From NYT and USA Today bestselling author, Gina L. Maxwell, comes a brand-new series with a fresh twist on an old classic.Once upon a time, in Neverland, North Carolina–I fell in love.I was twelve when Peter first climbed up to my balcony.Thirteen when I sneaked out to see him at the School for Lost Boys.Seventeen when his touch made me fly,And eighteen when his words made me cry.We were … Lost Boys.
Seventeen when his touch made me fly,
And eighteen when his words made me cry.
We were magnetic, drawn to each other from that very first night, and what I thought would be forever. But when it came time for me to leave, he wouldn’t come with, soI left town with a map for my future and a shattered heart.
Ten years later, I’ve returned to Neverland, hoping to find a man in place of the boy.
Peter was partially right, growing up is no fun. After quitting my fancy career that sucked the magic out of life, I’m now organizing the fundraiser of the year. In a move that could make or break the event and my new company, I’ve hired Peter, master mechanic and owner of LB Automotive, to help me pull this off–trusting him to rebuild a classic car for the auction that could help hundreds of foster kids in need.
I thought I was prepared, but the boy who refused to leave is now a man hell-bent on getting me to stay, and as sparks fly between us, that undeniable fire flares back to life, deeper and hotter than ever.
But that ripped body doesn’t mean Peter’s matured enough to make us or this event work, and not everyone in Neverland is happy about my return.
Not every wound heals.
Not every heart can be fixed.
Not every boy grows up.
And after all this time, the love we found might be lost to us again…this time, forever.
Pan is an adult contemporary romance retelling of Peter Pan, complete with Wendy, Hook, Tink, and all the Lost Boys. There are no fantasy elements in this world, other than the “magic” that happens between the sheets. 😉
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As soon as I heard Gina Maxwell was writing this book I couldn’t contain my excitement! Aside from the gorgeous cover I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It was more than I imagined it would be and I can’t wait for Hook’s story. Amazing!!
I’ve never been a big fan of the Peter Pan story, but could never quite place my finger on the reason why it didn’t sit well with me. That is, until I got the chance to read Pan, by Gina Maxwell. Words cannot convey my absolute delight for this contemporary twist on a classic story. I’ll start by saying that I think the way the author wove familiar characters, locations, and story lines into this modern retelling was a stroke of genius. The details were familiar enough to move the story along at a steady pace, but different enough to deliver a completely fresh take on the lives of the Lost Boys and Wendy Darling.
So what was it that I came to realize? I was NEVER satisfied with the original plot because I’m a romantic at heart and someone needed to get a happily ever after. No worries about that being an issue in this very adult take on the tale. While it’s not everyone’s favorite thing, I loved the back and forth pacing of the story. In the case of a second chance romance such as this, I find that I really enjoy being able to follow along as the character’s recount how they first fell in love. That these memories were shared through both Pan’s and Wendy’s perspectives really helped me to grasp how deeply these two people cared for one another. It was a nice counterpoint to the almost fast and furious relationship they took up as soon as Wendy returned to Neverland. Not that I’m saying there was anything wrong with their current status. No indeed. Pan grew up to be one sexy, confident man and Wendy was the perfect match for him. The blazing chemistry this pair shared darn near set my kindle on fire.
Ultimately, the magic of this story doesn’t come from fairy tales. The magic lies in Pan’s ability to always look forward while caring for those he loved. It comes from Wendy’s ability to look past the grime and see the heart of Pan and his crew of Lost Boys. The magic comes from a cast of characters who, despite their terrible childhoods, manage to maintain an appreciation for what they do have in their lives. They have magic because they have the ability to love one another, to forgive wrongs, and to support each other. More importantly, they have magic because they still have hope!
