Then there was Gray. I liked him. I liked him a lot :) But, I think I would have loved this story if they talked instead of assuming.
Then there was Gray. I liked him. I liked him a lot :) But, I think I would have loved this story if they talked instead of assuming.
November 12, 2013
Nolan is a nice guy who needs the chance to grow up. His ex, Elias, needs to be smacked. I wanted to shake both Nolan and Gray for not talking to each other and for letting silly misunderstandings create problems for them.
July 30, 2014
First read - Dec 27, 2010
Reread on July 30, 2014.
Reread on July 30, 2014.
June 2, 2013
I enjoyed the beautiful prose, engaging writing style and interesting characters (primary and secondary). I didn't like the silly, easy to-be-avoided misunderstanding between two MCs.
October 27, 2011
Очень романтичная, мягкая история.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews