Release Blitz, Review and Giveaway: The Ballad of Crow and Sparrow by V.L. Locey

11 May of 2021 by ButtonsMom2003

The Ballad of Crow and Sparrow By V.L. Locey

Genre: Historical, Romance, GLBTQ, MM

Released: May 8, 2021

Publisher: Self-Published

Length: 75,000 words approx. / 227 pages

Cover Design: XXX

Synopsis

Sometimes a man’s biggest blunder can turn into his greatest triumph.

Orphaned at fourteen, Crow Poulin now has to hunt and trap the White Mountains of Arizona, as his father had taught him, all alone. It’s a lonely existence, until one morning, while checking his trap line, Crow finds more than a rabbit in a snare. He stumbles across the outlaw Jack Wittington lying half dead in the wilds. He takes the wanted man in, heals him, and in return for saving his life, the smooth-talking criminal invites Crow to join his family. Starved for human interaction and a father figure, Crow leaves the mountains behind for what he assumes will be a brighter future.

Six years pass. Crow is now a man, as well as a member of the Wittington Gang. He may be considered an outlaw, but his father’s morals are warring loudly with the lifestyle of his adopted family. When the gang decides to rob a train, Crow has no choice but to go along to keep a tight rein on the more bloodthirsty members. It doesn’t take long for the scheme to go horribly astray.

Instead of gold-filled coffers, the gang finds Spencer Haughton, son of cattle baron and railroad tycoon Woodford Haughton, cowering in the family’s opulent private car. The outlaws grab the sickly heir in hopes of ransoming him off. Things then go from bad to worse for them when the law rides down on the Wittington hideout and Crow is given Spencer to hide until the ransom is paid. The pretty young man is nothing at all like anyone Crow has ever met before. Delicate, refined, well-educated, and possessed of a singing voice to rival the songs of the birds in the trees, Crow slowly finds himself falling for the winsome rich boy. But can two such opposite souls find the love they’re both seeking in each other’s arms?

Review

Reviewed by ButtonsMom2003

Different from my usual read; I loved it!

Wow, I don’t know what I was expecting from this book when I asked to read and review it but it was different from anything else I’ve read by V.L. Locey and pretty much different from any other MM romance I’ve read.

I have to admit that the book started out a tad bit slow for me. The Prologue was really long, but after I started reading Chapter One I understood why it was. This book had my emotions all over the place; my heart was pounding more than once and I also held my breath a few times. After I got past the Prologue I couldn’t put this book down.

The blurb is excellent and does a great job of describing what the story is about. I felt great sympathy for both Crow and Spencer as they were thrown into a situation that neither of them asked for and yet they developed a great physical and romantic bond with each other.

Spencer’s twin brother was great but his father was a real jerk. This story was another good example of how the family you’re born into doesn’t have to be the one you love. Sometimes the family you make turns out to be the best for you.

I can’t forget to mention two of my favorite characters: Crow’s dog, Gin, and his horse, Wind. The antics of these two animals added greatly to the story and I loved both of them. The Epilogue that takes place three years after the main story ends was the icing on a delicious book that was my pleasure to devour.