Tuesday, May 20, 2025

Love in Maplewood Book 5: Can You Feel the Maple Tonight by Bix Barrow

Love in Maplewood Book 5

 Catching feelings for my friend with benefits? Surely there’s a song about that...

When my musical mentor asked me to help his old buddy put on a music festival in Vermont, I thought it’d be a nice break from my regular life. Not that my life has been regular lately. My twin left to go be an actor, and I’m not on tour for the first time since I was a kid. Working on a project like this is just what I needed.

But I’d barely arrived in Maplewood when I almost ran over a teenager, heard about a local cryptid, and got shouted at by a fanny-pack wearing, floppy-haired, thirty-something veterinarian named Finn. Who was adorable. When he wasn’t yelling, of course.

This being a small town, I keep running into Finn no matter how I try to avoid him. Only, as much as he rubs me the wrong way, I wouldn’t mind him rubbing me the right way if you know what I mean.

Turns out he feels the same, so we agree to stop bickering and start lick...er-ing. Whatever. You get my drift. It’s all just casual, friends-with-benefits fun, a physical release. And that’s all it can be, because I’m only in town until the festival is over. Then it’s back to my regular life.

But someone should’ve warned me that Finn’s actually sweet. He’s always doing thoughtful little things for me, and he’s so supportive of his teenager. How can I keep things casual in the face of all that? But it’s way too soon for either of us to be having “feelings”. Maybe I can find an excuse to stick around a little longer....

Can You Feel the Maple Tonight is a low-angst, small town contemporary MM romance with an age gap, a single parent, musical interludes, something strange in the woods, a giant tortoise, hats for every occasion, and a murder chicken.


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My Review: 4/5 Stars

Drake doesn’t realize what he is getting into when he agrees to help run a music festival in Maplewood. He also doesn’t expect how exciting his arrival is including rescuing a teenager who was running out of the woods because he say the town’s cryptid! And he really doesn’t expect to meet the teen’s guardian, Finn, and have so much chemistry between them. You know, when they aren’t bickering. Maplewood is nothing like Drake expected and the longer he is around, the more he is tempted to stay. Especially when he starts hooking up with Finn and feelings start catching. But will Finn feel the same? Can Drake really stay in Maplewood? It’s been a while few months for Finn. When his best friends die unexpectedly he finds himself the parent of a teenager. Keeping Charlie safe and happy is all he wants. But then suddenly, he meets Drake. And what may start out as just a friends with benefits situation since Drake is only here for a short while turns into so much more when feelings start catching. But is the time right? I really enjoyed Drake and Finn’s story! Their banter was fun and the town’s shenanigans just get more hilarious! I loved how these two start to fall for one another. Another fun story in this series! 

I received an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

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