I enjoyed the book, and really love Gina Maxwell’s writing style. Her idea to write a modern version of the characters featured in “Peter Pan” was an interesting one. I’m afraid I felt a bit left out at times, simply because the only version of the story I recall is the Disney-fied one, and that memory is hazy at best. So I feel like there may have been some references I just didn’t get. Maxwell asks the readers to recognize that there is quite a bit of whimsy in her tale (along with some very grown-up times as well), and it does offer that. Her imagining of Peter and Wendy, and of their relationship, was sweet and sexy. I’m interested in reading more about the other characters, and there is a bit of a set up in “Pan” for future stories. (My only real complaint is one having to do with the cover of the book: Peter is described often as having tattoos on his arms, but the model is ink-free. Just a personal nit-pick.) I’m looking forward to seeing where Maxwell’s imagination will take us next.
I could not wait to get my hands on this book! I was always a fan of “Peter Pan” when I was growing up and was excited that Gina L. Maxwell was doing a modern day retelling.
The story was told in dual points of view. Past and present tense. I loved the way the story was written because you got to see Peter and Wendy fall in love. With all the odds stacked against it was so nice to see them make it work. *sighs*
Reading this book put a smile on my face. I love the family that they have become and how they stayed together after all of these years. That they didn’t let their circumstances define them!
I loved Wendy in this story. So many people doubted her because of her upbringing but she was tough and could hold her own. Peter was a hard shell to crack but I really couldn’t blame him after every thing he went through with Croc growing up.
I have to say Hook caught my eye in this book and I can’t wait to read about his story next. This was a well written debut story for a new series. I can’t wait to see what’s going to happen to the rest of the gang.
This was a good twist on the the Neverland story, it’s not easy to write something that’s already been written and make it in to something else.
I think Maxwell did a good job of making the adult version of this story. It was entertaining, sweet, steamy and a tearful experience.
* No unnecessary descriptions of surroundings
* Lots of good dialogues
* The characters each has different personalities that comes clearly through in the descriptions.
* Great storyline that progresses steadily and the secondary characters is intriguing so Maxwell has done a good job in securing me reading the next book in this series.
If you like real life fairytale I recommend you read this. 5
Wow! This story was so fun I didn’t want it to end. This is a contemporary romance loosely based off the children’s story Peter Pan. The author even gives the characters the same names from the original.
Peter Pan has had a rough life. He spent his youth living with Fred Croc (crocodile) and his wife, Delia. Croc and Delia only took in the kids they had at the Neverland School for Lost Boys because of the government money they received. They also forced these kids into working at Croc’s illegal chop shop and regularly gave them beatings. This group of misfits, all boys except for one, became known as the Lost Boys.
When Peter was 12, he came across a house where the children just looked happy and when the mother began to read fun stories to her kids, Peter was entranced. Every night Peter would sneak out to listen to the stories and then come back and repeat the stories to the other Lost Boys. One night Peter is caught by the girl, Wendy Darling….and thus starts their romance. Their strong bond continued until Wendy went off to college.
Now, 10 years later, Wendy has come back to Peter’s life because she needs his help and she misses him dearly. These two quickly pick up where they left off. It is obvious from the beginning of this story that Peter and Wendy are soul mates. They both just burn for the other. Just when it looks like their lives are finally moving in a forever direction, a huge problem occurs and both Peter and Wendy have to figure out if they are able to get past it to FINALLY get their happy ending.
I loved the story that Peter and Wendy went through to find their happy ever after. I just adored the characters in this new series…Peter, Wendy, brothers Michael and John, the Lost Boys, Hook, Smee, even Tink….and I can’t wait to read each of their stories. Overall this was a wonderful new series that is fun, sexy and downright perfect!
I love this new take on Peter Pan. I was blown away with this one. Gina L. Maxwell did this amazing job of bringing Neverland to life. I love how carefree Peter is even as an adult. His relationship with the “lost boys” is amazing. The connection between Peter and Wendy is so special. You feel the love between them throughout. I’m so hooked on this series. I can’t wait for the next 8 books to come out and see what sexiness Gina L. Maxwell brings to Neverland next. I found Hook to be really intriguing. Tink is such a spitfire and I for one can’t wait to see how she and Michael pan out. This series is going to be a NEED TO READ one. There I just something so sexy and magical happening in Neverland.
It’s a tricky thing for an author to take a classic & beloved fairytale and write a retelling in a way that doesn’t tarnish the story, yet keeps the characters and their world recognizable with a fresh, modern twist, but Gina L. Maxwell has taken on this task with fervor and flare.
