Sean's Sunshine (The Flophouse)

I'm a big fan of this author and was reminded of that as I just finished rereading the Granby Knitting books. She has a way of sucking you into her stories and creating very memorable characters. I like this series, The Flophouse, also and the first two books were outstanding, especially Constantly Cotton. This particular book was good but, in my opinion, not quite as good as the first two. I really did like Sean and Billy and their journey to their happy ending but I felt the book was too long and, while I love Jackson and Ellery, the insertion of parts of their concurrent story was very distracting and the mystery of the robberies seemed a little forced. Also the ending was rather abrupt and went right into the little shorts from Jackson's and Ellery's story. While these shorts are always enjoyable, I got a bit of whiplash because there was no dividing "space" after the main book. Regardless of these negatives, this author is, as far as I'm concerned, brilliant and I'm a permanent fan. I would love to see Randy get an HEA as he needs one more than most of them.

I always intend to read these slowly, and it never, ever works.It was a treat to see scenes from the Fish Out of Water series in new perspectives. I have no idea how Any Lane does this but I am forever Here For It. But ALSO, Sean's and Billy's story is a delight in itself. The way the business has progressed, the way the cop is dealing with the bad in his profession versus his ongoing internal changes. while the porn star is doing similar with who he'd been and who he wants to be, is satisfying on a visceral level.This novel ends at 88%, and then we are treated to a "Fishlet". And then another little thing that, omg so funny. Delightful.So, yeah. Another in these multi-dimensional interconnected series of series that, in a few years, I'll re-read with fond delight. There's no better gift.

This series was off to a great start with the first two books. This book is the greatest so far. It has all the feels, so many feels. All the elements that make Amy a favorite. Amy creates characters you feel you knew or wish you knew. Nobody makes "found family" like her. One thing is for certain, it is above all a Love Story. Love in all its guises. Love in all its genres. I'm not telling much about the storyline that can be found elsewhere. But a story that isn't only a romance, but is also about love. That I can share. When you need comfort book, this is it. And so much more. Find out why her fans are so loyal. Read this book.

Finally we got Sean's story or as Jackson affectionately calls him, K-Ski. I was not disappointed. It was everthing I needed. Sean's story was even more painful than I suspected. Family is not all what we need or expect. Billy's was in it's own way similiar to Sean's but instead beaten and kicked out. Sean and Billy, whose snark was strong, made a great couple as they slowly and sweetly fell in love. I loved all the glimpses of the Flophouse boys, Dex and Chase and Jackson, Ellery, Henry, Jai and Ernie. There was less physical drama which was a change I thoroughly enjoyed. Well done, Amy!

Disappointed again. I actually purchased this book but struggled to get through it. It was so predictable. And if you read Amy Lane’s other related books, she incorporated those stories into this book. So essentially it was the same book just from a different character’s perspective. So I felt like I was rereading two previous books while trying to struggle through this one. Ugh, why bother if you can’t tell a new fresh story. Same old same old theme.

I was about to start with "First off, this is NOT a standalone." but then I thought to myself, you could read it anyway, if you haven't read anything else, but you'll get a LOT more enjoyment if you read it after the Flophouse and Fish books, because this isn't just The Flophouse Book 3. While Shades of Henry and Constantly Cotton could be seen as spin-offs of the Johnnies series (because Henry is Dex's brother and Cotton and Jason weren't really set in Sacramento), the same cannot really be said of Sean's Sunshine. This is the crossroads of so many series. It runs simultaneously to about four other books, but to my mind it's part of both the Fish and the Flophouse series. It's not just Sean and Billy's story, it has glimpses of a lot of the characters we know and love in Amy's Sacramento universe and we even meet Jai and Ernie at one point. All of us who have followed Fish know Sean a little, but we get to know him so much better (of course, after all it is his book), discover why he used to be so judgemental, and the Jackson influence on both Sean and Henry is hilarious, where they find themselves using Jackson's laugh and Jackson's Hunh. And Billy was just so himself, that the fact that he had come from the Flophouse seemed incidental. We could see the end of book drama coming from early on but Sean and Billy handled it very well (I'm just wondering when Berto will let Billy's secret out, because if he's going to hang out with the guys from Jackson's duplex, given they play ball with the guys from the Flophouse, the fact that Billy was a porn star will not stay secret for long)I loved every minute of it, Billy had me laughing out loud much of the time. It will be a great reread when I need a pick-me-up. I can see myself reading this in a never-ending loop for weeks, until I become really familiar with all the insights. I think one of the things I loved most about it was the intimacy of their conversations (Sean was recovering so wasn't up to much physically) and how well we got to know them from these conversations. But I think my most favourite thing of all was the goodnight kisses Billy gave Sean. Billy's expressions and his way of dealing with Sean's mother, while being so scared of having dinner alone with his own mother, show us just how complex he is. I'm not sure Amy was planning on a lot of books in the Flophouse series, but I can see at least two more in the works, Randy (she started writing ficlets, so that kind of goes without saying) but I also can see a Curtis book with the young cop from the "Nothing Happened" ficlet. I also loved seeing Jackson and Ellery through Flophouse eyes and even from Christie and Sean's viewpoints. Given that we probably won't be getting any more Fish until next year, it'll have to keep my Fishfix going until then. I love all of Amy's books, but I think this one is going to be one of my particular favourites.