3.25 Stars. I’m a Brooke fan but this was not one of my favorites of hers. In fact it reminded me a lot of her book Fierce Overture, which I wasn’t big on either. The characters in this book are more likeable, but I was missing that good chemistry Brooke normally writes in her couples. Just to add I’m going to keep this review shorter than I normally do. I’m dealing with a massive head cold that is making being on the computer for any length of time painful.

I liked the main storyline and the backgrounds of both characters. Tierney is a bit of a nomad after growing up in the foster care system. She doesn’t have any roots and travels around doing odd jobs. Giselle is the other main character who is a famous composer. Giselle has crippling anxiety which often stops her from leaving her home. Tierney takes a job as Giselle’s assistant and the two become closer.

As I mentioned in the beginning, while I found both characters to be likeable and I cared about them, I found almost no chemistry between them. They seemed like great friends but anything beyond that just did not sit right.

There were a few plot issues I didn’t care for. One was this odd friction with a women and her cop husband. The issue never went anywhere and just did not seem to fit in this story. The other issue I had was with the big conflict at the end. The conflict was so forced it seemed totally unbelievable. I don’t get why Brooke didn’t just leave them alone and instead work on strengthening their fragile connection.

The highlight of the book was Mike and Viv from Coffee Sonata in this book. It’s like Brooke can stick Mike into any of her books and she makes them better. If you were a fan of Coffee Sonata you might wish to read this. This wasn’t bad, just not Brooke at her best.

Ms Brooke again gives us a book well worth reading. Composer and lyricist Giselle Bonnaire writes the most beautiful music but having agoraphobia along with an anxiety disorder doesn’t help. Her long time housekeeper has to leave, leaving Giselle on her own. Tierney Edwards has grown up in foster care so when she becomes an adult she travels from place to place not really trusting anyone. But she needs a job so she takes on the challenge of running Giselle’s home. But she hasn’t forgotten where she came from so she keeps in touch with others in the foster system, helping where she can. I’ve read many books by Ms Brooke and have never been disappointed. Very enjoyable read.
eARC via NetGalley

I have previously enjoyed Gun Brooke's books especially those that have the characters struggling with some medical condition that adds to the complexity of the relationship. I felt this would be in the same boat as the others I have enjoyed. However I did really struggle to connect with the characters in this one. It felt to me like the characters and story line was too dramatized for my liking.

This one just wasn't for me unfortunately.

<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40201934-wayworn-lovers" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img border="0" alt="Wayworn Lovers" src="https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1527132297m/40201934.jpg" /></a><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/40201934-wayworn-lovers">Wayworn Lovers</a> by <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/126557.Gun_Brooke">Gun Brooke</a><br/>
My rating: <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2419915619">3 of 5 stars</a><br /><br />
An ARC was rec'd from NetGalley/Bold Strokes Books.<br />Main characters are Giselle (composer/lyricist) and Tierney (wanderer). Ms. Brooke's storyline touches on the foster-care system, agoraphobia and extreme anxiety disorder interwoven with romance and angst. I found some character connections a bit disjointed but the plot overall a good one. Not a bad read. 3 stars.
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<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/review/list/31134832-gail">View all my reviews</a>

First this book was incredibly boring, like the whole way through and I was so ecstatic when it was over. If you take away the fact that it was boring, there is a lot of potential in the story. It’s a very interesting topic, that didn’t ranslate to an interesting book. I like Tierney. She wa sinteresting , compassionate and someone I could relate to as I had a pretty rough childhood as well. I never ended up in foster care, but my older sister did and it wasn’t awesome. There are some inaccuracies with respect to Giselle and Tierney being allowed to take a foster kid into their home without actually being foster parents. I’m married to a social worker in foster care and she assures me that it does not happen that way. Only if Tierney was a blood relative of Stephanie would she have been able to take her without any background checks. So yeah I’m calling BS not that. Overall a decent enough story even if it was boring which is why I finished it. I very rarely don’t finish a book so that at least speaks to the fact that it kept me wanting to know the outcome. Good characters, decent story, but a little boring. .

Not the usual run of the mill novel by Ms. Brooke. It lacks the depth of emotion I loved in Soul Unique, but then again that book had a great protagonist. I wish Giselle was more fledged out and we got to know why she became the way she was in novel and what her demons were.