Normally retellings seem to be focused solely on the characters names with a basic similarity to the original. This is the first retelling where I felt like I recognized each scene and the true heart of the story but in a new and exciting way.
I was going to make reference to all of the different things you can expect to find in this book that would convince you just how well the author incorporated the many detailed themes of the original story but I feel the experience of discovering it all on your own is far more important. However, I don’t want you to think that this story is predictable or just more of the same because it’s far from both of those.
If anyone was a fan of the TV show Once Upon a Time I think you’d agree that we all saw that it kind of makes sense that Hook is pretty sexy but I never imagined that I could see Peter Pan that way. I was totally wrong. For all that this book does to remind me of what I love about the original story, it definitely showed me a side of the Lost Boys that I’m totally into, in a not at all innocent way.
Now that I’m done with Peter and Wendy’s story and have been introduced to all of the secondary characters and gained insight into what’s in store for them, I’m most excited about Hook’s story but I have no doubt that Gina L. Maxwell is about to blow our minds with each new book in the Neverland series and I’m so here for it!!
Gina Maxwell’s stories are pure kindle candy for me. They are always sexy, sassy and full of swoons. When I heard she was writing a Peter Pan retelling I could not jump on this story fast enough. Wendy and Peter’s story was emotional and full of the steamy moments we’ve come to expect from this author. It was so much more than a second chance story. It was riveting and intense with light-hearted moments! I enjoyed this so much!
When Wendy Darling returns to Neverland to ask her lost long love, Peter Pan, for help she never would have expected their old connection and chemistry to be stronger and hotter than before. What follows is a deeply romantic and heartfelt story of a modern day Peter Pan with all the sexy banter and feels. I enjoyed getting to know the “Lost Boys” and friends and seeing the deep and complex family dynamics between them. I look forward to the next book in the series as these characters have taken over my heart. Hook in particular has my interest piqued as his dark and troubled character is calling my name! Bravo! 4 stars! ~Ratula
I loved this story! It was incredibly clever and smartly done, all while being extremely entertaining and fun. The author took something familiar and made it fresh, new, and exciting to read! Wonderful start to a new series!
Pan is a modern-day retelling of Peter Pan and it is fully-packed with magical goodness. Gina brings us an alternate version of the life of Peter Pan, his band of Lost Boys, Wendy and the Darling family, the original spitfire that is Tinker Bell, among the other characters we have grown to love over the decades.
Maxwell masterfully creates a world that we all recognize and yet somehow manages to sneak in the famous bits and pieces contained in the Disney original.
Pan is full of action, romance, and plenty of steam. As always – Gina L. Maxwell brings us her beautiful words and emotions in the book that I will not soon forget and I cannot wait to dive into Book 2 and be immersed again in the world of Neverland. As for Gina’s books – I will follow the “second star to the right, and straight on till morning” for the pleasure of enjoying anything and everything she writes.
Pan A Neverland Story #1 Gina Maxwell
This is a brilliant retelling of the iconic Peter Pan story complete with all the wonderful characters. The Lost Boys, Hook, Wendy Darling and of course Tinkerbell and Tiger Lilly to name a few. They will each get their own story in this series, in a contemporary setting and definitely an adult fairy tale!
Wendy and Peter meet when they are twelve. The Darling‘s live in London, North Carolina, while Peter lives in nearby Neverland at the School for Lost Boys of Neverland. He likes to sneak out at night, and heard a mother telling her children “bedtime stories” while he was hiding under a balcony. He’s never heard of them, but loved listening and brought the stories home to the boys. He manages to speak to Wendy one night under her balcony and they become best friends until they are both seventeen and it becomes so much more. Wendy wants to go to college, and have Peter come with her, but he can’t leave the boys and his dreams of taking care of them. So they separate, each with a broken heart. Ten years later she is back, hoping to reconnect with Peter for a lot of reasons, but she needs his help on a new venture.
