Glass Tidings by Amy Jo Cousins

Eddie Rodrigues doesn’t stay in one place long enough to get attached. The only time he broke that rule, things went south fast. Now he’s on the road again, with barely enough cash in his pocket to hop a bus south after his (sort-of-stolen) car breaks down in the middle of nowhere, Midwest, USA.

He’s fine. He’ll manage. Until he watches that girl get hit by a car and left to die.

Local shop owner Grayson Croft isn’t in the habit of doing people any favors. But even a recluse can’t avoid everyone in a town as small as Clear Lake. And when the cop who played Juliet to your Romeo in the high school play asks you to put up her key witness for the night, you say yes.

Now Gray’s got a grouchy glass artist stomping around his big, empty house, and it turns out that he... maybe... kind of... likes the company.

But Eddie Rodrigues never sticks around.

Unless a Christmas shop owner who hates the season can show an orphan what it means to have family for the holidays.

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Reviews by the Wicked Reads Review Team

Sarah – ☆☆☆☆
A glass artist who travels between Renaissance Fairs and a reclusive small town shop owner are an unlikely couple. Eddie has always been alone and Grayson has always been surrounded by a warm community. But when chance – or fate – puts Eddie in Grayson’s guest room for a night, something sparks between them.

I loved both of these men. There is so much in each of these characters that I still wanted to know more about both of them at the end. I loved their shared love of reading. I loved Grayson’s need to make Eddie comfortable and to encourage his talents. His kindness is wonderful. Eddie’s fear of intimacy rings true and his extroverted sales persona is a perfect contrast to his quiet, introverted habits at home. Eddie is skittish where Grayson is settled, but both men are lonely and they have more in common than they expect. The result is a very sweet romance.

For me, this story lost a star with a slightly rushed ending that I struggled to fully understand. But there are moments of magic in this book, and the understated romance was a pleasure to read.


Ruthie – ☆☆☆☆
This is a really lovely story – and whilst it centres on Christmas, it is a feel good story that you can enjoy any time of the year.

We get to meet Eddie, who is a glass artist who drifts from fair to fair through the year – never placing his trust in anyone, based on his experience as a youngster and since. He gets stuck in a town due to witnessing an accident, because even if he is reluctant to be in the sights of the police, he is a good man.

Gray is asked to put Eddie up by an old friend, as the police may need him in the future, and he clearly is not a man of means. These two men's gaydars are spot on, but neither gets just how damaged and why the other is – which leads to some very moving and beautifully written scenes. The creating of the glass decorations, the shop scenes, and how everything unfolds had me totally engrossed in the story.

I really enjoyed this very original take on the course of true love not running smoothly, but definitely being worth it in the end!

Amy Jo Cousins writes contemporary romance and erotica about smart people finding their own best kind of smexy. She lives in Chicago with her son, where she tweets too much, sometimes runs really far, and waits for the Cubs to win the World Series.

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Reviewers on the Wicked Reads Review Team were provided a free copy of Glass Tidings by Amy Jo Cousins to read and review.