Blackbird Knitting in a Bunny's Lair

This is book #4 in the Granby Knitting series and all about healing, love, and friendship. Once again, Philip Alces narrates with sublime ease and as smooth as good caramel (and as sweetly). The narration is seamless and I listened while driving on the turnpike for hours, which helped with the whole trance-like state.<br/><br/>At the start we find ourselves with Jeremy in the hospital, crying out, and needing, his boy. There’s the long recovery period, Jeremy’s struggle with his rabbiting ways, and Aiden’s frustration and need for Jeremy to recuperate.<br/><br/>NOTE: This is not a stand-alone – make sure to sure to read The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters (Granby Knitting, #1), How to Raise an Honest Rabbit (Granby Knitting, #2), and (especially) Knitter in His Natural Habitat (Granby Knitting, #3) BEFORE starting this one.<br/><br/>What I loved: <br/>The story is told from both Jeremy and Aiden's POV. I loved getting Aiden’s perspective.<br/><br/>~~~ <br/>“Don’t save it for later. Wear the scarf now. Craw’ll knit for you. He’ll knit until his fingers shrivel, and when he can’t knit, I’ll knit, and Ariadne’s baby’ll knit. But don’t save love because it’s ‘too special’ to wear. You wear love every day, and it’ll never wear out.” Oh, he believed that. With every touch of his father’s hand to his mother’s face, he believed that about love. With everything in him yearning for Jeremy to come home, to just be there to argue with, Aiden believed that about love. <br/>~~~<br/><br/>Catching up with some of the cast of characters. Though, I would have liked to have gotten more time with Stanley and Johnny.<br/><br/>Sweet, broken, damaged Jeremy being the one to think up ways to help Ariadne, Rory, and Persephone even while struggling with his self-worth now that his face (his money-maker) is damaged and subsequently dealing with the fear that he might not be honest enough for the town.<br/><br/>I adored seeing the love, passion and trust between Jeremy and Aiden. Getting a real perspective of their relationship growing from its initial stages into the (hopefully) lifelong bond they’ll share.<br/><br/>What I could have lived without: <br/>I loved a lot about the story, but there were some things that dulled the polish for me a bit. This installment in the series didn't hold my attention as much as the others did. It was overlong and I struggled with the pacing. Also, the thing I hated most about Jeremy and Aiden’s relationship (Jeremy referring to Aiden as “Boy”) was CONSTANT.<br/><br/>Neither thing is a deal breaker, it just made me put it down twice before resuming. It doesn't overshadow the loveliness of the story and this (final?) installment rounds out the series nicely.<br/><br/>Recommended.

We start this book with Jeremy in the hospital after having been beaten up by the mob guy who was after Stanley. He’s in and out of surgery and in and out of consciousness, worrying about Aiden, Craw, the animals, Ariadne, and what his future holds now that he’s no longer “pretty”.<br/><br/>Aiden is struggling with his anger at Jeremy for putting himself in danger and his love for him and his desire to coddle and comfort him. He’s worried about what this means for their future.<br/><br/>Ariadne is struggling with her pregnancy and then later with her new baby. So the Granby crew has to deal with Jeremy’s, Ariadne’s and now the new baby’s medical bills.<br/><br/>They decide to throw a fund-raiser and we get to meet a few more of the men of Granby – I’m pretty sure there’s a book in there! – and the whole town shows its support.<br/><br/>Of course by this time you’ve read all the previous books, this won’t make too much sense as a stand-alone. We see a little bit of Ben and Craw, learn a whole lot more about Ariadne and Rory, but most of all this is about Jeremy and Aiden.<br/><br/>I love the analogy of Jeremy as the rabbit and Aiden as the wolf. Though Aiden is the younger man in this relationship he is clearly the growly, possessive and protective wolf watching over and “herding” Jeremy. Jeremy is settling in and learning to accept all the wonderful things in his life as “his” and as “real”. It’s not too much of a spoiler to say that we finally get rid of that damn safe!<br/><br/>The angst in this story (come on, it’s an Amy Lane story!) comes from “listening in” on Jeremy’s thoughts – his doubts and self-deprecation. Mostly, however, this is a book that shows the relationship cementing and the Granby family fighting for its own.<br/><br/>I hope there is more to this series (Aiden’s friend needs his own book!) but if there isn’t, this was a lovely wrap up.<br/><br/>Audio:<br/><br/>Philip Alces is not my favorite narrator, but he does a nice job. I like him for Jeremy’s voice. I think the deeper, more growly voices are a little out of his range, but he has a great sense of timing and does a nice job overall.<br/><br/>Book 5 of 5 stars<br/><br/>Audio 3.5 of 5 stars<br/><br/>Overall 4 of 5 stars<br/><br/>

A very good summit up of a delightful series. This is a great story for a stressful day. It renews faith in the basic spirit of life.

could life in the Rockies be any more boring than this . waited for some excitement but none came along .