I enjoyed getting to know the characters from Fierce Overture and Coffee Sonata again and in Tierney we have a wonderful heroine who manages to give back inspite of a harrowing childhood.

A wonderful read for sure, and one of Ms. Brooke's better offerings.

Wasn’t too keen on this one, Talk of falling in love in the first week of meeting really puts me off plus zero chemistry doesn’t help either, I just couldn’t force myself to get into the whole story at all and I was too bored to carry on so come 70% I gave up.....

Wayworn Lovers by Gun Brooke is a romance about two women who find an unusual draw to each other that soothes each of their broken souls. Giselle Bonnaire is a literal shut-in due to her anxiety disorder and agoraphobia. She is a famous composer, but she has shut herself away with only limited contact with the world. Tierney Edwards is a product of a broken foster care system who lives a nomadic life; never staying too long in one place so that she doesn’t make connections or suffer disappointments. When Tierney shows up at Giselle’s house seeking day work, the women embark on a journey that tests each of their willingness to step past their comfort zones.

Both Tierney and Giselle are likeable characters. Tierney is very empathic and seems to know just how to support Giselle. Their intense longing for each other seemed forced to me and it was hard for me to believe that after a lifetime of living with anxiety and agoraphobia, Giselle would suddenly be able to handle some of the plot twists. It was also a stretch for me to believe that Tierney just so happened to be a gifted lyricist and singer.

The dialogue had a very lyrical quality to it, but that bordered on feeling self-conscious. The supporting characters all happen to be lesbians in long-term relationships and take to Tierney right away.

I really love some of Gunn Brooke’s books, but this one didn’t quite live up to my expectations. I never wanted to stop reading it, but it didn’t keep me up all night to finish it. I think that plenty of readers will like the book because of the unusual subject matter (the anxiety disorder/agoraphobia).

I was given an ARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for a fair and honest review.

Interesting premise and a well developed romance than offers hope and acceptance. It’s a little bit twee in places, but the handling of the phobias was good, especially as there was no sudden cure due to love, but instead a realistic lessening of anxiety due to will power and necessity. It’s an enjoyable read that leaves a smile.

ARC provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m a fan of Gun’s, I’ve read all of her stories, and Coffee Sonata (which this book is an off-shoot of) is a favourite of mine. Unfortunately this did not live up to it.

Tierney is a former foster child who makes her living doing odd jobs as she moves from place to place, Giselle is a composer/musician who suffers from agoraphobia who hires Tierney to help her when her assistant suddenly leaves. The first part of the story of them getting to know each other and adapting to living together was alright, and I enjoyed Vivienne and Mike from Coffee coming into the story as well.

Things veer off track at the halfway mark though. First is the implausibility of Tierney having magical signing/song writing superpowers and being able to provide not just Gisele, but also Vivienne and Mike’s group and later also Noelle (from Fierce Overture, one of my least favourite Gun books) with music they love. Having all of the characters from Coffee Sonata show up wasn’t a surprise as they all live in East Quay and work together, but adding Noelle and Helena to the mix was just too much. I don’t know why Gun feels the need to cram as many past characters into a book as she can, but I really wish she’d stop.

Apart from Tierney’s magical music ability, there’s also an even more implausible storyline involving a foster child, which is solved because of Manon’s connections and ability to appoint people as foster parents without any kind of checks being run at all. I confess that I don’t know much about the foster system, but I would hope it is not run the way it’s depicted in this story.

There’s also an unnecessary subplot involving some of the townspeople that adds no value to the story. We then have the mandatory contrived breakup near the end which is magically resolved in a few pages, followed by a HEA epilogue.

This isn’t Gun’s best work, but fans of her other stories may enjoy catching up with past characters. 2.5 stars, rounded up.

Well I don't normally cry while reading a book unless a favorite character dies. But this one unexpectedly had me crying happy tears. It's a sweet story about 3 wonderful but lonely souls finding their home and family. It's a very pleasant read and will leave you feeling very warm.

The fastastic cover hooked me into this story immediately and I was even more charmed by its content. I truly enjoyed observing Tierney gradually removing Giselle’s walls brick by brick. The transformation Giselle experiences is not without roadblocks, speed bumps, and disappointment but then no life journey is without those things. Tierney’s transformation is met with equal challenges but the gift of family she receives from Giselle had me reaching for the tissue boxes and melted my heart into a puddle of goo. Prepare to have your heart charmed right out of your chest with this delightful story.