The chapters vary between Wendy and Peter, past and present. They want to find a way to be together, the friendship they had has turned to love. Even with others trying to interfere and break them, they find a way to stay strong. The romance, the characters, and the mix of fairy tale and contemporary made this book impossible to put down. I even ended up reading it a second time as I was doing my review. This is going on my list for a favorite of 2019, and I’m anxiously awaiting Hook’s story.
I would like to thank the publisher and author for allowing me to read and review this book.
Pat Fordyce
An exciting beginning to a new series by Gina Maxwell. Based on the characters from Peter Pan, this is a story that follows Peter and Wendy as children, then as teenager lovers then adults. I loved the past/present switching told in dual POV as you can follow each character’s thought processes and understand how life experiences influenced their decisions. Wonderful characters both primary and secondary, steamy sexy scenes, great story! Looking forward to reading the rest in this series! I received an ARC for my honest opinion.
Rated 3.5 Stars
I struggled a bit with Pan in the beginning but as I got more into the story things began to flow much better. It’s a contemporary retelling with a second chance spin of one of my fave stories growing up. I enjoyed it. It’s filled with a cast of characters that I know and love and I’m looking forward to seeing what the author has in store for them. It’s a fun re-imagining that I recommend.
Copy provided by author
This was an amazing twist on a favorite fairy tale of mine! Peter and Wendy click from the moment their eyes meet. But can two people from opposite worlds come together in real life? When reconnecting after 10 years, their feelings haven’t diminished a bit. And Peter is determined that he left her get away 10 years ago and that will not happen again thus time, even if it means leaving Neverland. Lucky for them, they get their HEA. And what a great story to get there!!
Book One in a new series. All I can say is WOW. This story is full of so much emotion. Families are made in so many different ways. They are not only by blood. This book is a prime example of just that. Eleven children under the same roof because their “families” didn’t want them for whatever reason. Now they must rely on each other to survive. Pan is their “Captain” and Wendy becomes the mother none of them had. Their story is such a beautiful and heartwarming story. Full of love for each other. Two people from two totally backgrounds. One growing up knowing what love is and the other not knowing it exists at all. Until Wendy came into Pan’s life, he never even knew what a kiss was. Growing up the way Pan and the others did could have resulted in 2 ways. Good or bad. They could have taken to a life of crime but together with the protection of Pan they stuck together and now work for Pan and live with him earning an honest day’s pay. They are indeed family in every sense of the word.
Now Wendy returns 10 years later and the love Pan had for her is just as strong. Only this time he vows to never let her go. Her feelings for Pan have never changed either. Pan still lives in the moment , he works to live while Wendy lives to work. She has come back to Neverland to start her own event planning business and leave her financial planner job but do they have what it takes to live in the present and even plan a future together.
Once again Gina Maxwell delivers such s heartfelt story you will not be able to put down. A great beginning to a new series with amazing characters that you cannot wait to see what happens to them.
Wow. I am speechless in the very best way! Gina Maxwell has created her own kind of magic with Pan. She masterfully takes a story we all know so well and brings it to the present. Adding a sexy touch combined with all the feels that has me over the top addicted to her words. Who knew Peter Pan and his Lost Boys could make me swoon? I am completely in love and am very thankful more is to come.
Pan is beyond clever. Maxwell is seamless in her combination of the world of Neverland and current life as we all know it. Peter and his ‘family’, including one very feisty Tink(erbell) own a garage and are stopped in their tracks as Wendy Darling comes back into their lives after many years apart. We get alternating POVs together with both past and present to understand how Pan and Wendy met, fell for one another and eventually separated as their lives went in different directions. But it’s the love, the memories of how a group of orphaned misfits found some hope in a girl who didn’t want for anything, that drive this story. In spite of all the time not together, I loved that Wendy held her own and fell into step with Peter and his men like she never left.
The way Maxwell took beloved characters from this timeless tale and made not only their names but their personalities current, is brilliant. From Hook to the despicable Croc to Michael and John, glimpses of the Peter Pan I know are there and you can’t help but smile at the similarities and how Maxwell beautifully twisted the story to make it her own.
