The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters

Granby Knitting, Book 1

By: Amy Lane

Narrated by: Philip Alces

Length: 2 hrs and 26 mins

Publisher's summary

Rance Crawford is an alpaca rancher, fiber mill owner, and self-proclaimed grumpy bastard. When sweet, charming tenderfoot Ben McCutcheon moves onto Crawford's rural road, Rance is very aware that Ben makes it a grand total of two gay men in their tiny town, and even though he is instantly, painfully smitten, any move he makes could be simply chalked up to being hard up. Using his best weapon and favorite skill, Crawford launches an awkward, wordless effort to make sure Ben is kept warm during the cold Colorado winter, every last piece of him - especially his heart.

©2011 Amy Lane (P)2014 Dreamspinner Press

Absolutely Wonderful!

Any additional comments?

Rance Crawford is an alpaca and sheep rancher, owns a fiber mill, does most of his own spinning along with his best friend (the appropriated named) Ariadne, and has the social skills of an amoeba. I loved this character so much it's not even funny.

When charming and socially adept Ben McCutcheon inherits his great-aunt's property next door, Rance is suddenly floored by this vibrant and beautiful man. So much so that he immediately moves out of his comfort zone to woo Ben. With his knitting.

I'll tell you this book made me want to learn how to knit. Even though it hasn't got a lot of steam at first, the UST is there, and the steams builds until it finally explodes. Deliciously so.

Full of feel good moments and low on angst I absolutely LOVED this story.

More than that though, I ADORED the narration by Philip Alces. I've never listened to him before, but WOW was I impressed. I loved everything from start to finish and wouldn't change a thing.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!

Querky romance for a great series starter.

Cute start to a series that gets even better.
Although this story seems to stop short at the end, have no worries the series continues with all the characters getting involved.

Super fun, low angst story; Decent narration

Ben moves to tiny Granby and his neighbor is grumpy recluse Rance “Craw” Crawford who runs the Alpaca farm/yarn store. As noted in the blurb, the only apparently two gay men in town are now living side by side.

As the title suggests, most of the story revolves around a bizarre method of courtship (knitting) as Craw pursues Ben using the most subtle seduction technique EVER!

Craw is afraid Ben will think he is only wanted because he’s the only guy around, and Ben was burned before in a bad relationship and not eager to be hurt again.

In this, the first of the knitting series, we meet all the wonderful secondary characters that show up in the rest of the books. This is actually the weakest of the series, in my opinion… the secondary characters are so richly developed that they almost over-shadow the romance between Ben and Craw. Of course we see more of them in the other’s books, which is awesome, but I would have loved to spend more time with Ben and Craw as a couple here.

This is a fairly angst-free, almost tongue in cheek romance, different from Amy’s more tissue-laden stories and is a fun, light read. If you intend to read the entire series – which I HIGHLY recommend – do so in order.

Story: 4 of 5 stars

Narration:

Not my favorite narration. Sorry. I just thought there was so much more that could have been done with the voices – Stanley was a bit over done when compared to the absence of variation between Ben, Craw and even Ariadne. I was so ready to hear the bearish, growly, rumbly Craw and the smooth tones of Ben as a lovely contrast, so I was bummed when Philip essentially just read everybody in the same tone.
The editing is good and the sound quality is fine. His reading voice is pleasant, but I wanted more.
3 of 5 stars

The Winter Courtships of Fur-Bearing Critters

The Winter Courtship Rituals of Fur-Bearing Critters by Amy Lane
Granby Knitting series book 1. A holiday M-M novella with a primary focus on kitting yarns and that special love connection.
A grumpy hero that wants to woo a lover with a special knitted project. He will create the perfect wool, the exact color combination and project to match his heart longings.

Charming, a bit of humor and a bit of sexy openness.

So Cute!!!

I'll have to send this one on to all of my knitting friends. A truly sweet story. I LOVE curmugeons! Rance is wonderful and Ben is just right for him.

cute

super cute winter time story. Opposites attract and he fact that Rance is a gumpy ole man who likes to knit is just a bonus

Enjoyable

At times I felt the narration was a tiny bit flat, but our MC also came off as a little on the Autism spectrum, so that might have been appropriate. It wasn't a constant. At one point he takes literally a comment that clearly is not, misses the obvious crush another character has on him, and pursues his love interest with single minded determination. As MC2 says, you'll always know where you stand with MC1. He is incable of lying. MC1 is the loveliest grump you ever will meet. MC2 is bright sunshine. Intelligent and equally honest. The story is a gradual deepening of their relationship. They take this very slowly, as MC1 woos MC2, missing the fact that he's been entirely successful since the second set of hand knit gifts.

The four star rating is because I like the narration, but didn't love it. I still recommend the book. There is no angst. The HEA is solid as a rock. To a certain extent, the development of the courtship by way of daily conversations and frequent knitted gifts remind me of a modern day regency (sans any need to hide, since they're both out). Once they've reached their "understanding," they might as well be married.

Cute

Cute and interesting story with good character development. Quirky and funny. Good narrator. Highly recommend!

Short but Sweet

A short sweet novella about finding love next door. I’m a sucker for the grumpy, stand-offish guy finding love with the sunshine, happy one. I quite enjoyed the story, but I wished it was a little longer so I could really enjoy the relationship between Rance Crawford and Ben McCutcheon.

Loved it.

Grouchy Rance fell in love with Ben and took his time courting him. I love that he knew pretty much immediately that he wanted a relationship with Ben and didn't mess with anyone else as soon as he knew. Great book.

Bubblegum for the ears

Amy Lane a great author, her work is generally amusing,light and some even have a slight edge to them a bit of sour mixed in with the sweet. Unfortunately this is not one of them although fairly well written, the plot is generic you know gruff man meets sweet young thing and instantly falls for his sunny smile. it's been done to death and I'm sorry to say much better, I would love to give examples but I'm not sure can here. Philip Alces's reading is much like the book itself ok but not great when compared to others.