I absolutely love Gun Brooke’s novels. Coffee Sonata and The Blush Factor are two of my all-time favorites. I enjoyed seeing Mike and Vivian from Coffee Sonata as secondary characters in this book. One reason her books are different from a lot of authors is that the two leads are never “perfect” beautiful people with no problems. Wayworn Lovers is no exception. Both Giselle and Tierney have their share of issues to work through, and watching them getting to know each other is really nice. Also, this is the perfect length to read in one sitting, about four hours from start to finish.

Giselle Bonnaire is agoraphobic and prone to panic attacks. She’s also a classically trained musician who writes music for a few bands and singers. Tierney Edwards is a nomad looking for work in East Quay when she bumps into two women who suggest she try for employment with Giselle seeing as her housekeeper has just left her. Wary at first, Giselle employs her for a couple of days.

What follows is a lovely story of two women pushing each other out of their comfort zones. It was made more enjoyable by the cast of “Coffee Sonata” becoming fairly integral to the story. Issues like agoraphobia, the foster care system and panic attacks are dealt with in a very simplistic manner but I didn’t mind.

I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as I enjoyed “Coffee Sonata” and I think that’s partly because there were four main characters which gave it a much more complicated story line. I don’t think they have to be read in sequence and perhaps this would have been more complex if I didn’t already know who Vivian, Mike, Manon and Eryn were. I did enjoy the easiness of “Wayworn Lovers” and it ended up being a quick, feel-good read. Three and a half stars rounded up.

Book received from Netgalley and Bold Strokes Books for an honest review.

Quirky characters showing that one’s anxiety and agoraphobia can interact with the other’s emotionally cautious nature. In this heartwarming story, Giselle and Tierney have different emotional sensitivities based on temperament or childhood trauma. They also have strengths and talents that the other woman needs. The romance poignantly works through or at least around each woman’s issues to develop their connections. Worth the read.

According to current research, anxiety is on the rise and it can manifest itself in many ways. In addition, the foster care system is broken and some would say because there are not enough decent caring people willing to take children into their home. Others would say, if the system would just be more open and willing to appreciate diverse families, there would be less of a problem related to a lack of available homes. This is a read about two issues I care about and am interested in. Tierney Edwards has found herself (so she thinks) by moving from place to place after aging out of the foster care system. It is difficult for her to trust and when the situation gets emotionally tough, she moves on. On the other hand, Tierney never forgets where she came from and demonstrates a saying I like by Angela Davis, "We must always attempt to lift as we climb". Giselle Bonnaire has found herself (so she thinks) by staying secluded in her home. When these two meet, there is hesitation yet caring. Although the storyline was fairytalish to some extent, being the romantic I am, I want to believe in the best of people and this read provided that in spades.

I really loved this excellent romance with two interesting leads with all kind of issues and some well done minor characters. The story worked for me and I enjoyed it without any real complain. I'm looking forward to reading more from the author especially because of the characters from her previous books that appear here. Highly recommended to all who like some drama and romance interwoven in the same story.

This was another fantastic Gun Brooke read! Giselle and Tierney are wonderful characters. I loved the development of Giselle’s character throughout the course of the novel. Tierney was exactly who she needed. Stephanie was a wonderful addition to the book and they added layer of foster care was handled gently. I loved that we got to visit with characters from her other novels. Overall I highly recommend this book!!

It's a different story than your regular lesfic. Giselle suffers from severe agoraphobia and anxiety. I would have liked to know more about Giselle's background. We don't actually learn anything about her family or past. Meanwhile, Tierney has been on her own since she was 18 after a hard life with several foster parents and group homes. She leads a nomadic life and ends up at the doorstep of Giselle. They soon form a kind of bond and fall in love, although not without overcoming some of their own issues. The angst part was minimal. I didn't really get invested in the characters. But overall it's a good story.

This is one of Gun Brooke’s best works so far. I loved the book! It was intense, it deals with very serious psychological and social issues without anything just being mentioned and then let it spontaneously slide into oblivion or put into background of the story; it amazing chemistry between Gisselle and Tierney and the relationship development! I would definitely recommend this book to everyone! Great work and 5 stars from me!