Review: Tigerland by Sean Kennedy

Tigers and Devils is one of my favorite M/M books. It’s a story about love and friendship that every Romance fan should read. My love for that book is the reason why I was equal parts excited and weary when I found out that a sequel was in the works. The opportunity to revisit favorite characters is always welcome, yet there was always the possibility that the magic would be lost. I’m afraid to say I was right to worry.

If you haven’t read Tigers and Devils then you should read it first. Tigerland reads more like a long epilogue to the original than as a standalone, and new readers will be completely lost. The story is very simple; it follows the lives of Simon and Declan three years into their happily ever after. They are happy and their friends are struggling with their relationship, some handling it well, some not so much. But overall everything is fine. That is until Declan’s ex comes out of the closet and, well, doesn't really break much havoc in their lives.

Review: Tigers and Devils by Sean Kennedy

Source: we received an e-ARC of the book through NetGalley for review purposes.

I don’t know how this book managed to fly under my radar. I was browsing through Netgalley looking for an interesting m/m and this one caught my eye. After requesting it I googled it and it turns out that it was a very popular book and it had great reviews. Needless to say the reviews were spot on, after reading it I can honestly tell you that this is one of the best romances I have read all year.

When Simon Murray’s best friends dragged him to a party he had no idea that his life would change forever. As a huge Australian Rules football fan he finds himself defending (and kind of insulting at the same time) the game's biggest star from a group of people who were talking crap about him. The surprise comes when he realizes that said football star was also at the party and heard everything. Declan Tyler has been suffering from a serious case of bad luck in the game. Plagued by injuries he has to deal with the criticism and blame from the fans that once adored him, so when he hears Simon defending him but also treating him like a regular guy he feels fascinated by him. They develop a relationship but there are huge obstacles in their way, the main one being that Declan is closeted. The book is about two people falling in love and learning to deal with everything life throws at them, but it’s also a tale of friendship, growing up, and the sacrifices that come with that.