Time spent with Peter and Wendy is filled with an amazing chemistry as these two can’t take their eyes off of each other and find themselves closer to being together for good this time. Their passion is off the charts hot and their sexual trysts had me fanning myself more than once. This is NOT your childhood Peter Pan. Hell no, this 2019 version is exceptionally sexy yet is amazingly full of an abundance of tenderness and delicate feelings as past memories are never far from anyone’s mind.
To say I adored this book in an understatement. It is fresh and different and truly enchanting. I applaud Gina Maxwell for creating a new Neverland that is as exciting and spellbinding as the one I remember from my youth. Extremely well-written and charming beyond belief, I give Pan a HUGE 5+++ stars!
I was introduced to Gina’s writing with Hook, book 2, so I read the Neverland series out of order and that didn’t matter. This book was an amazing introduction to the Neverland Characters. You get them all, but this story is about Peter and Wendy. I admit it was hard for me to separate the book from the children’s tale, but I think I was just standing in my own way with it, it had nothing to do with Gina’s writing. Her writing will have you sucked in and loving this magical telling of Neverland. After only reading two books of Gina’s I am obsessed with her as an author and I can’t wait to dive in to more of her works.
A great play on a fairytale. I love these types of reads and Gina Maxwell does not diasappoint.
Peter Pan has grown up in an abusive environment. As a child he lived in an orphanage, beaten by his care-giver, and forced to work in Fred Croc’s shop stripping stolen cars for their parts. Pan is now grown up and owns a legit auto-shop of his own. Surrounded by those who grew up with him, the Lost Boys try to make a legitimate living now that they are adults. But has Peter really ever grown up?
During his time at the orphanage he forged a relationship with Wendy Darling. When she turned eighteen and was ready to move on in life Peter would not follow. Now that she is adulting, and in charge of an important fundraiser, she turns to Peter to restore a classic car to be the show case action piece at her event. Can Peter grow up enough to take on this important rebuild? Can Wendy rely on Peter to come through and ensure her the dream job she has always wanted as an event coordinator?
I bought this book as part of #IndieApril. Unfortunately, my Advanced Reader Copy schedule was too tight, so I wasn’t able to read any of the books I bought until May. As you all know, my the last IndieApril book didn’t impress me, so I figured I would read something by an author that I’ve been dying to read.
Not going to lie, I’ve always wanted to read Gina L. Maxwell simply because she is fantastic to follow on Twitter. She engages with readers and is just so much fun to follow (seriously, you need to follow her @Gina_L_Maxwell). Even though I love her tweets, I was nervous to read one of her books. It’s like that moment when you meet a celebrity, you never know if they’re going to be what you expect or be a disappointment. Well, I can now say that Gina’s writing is perfect. I’m judging myself for taking this long to read one of her books.
Pan is one of my favorite books this year. It’s fun, bright, and the banter was phenomenal. I couldn’t help but swoon after Peter, want to be best friends with Wendy, and at times smack Tinkerbell. It was just perfect. I loved that this was a fresh take on Peter Pan that features no magic. Seriously, the only magic in this book is what Peter can do in the bedroom. Peter is a mechanic, that is sure to make you look at your mechanic differently. Every character that you loved in the original fairytale is in this book. Gina really brought together the aspects of the classic novel and intertwined them into a new unique take. There are so many callbacks to the classic that many Peter Pan fans will squee in enjoyment.
As you all know by now, I’m a sucker for good characters, and this book doesn’t disappoint. Each character is well written. They are not flawless, which makes the story more believable. I loved the chemistry between all of the characters. You can see the love between the Lost Boys, Tinkerbell, and Peter, which was really lovely to see.
The relationship between Wendy & Peter was beautiful to watch. I genuinely enjoyed watching them fall in love in both the past and the present. Seeing how each of them grew up was fascinating and incredibly well written. I also liked learning more about the relationship between Peter and Hook. They’re so similar yet different. I cannot wait to learn more about Hook in the next book! I hope that the comradery and differences are explored.
All in all, this was such a fun read. Gina L. Maxwell was able to put a fresh take on a beloved fairytale. It was steamy, and so much fun! I highly recommend this to any romance reader. Even if you’re not a fan of Peter Pan, this fresh take will make you fall in love.