Friday, March 14, 2025

Sunflower (The Agency #1)


Here's Kayla Halleur's "Sunflower." It's the first book in her series, The Agency.

["Meeting Callum for the first time while being crushed under a hundred pounds of sunflowers was somewhat awkward.

Seeing him flee to the other side of the country because of what he saw in my head was downright humiliating.

I can’t help but feel like my dad should have told me ahead of time that his girlfriend and her son had psychic abilities.

Four long years later and he’s back to watch our parents finally get married, and I’m still wondering what on earth he saw in my head that day.

I never thought going on a blind date would eventually bring the answers I was looking for…

Or that it would completely turn my life upside down…"]

And the bonus tags (because they're arguable better than the blurb itself): ["Gratuitous use of sunflowers; really, they’re everywhere if you know where to look; Irish Gaelic as a love language; Callum thrives on being annoyingly mysterious; Joey doesn’t believe in psychics; oh wait, yes, he does; Joey steals some clothing, but really, it’s better this way; oh, look, Callum is being mysterious again; a simple blind date that doesn’t turn out quite so blind or quite so simple; the world is so much bigger than what Joey believes; saucy times are saucy; over-enthusiastic family and friends that only have the best of intentions, they swear; antagonist is a nasty piece of work and deserves everything coming his way; Callum is a really good multi-tasker, especially when he’s driving; Joey is unnerved by everything and simply prays that he doesn’t end up in a fiery automobile accident, please and thank you; Greek myths re-told and re-imagined; Joey finds himself in all sorts of trouble; Callum doesn’t like that, not one bit; Joey is sassy when cornered; Callum finds Joey adorable when he’s not himself; their parents do something unexpected and it’s Callum’s turn to be incredibly unnerved by the turn of events; no, seriously, he’s convinced this will spell everyone’s impending doom"]

This story was adorable as hell! I looooved the meet-cute turned meet-ugly. I loved the pet names. I loved their relationship (...after they were allowed to have one). I loved the mythology and lore that was built upon real "history"/history. I loved the secrecy of it all. 

I loved Callum and Joey. They were utterly perfect for each other. I loved how fast they grew together, how quickly it progressed into something more, how sure they both were..especially when everything else was falling apart around them (and they didn't know who to trust).

We still don't know who to (fully) trust. This book ended with a series cliffhanger (you've been warned--but these two got their HEA).

Trigger Warnings: On-page (not between MCs): coercive behavior, dangerous driving, graphic physical and verbal assault and violence (including an interrogation scene), homophobia, cheating, severe allergies and related EpiPen usage, stalking; Off-page (brief mentions in passing): children rescued from a cult (prior to the start of the story), deaths/Murders of adults and children (one baby during the plot of the story, and one seven-year-old via myth re-telling), eugenics (via myth re-telling), home invasion (prior to the start of the story), planned arranged child marriages (via myth re-telling)

#gayromancereviews #grr #arcs #arcteammember
#sunflower #theagency #theagencyseries #kaylahalleur #books #queerbooks #queererotica #bodicerippers #bookstagram #bookphotography #ilovebooks

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