Knitter in His Natural Habitat

By: Amy Lane

Narrated by: Philip Alces

Length: 5 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's Summary

Stanley’s life took a left turn at a knitting shop and hit a dead end. The closest thing he’s had to a relationship breaks things off to date a "nice boy," and none of the pretty young things in Boulder’s limited gay scene do it for Stanley. He needs to reevaluate whether working as a floor designer for a series of craft stores is really where he wants to be.

Then Stanley does a peculiar thing: he starts to live the life he fell into. Stitch by stitch, he knits his life into something meaningful. Just when he does, Johnny, the store’s new delivery boy, walks in.

Johnny is like no one Stanley has ever met: he doesn’t believe in quickies in the bathroom and has a soft spot for theater and opera. There has to be a catch. When Johnny’s dark past comes back to haunt them, Stanley realizes how much he loves his cushy life in the yarn store - but he’ll give it all up to keep the man who makes his ordinary life extraordinary.

©2013 Amy Lane (P)2014 Dreamspinner Press

Philip Alces does a fantastic job

Any additional comments?

Philip Alces does a fantastic job with the narration. Between his character voices and overall performance it's a real treat to listen to him with this series so far, and this installment is no different. I loved his Stanley!

Alces brilliantly conveys Stanley's snarky, bitchy, vulnerability. I loved Stanley as a character, his humor is right up my alley. I cracked up so many times at the things he thought and what flew out of his mouth. When Stanley, who is tired at 35 of the club life, decides to give both knitting and being a "nice boy" a shot, the results, and snarkiness, is hysterical. When Johnny, who we met at the end of How to Raise an Honest Rabbit, makes a delivery to Stanley's yarn store it's instant love at first sight for both of them.

I'll admit I had to suspend my disbelief more than once in this one, with the insta-love, the confession of Johnny's past to Stanley and the others, the mob finding Johnny and Stanley, Stanley's flight, and finally Jeremy's stand.

But I let all of that go, because ultimately the writing is fun, flows brilliantly and Amy Lane knows how to tear out my heart and piece it back together like a patchwork quilt, somehow making it stronger than when I started.

As far as characters in this series go, I loved Craw and Ben, then Aiden and Jeremy, and now Stanley and Johnny. They are so real to me, I just want to wrap them up in a thick quilt an insulate them from further harm. It makes me sad that I've lost the happy fluffiness of the first book, I mean, a little darkness crept in for How to Raise an Honest Rabbit, but A Knitter in His Natural Habitat took a full turn to the oh my god! dark side. It makes me wary and worried about what will befall my boys in the final installment. Though I know, in my heart, Amy Lane will not let me down and will, eventually, give me a happy ending.

Recommended!

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Philip Alces at his best!

Depending on your ordering system this is either book 3 or 4 of the knitter’s series. This is one of the more intense books in the series. Stanley is an aging “bottom boy” and Johnny is in the Witness Protection Program after ratting out the mob. Johnny is also the guy who saved Jeremy from being killed in mob related activities.

After Craw “dumps” Stanley for Ben, Stanley is forced to re-evaluate his life and he comes to the conclusion that he has a full if somewhat lonely life and that he values himself too much to continue to “give away” his body in back rooms as before. He turns to knitting and friendship to fill the gaps.

One day Johnny makes a delivery to Stanley’s shop and the two are instantly attracted to one another. Johnny is nothing but sincere and almost immediately in it for the long haul.

Stanley takes some convincing, but after a couple of proper “dates” he’s convinced Johnny might be “the one”.

Of course Amy can’t leave us with a simple, happy love story like that. Oh, no. She has to add in mob violence and danger and the worst thing imaginable happens – threatening Stanley’s life and those on Craw’s farm.

When the dust settles, we are left with Stanley and Johnny hoping to make a go of it and Jeremy and Aidan now facing a long road to recovery. (The lead in to the next book.)
**

I had forgotten how intense this book was. I love older characters and Amy tends to write mostly about the younger men in early adult hood. This proves her immense talent and flexibility in that these guys are just as rich, deep, loveable, flawed and easy to root for as her younger characters.

Though I would have rather nothing bad happen to anyone, I can see what the violence did for Jeremy, Aidan, Stanley and Johnny and it was amazing. It also helped cement the bond between Stanley’s family and Craw’s in a way that is irrevocable.

Audio:
This was Philip Alces’ best yet. His Johnny interpretation was fantastic but he excelled with the swishy yet cranky Stanley. This is his range, as it were, at its best.

I really enjoyed this audiobook (by far the best of the series) and highly recommend it.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

I like Stanley.

I like this book, and I like Stanley more. He is bitchy, vulnerable and adorable at the same time. And Philip did a good job. I like the way he performed Stanley.

i love their land

“Stanley tweezed his eyebrows once a week, to make sure they arched just so, and now he arched them just so, in order to look quizzical”


Stanley wants to be a nice guy, so he takes up knitting. Works well for him; since he meets prince charming that calls him cupcakes. First half of the book is sweet courting. Second half has some action. Seems the author ran out of “sugar” in this installment and opted for salt. We have many characters with their own side stories taking up space. Still it was a decent read.
steak, cupcakes, sweet dates, knitting, crazy mob thugs and Cadillacs.

I think I will stop here, will not read the next book. I’m thinking its better to quit while a head.

A favorite series

I so enjoy this series. It's warm and chatty without being too cloying. It's one that I pull it out to read when I'm feeling down. Highly recommended.

Book version is better

I'm not sure what to say about the audio version of this book but it didn't not keep my attention like the book. Few times I fell asleep while listening to it, which is unfortunate because I am such a fan of all of Ms Lane's work

1 of 3 people found this review helpful