Bread Crumbs A Fallen Fairytales Dark M/M Romance
Valentine, Holiday, Rockstar Romance, Gay Romance
Tin Box Press
Feb 6, 2024
Kindle
188
Amazon
With their band on the brink of stardom, Johnny Gehrings is cast out by his stepmother and half brothers because he’s not pretty enough for social media. He takes some solace when Zimri Hayes quits the band too—beautiful Zimri, who is Johnny’s secret heart’s desire.
A job at a grocery store and a part-time music gig at a drag club pay the bills, but Johnny is still emotionally adrift, a wanderer abandoned in the forest. And when Zimri is offered a chance to make it big, Johnny fears that a devious manager will eat Zimri alive.
Finding his way out of the woods is hard enough, but Johnny would also like to save Zimri—if Zimri even wants to be saved.
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Bread Crumbs is a dark M/M romance between a rejected drummer and a rising star, and is part of the Fallen Fairytale series.
Fallen Fairytales is a dark M/M romance, multi-author series. Each book may be read as a standalone, but why not load up your Kindle, kick back, and enjoy sexy men, shenanigans, and deliciously dark fairytale retellings.
Reviewed by Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Johnny Gehrings began a band, Cruel Cottage, with his two half-brothers Luck and Shade and then added two more musicians, making them a band of five. The face of the band was Zimri Hayes whose singing and beauty engaged a crowd and who Johnny is in love with. Unfortunately, the manager of the band was Johnny’s stepmother who never cared about him, and she proved it once again when she announced that five was too many and of course Johnny, who was not the greatest drummer and lacked visual appeal who was shown the door.
Johnny’s first order of business was to find a job before all his savings were gone. He applied for a job at a local grocery story and got it, now his music career is in the rear-view mirror, and he finds himself in a situation he is all too familiar with alone with no friends or family. Then a knock on his door would solve his problem of loneliness because Zimri Hayes is standing there after he quit the band and suggested that the two of them form their own.
They manage to land a gig at Gingerbread drag club playing a few hours a week, but Johnny will not give up his position as a grocery clerk, guaranteed money as opposed to something that is not a guarantee. Things are looking up until a famous music producer shows up at the club and offers Zimir his dream of stardom which did not include Johnny. Zimir refuses but Johnny as been there done that before his talent as a drummer and his looks are not star material.
Johnny embraces his job at the supermarket and proves himself a valued employee. He has been promoted to assistant manager and now has enough money for all his needs. Zimir is now the star he always wanted to be but despite winning awards there is a dark cloud over his head. The years are kind to Johnny who has never stopped loving Zimir, but fame and money have not brought happiness.
Over the years the two see each other and speak to each other less and less, Zimir is now under the total control of his producer while Johnny is now the manager of the store. Everything Johnny hears about Zimir convincing him that Zimir is in trouble substantiated by the constant bad press, drugs, arrests, time in a rehab center all a cry for help and Johnny is unable to be there for the man he has never stopped loving.
Johnny has always kept up a relationship with the Gingerbread club and any request by them to play at the club falls on deaf ears, he is happy with how his life is going and the only dark spot is his constant fear for Zimir. Fame and money don’t always bring happiness, especially when the person offering it is a monster ready, willing and able to destroy you if you don’t follow the rules.
This story about two young men who never had family in their life to offer a life jacket when things got bad was heartbreaking at times. Johnny has a family and though they are never there for him Zimir had no one except for Johnny who he loved but could not give that love freely since he never experienced true love from anyone.
There were key words I picked up on that revealed to me what fairytale this story was about even before I got to the end to find out if I was right. Gingerbread, abandonment, a step mother and always having a feeling of being lost in the woods.
This book is part of the multi-author Fallen Fairytales series, and each book is a standalone, after reading this one I am ready for more.