Honey From the Lion: A Gay MM Time Travel Romance (Love Across Time Book 2)

Honey From the Lion, the second book in Jackie North’s standalone Love Across Time series, is now available in audio, beautifully performed by Greg Boudreaux. Jackie North captures every bit of romance between these two desperately lonely souls, and slowly, tenderly, lets them fall in love. If the thought of being snowed in with a gorgeous (but completely unrefined) bear of a man, and all the amenities of 1891, strikes up a note of romance in your heart, then this is the story for you!I love historicals, and Jackie North squeezes all kinds of fascinating tid-bits about the late 1800s into0 Honey From the Lion. Balancing the romanticism of cozy evenings by the fire, with the hardship of living in an uninsulated cabin, what struck me most about their daily life is the welcome absence of 21st Century issues.Told completely from Laurie’s point of view, we know from the start how unhappy and unfulfilled he’s feeling with his life. As a last-minute escape from his anxiety and stress, Laurie figures a complete change is what’s needed to shake up his routine. It’s clear what this sweet, somewhat shy guy needs are the right circumstances (and the right man) to help him bloom.It’s impressive how Jackie North expresses Laurie’s wonder and confusion as he tries to make sense of his situation. As he stumbles upon the rustic cabin, he reasons that John must be a reenactment actor, and struggles to play along with the 19th Century living conditions. Plus, just let me say, the scene where Laurie realizes he’s going to have to actually use an outhouse is completely priceless!This is an absolutely fantastic slow-burn romance, and the pace of the courtship is perfect. Laurie proceeds with caution, mindful of John’s inexperience, as well as the stigma of being sexual with another man in the 19th Century. Carefully introducing John to one sensation after the other, giving John the time he needs to get comfortable, and gradually accept what’s happening between them. And when John finally embraces his love for Laurie, it’s absolutely glorious.Greg Boudreaux delivers an amazing performance in the audio version of Honey From the Lion. With a real talent for expressing emotion, Mr. Boudreaux makes the most of the highs and lows in this story. All of Laurie's experiences feel so intimate, and the tremendous angst of the romance between these two lost souls is heartbreakingly beautiful.Laurie is a complex character, a real mixture of innocence and confidence, and Greg Boudreaux captures it all. His childlike delight in building a snowman, his wee temper tantrums, and eventual sulking when he doesn’t get his way. Laurie’s emotional journey comes through loud and clear. And I love the warm and mellow voice Greg Boudreaux uses for John. It is so sexy! Gruff and unrefined, we gradually discover that John is a lion with the most tender heart. Laurie has to pull out all the stops to get some honey from this wounded warrior, but it is one hundred percent worth the effort!I’ve quickly become a fan of Jackie North, and these Love Across Time romances are addictive. Each novel has a very different flavor, and I’m looking forward to each of them (hopefully in audio!). Honey From the Lion is an unforgettable and heartbreakingly beautiful love story, and one for the top of my re-listen pile.

A great story to make you feel good 😊.The book is like an entertaining history lesson.This author’s books have never let me down.Can’t wait to read the rest of the series.

I read Wild as the West Texas Wind (next in the series and it was my first Jackie North book) before reading this, so my expectations were up since I’d loved that one. While I don’t feel Honey From the Lion lives up to Wild, I really enjoyed it. Without giving away anything, I was a big fan of the set-up from the present and then pay-off in the past. Time travel stories are one of my favorites, so I really need certain elements in there, and this one definitely hit that, to be vague, element for me. I think Laurie’s characterization wasn’t always fully there for me, but given how we’re not in John’s head, I was really impressed with how fully realized he was. Not being a talkative, gregarious person, his emotions, when they came out, always packed a great punch. Their romance was a joy to me, and I absolutely believed in their happily ever after.Also, I just have to mention that I really appreciated the inclusion of an Arapaho (it’s spelled with and without an “e” in the book, but I have no idea why) woman as a character. She’s called Adeline, but we also know her Arapaho name is Summer Cloud Woman (is that authentic to the Arapaho tribe, these are things I wonder.) I don’t know how much research the author put in her inclusion, but she had agency as a person and was treated respectfully, she wasn’t some type of “mystical Indian” type character, and her small parts of the story had a weight to them that I really enjoyed. Plus, it was a fun element to see Laurie’s modern sensibilities in regards to her. To my mind, there was a sly treatment of his white-savior, feminist attitude that delighted me.Honestly, this wasn’t a prefect execution, but I kept thinking about it after I was done reading (in a good way), and I definitely was charmed by their romance. Plus, I was happy to think about how we got more of them in Wild, which I can now think on even more fondly. I’m ready for more in this series!

