2018-2019 Rainbow Awards Runner-up, Best Gay Contemporary Romance & Romantic ComedyWhen a series of personal crises prompt risk-averse research librarian Aaron Templeton to apply for a job on the other side of the country, nobody is more surprised than he is. He nearly runs home before the final interview except for one little problem: he has no home anymore. He put his condo on the market … condo on the market before he left California and it’s already sold. Only an encounter with free-spirited Connecticut native Cody Brown at the Mystic Seaport Museum staves off Aaron’s incipient panic attack.
Cody loves nothing better than introducing newcomers to the great features of his beloved home state, and when the newbie in question is a rumpled professorial type with the saddest blue eyes on the planet? Score! The attraction between the two men deepens as they explore Cody’s favorite spots, but when difficulties arise and Aaron’s insecurities threaten to overwhelm him, will Cody’s love be enough to keep him in Mystic?
Mystic Man is a 32,000-word novella featuring a pertinent internal playlist, suggestive shellfish consumption, and a six-year-old who thinks history should have more girls. HEA guaranteed.
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Mystic Man is a sweet, low angst, fun story about two very different men, who are each other’s harbour and anchor. I connected with both Aaron and Cody almost immediately and had to keep reading to make sure they got their HEA. I liked that the author spends time growing Cody and Aaron’s friendship as well as romance, and how they spark off, and understand, each other.
I also loved Cody’s internal playlist, and how the songs connected to the story.
The supporting cast are great, and I thought there was a very real sense of family. Cody’s sister, brother-in-law, and niece feel very real. They’re close and it shows.
The setting feels like a character in its own right, and I enjoyed learning more about Mystic. I thought the story wasn’t just about Cody showing Aaron around Mystic, but the journey of both men finding a home in each other.
I enjoyed catching up with Cody and Aaron a year later too, and found the ending very satisfying.
I am a huge fan of any story written by EJ Russell for a lot of good things but especially because she is an expert in sweetness. Really, I am not sure how can I describe this but every single story she writes has a common denominator, amazingly sweet characters so perfect in their love for each other that you just need to know what is going to happen to be at peace. And that is exactly how I feel about this book. A love story so good that I couldn’t let go the book until the very end. Easy to read, low angst, sweet (of course) and endearing, the story of Aaron and Cody is simply perfect!!
I received this book as an ARC and this is my honest opinion.
Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team
Ruthie –
This is a really sweet and heartwarming love story. It reminded me of the courage of the human spirit, and of the tenacity with which some people are able to hold on to their dreams, even when their dreams change.
I loved finding out more about Mystic and Connecticut through Cody’s stories for Aaron. Cody’s family provide fun side characters, especially his sister and her freely given advice. It was such a perfect pairing, as we discover very early on thanks to getting both their viewpoints. I liked that it wasn’t plain sailing and there were issues to resolve, yet the connection was strong enough to make them want it all.
This is pure escapism, read and enjoy!
Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Mystic Man by E.J. Russell to read and review.
This is a cute, quick read and a lovely homage to Connecticut. Aaron has chucked his life in California to fly across the country for a job interview after a series of negative interactions. Cory, an adventurer and free spirit is working as a volunteer at Mystic Seaport when he meets Aaron and is immediately taken with him. Cory decides he needs to show Aaron all the wonderful things about CT in order to get him to stick around.
The story is sweet and has some thoughtful messages about how we approach life and the challenges that life presents to us. The climatic scene is emotional and heart wrenching. The resolution is a bit out of left field and feels a bit contrived. It didn’t gel for me as well as the rest of the story. I also would have loved a bit more character development, maybe some deeper exploration of Aaron’s background as the explanations are kind of vague and don’t appear to explain some of his hangups. (I would explain further but it would involve spoilers.)
But overall it’s a sweet, low angst, quick read that I’d recommend.
*I voluntarily read an ARC and this is my objective review *
I loved Mystic Man, read it in one sitting — just what I needed!
What a lovely sweet, low angst read. The connection between Cody and Aaron was totally believable and their romance rather swoony <3 My first book by E.J. Russell and I'll def be checking out more.
Aaron likes stability in his life and he’s the last person to call impulsive. Cody is a free spirit, he loves traveling and meeting new people. A series of events leads Aaron to put his house on the market and apply for a job at Connecticut on the other side of the country. Cody who is a volunteer at Mystic Seaport Museum mistakes him for a tourist and offers to be his tour guide. The two men go sightseeing and soon start developing feeling for each other.
This was a sweet and romantic love story between two different men that complete each other perfectly. It was low angst and beautifully written with a happily ever after. I really enjoyed the book. Cody and Aaron had great chemistry and I loved the descriptions of the places they visited. I felt like I was with them.
I received an ARC of this book for an honest review.
Aaron made a huge decision, a rash decision, without thinking, he sold his flat, quit his job and took a ticket plane for Connecticut. Just like that, he decides to change radically his life. As soon as he lands in Connecticut, he regrets his choice, that’s when he meets a beautiful young man, Cody.
Cody loves to travel, he refuses to commit with a job desk, he preferred taking his backpack and roam the world. When he meets Aaron, Cody might see a reason to finally stay put in one place, but did Aaron would want it too?
Mystic Man by EJ Russel was a very sweet novella.
Cody and Aaron are different. First, they have a decade that separate them in age, then, Cody is wild while Aaron is cautious. When Cody wants to explore the world without thinking of tomorrow, Aaron rather think and overthink each decision and his future. But in the middle of all their differences, they have the same aspiration, to find an anchor in their life.
I really liked this novella, it was sweet, funny and captivating. The characters were well developed, and I was attached to them from the beginning. I had a sweet moment with them, and I gladly recommend it. It was easy and agreeable to read.
The environment in this book is easily imagined, with the author’s descriptive words putting me right next to the water, smelling the brine, and hearing the gulls. The secondary characters are interesting and supportive of the storyline. I love the little girl.
Cody and Aaron are entirely different, yet they mesh beautifully.
They shore up any weaknesses in the other and help maintain an even keel while still enjoying the excitement that is life. The give and take between them are lovely.
The author gives us well-fleshed-out characters. Aaron has deep-seated issues that take a strong incentive to make him want to strive to overcome. Cody needs someone special to make him want to stay home.
The romance is believable, the spicy times are very hot, and the HEA is satisfying.
I will read more from this author.