What's the difference between a wish and your desire? That's what Laurie learns in this amazing slow burn, time travel, MM love story. Laurie is every young man in today's society. Rushing from day to day at his intense job, spending time with his best friends when he can, drinking over priced coffee and wondering is this all there is. He uses sarcasm and humor when real emotion is out of his reach. I like Laurie immediately. He was very relatable and you can see yourself being friends with him. When he falls through a tear in time caused by a meteor shower, he ends up in a blizzard where he wonders into a cabin in the wilderness and finds John.John has seen too much death and pain in his life. It's 1891 and his life is simple. Daily chores fill his time and he doesn't want or need company, especially not some tenderfoot from back east that doesn't know the slightest thing about surviving. He didn't understand Laurie's attempt at humor and he didn't like the feelings the young man stirred up in him.Jackie North does an amazing job of moving you into the past where there is no electricity, running water, hot showers, internet, or cell phones. As John taught Laurie about living in 1891, Laurie taught John about intimacy between two men. This is a beautiful love story (don't let the dude ranch beginning throw you off). Honey From the Lion is a well written story that left me in tears at the wonderful HEA. You will be hard pressed to find a more beautiful love story anywhere. Highly recommended

Laurie is worn out and taking his vacation on a dude ranch where he will get a much closer look into the past than expected. John is a gruff ex soldier who wants to be left alone but his quiet time is interrupted by the sudden appearance of an odd stranger. While getting into a routine and slowly getting to know each other, these men find solace, comfort, and love.This story is full of tenderness, hardship interwoven with companionship, struggles, confusion, a vast array of emotions, and a sweet HEA.The only thing I did not like was that in chapter 24, Laurie was thinking he will find a way, somehow, to get word to his friends that he was okay - but it is not mentioned again and it does not happen and I found that disappointing.

💖 A gorgeous story for Laurie and John by the author. Imagine waking up in another time god it'd be a shock to the system. Poor Laurie as he struggles to get his head around it all. The readers of this book has take particular attention of Bill in this story. Okay so I may have shed a tear in this story too. There so many things I can rave about the book but this is a must read for all. The ending was the piece of resistance, beautifully ended sitting on the edge of my chair..  Brilliantly written and researched once again by the author.Laurie 24 yrs checks into a dude ranch wanting a break from a stressful life for a week. During a meteor shower and ghost stories by the camp fire Laurie wakes to find himself surrounded by snow in another time.Laurie meets John and thinks he's still at the dude ranch... lol nope.

My first time travel book. I really enjoyed it. It really played with the emotions. I think I'll look for more from this author.

Once again, Jackie North has created an incredible love story that weaves history and fiction together. I Love John and Laurie, a must read if you enjoy time travel romance.

It’s a nice, sweet story, but it bothered me everything happened basically in one week (unless I midunderstood). True love after few days of being together is a bit of a stretch and I didn’t buy it.I really doubt someone would dump a comfortable life in modern days for a guy they barely knew in really rough living conditions, but I guess that’s the magic of romance.I was also a bit dissapointed Laurie didn’t share his origins, I was waiting for that.But overall it’s a nice read