Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

Couldn't finish this one.

While the writing style was easy, and possibly even almost a breeze to read, the actual content left a lot to be desired. There are forced interventions of language and phrases that simply don't belong to 1990, and then there's the oft-seen timeline skip between 1990 and 1979, without much context or any visible connect.

Of course, literary liberty - one might say. And, usually I'd agree. But quite a lot of what I read is simply not displaying enough of a storyline for me to even try to stick to it.

I'm afraid I'm going to have to pass on this one.

I DNF'd this book after several chapters because I just wasn't connecting with the book, I found the writing boring and I wasn't engaged with the story. It's entirely possible I wasn't the right audience for the novel.

This book was a bit different from what I normally pick up, but it felt like reading a classic mob movie. The number of references really helped with that haha

Each chapter title is a song title and the book is also split up by fo-advertisments for mixed tapes. A very unique reading experience!

Unfortunately, I didn't enjoy this book too much. I nearly put it down halfway through, and while I think the second half ended up being much better than the first half, I think that the character development felt forced and the main character felt unrealistic. I think it's hard to write a character that everyone in the book is supposed to like/admire, especially when it's the main character, but he ended up being one of my least favorites and it seemed like every female character was falling over herself for him. Still, at the end I did find myself rooting for him, so I'd say that's a win, just took me a bit too long to get there.

“This is the most famous thing to happen in Milwaukee since Laverne and Shirley got cancelled.”

Chance McQueen is a musician and restauranteur, an honest man doing his level best to tiptoe around the morass of organized crime that exists around him without getting his toes wet. It isn’t easy. His ancient Uncle Vinny is the local don, and he’s dying. Chance has told him many times that he would prefer to avoid this part of the family business, but he’s been dreaming. Uncle Vinny has stage four lung cancer, and he summons his nephew to share some hard truths: "It's simple. Either you take over the family before I'm dead, or Frank will have you killed before my body's cold...Charles, when did you ever get what you want?"

This oddly charming debut came to me free and early, and my thanks for the review copy go to Net Galley and M.D.R. Publishing. This book is for sale now.

Wheeler’s debut reads as if scribed by a seasoned novelist, and he introduces a lively collection of memorable characters. He serves as mentor and father figure to Winnie, a dapper young man that has it bad for a sweet young thing named Alex; Geoff, his best buddy, who is Black and gay, and endlessly loyal; a homeless veteran living behind the restaurant, who is never a caricature; and Chance’s nemesis, Frank Bartallatas: “Frank Bartallatas was pure evil in a massive frame. More than one little fish had disappeared after swimming too close to Mr. Bartallatas.”

The story is set in 1990, and each of the agreeably brief chapters is headed with the title of a rock song from the 1970s and 80s, which is a portent of what the chapter brings. I like this guy’s playlist, and I stopped reading more than once to add his songs to my own collection.

Here are the things I like most, apart from the playlist: I like the strong, resonant characters, which are well enough developed that they are easy to keep straight; the setting, which hasn’t been overused by other writers, and is a credible choice; the selective use of violence, which cannot be left out of a story like this, but never feels excessive, sickening, or prurient; and the pacing, which never flags. In addition, I like the mobster aspect of this story, an angle that we aren’t seeing much in new fiction.

I have no serious complaints, but if I could change anything here, there are two things I’d tweak: First, Geoff practically can’t have a conversation with Chance without making awkward race jokes, and Caucasians that spend time with African-American people will tell you that never happens, no matter how close you are; and second, the alcoholic protagonist is becoming trite, so I’d either let Chance kick his habit without a protracted, detail-laden struggle, or I’d just let the guy drink. Chance’s dead fiancée is enough hubris all by herself. But clearly these are minor concerns, or this wouldn’t be a five star review.

This rock solid debut signifies great things to come from this author, and a little birdie tells me that there may be future novels featuring Chance McQueen. My advice to you is to get in on the ground floor of this series-to-be, because it’s going to be unmissable.

Highly recommended.

Falling onto Cotton is a fantastic debut novel from Matthew E. Wheeler. It's fast paced, funny with interesting characters that will keep you hooked from the first page.

As someone who wasn't alive in the late 80's/early 90's and has never set foot in America, I thought the sense of place, setting and time were well created. Although the plot centres around the mob, at its core, this story is about the relationships around Chance and his development (something that will always be a sure-fire winner for me!)

I absolutely recommend this read and hope to see more from Matthew E. Wheeler sooner rather than later.

I just finished Falling Onto Cotton, the debut novel from Matthew Wheeler and I really hated to see it end.

This is a good, solid debut. There is a little bit of everything in this novel and it is all pulled together quite nicely.

The main character is Chance, a restauranteur. He loves running his restaurant, the only problem is that he is the nephew of a Milwaukee crime boss and his uncle wants him to take over the business.

In addition to Chance, there are the mob characters, one of them named Frank, who hates Chance and knows that with Chance out of the way, he could take over the business.

There are also story lines featuring some of the people who work at the restaurant and a very sweet teenage boy named Winnie that Chance is taking care of.

There is a lot going on - mob issues, restaurant issues, love stories, friendships, affairs and yet it’s all handled so well.

A sign of a good book - when I finished the book, I realized that I wanted to know what happened next? Most of the characters are at a pivotal point in their life and I would like to see what they do next. Perhaps a sequel???

Oh, I almost forgot - the music!! Each chapter is titled with a song. I absolutely loved being reminded of atl the old songs and went around singing “I Fought the Law” the rest of the day after reading that chapter.

I received an ARC of the book.

This was an interesting book for me because I seldom read books to do with the mob and I’ve never even watched The Godfather. So, I’m afraid that many of the references in this book would have gone over my head.

Still, this was a pretty enjoyable read! Falling Onto Cotton by Matthew E. Wheeler had quite an interesting premise, of what would you do if you didn’t want to take over the mob that your uncle is trying to pass down to you. I was expecting lots of hijinks and this didn’t disappoint!

However, this really isn’t a thriller in that the action is pretty limited and the main focus of the story really is the relationships that Chance has with his family, employees, and friends. Most of the aforementioned hijinks were spaced out throughout the book to keep the book from becoming too heavy as loss and trauma were prevalent themes. Although I like a good examination of characters and relationships, I kind of wish a little more attention was paid to the machinations within the mob. That’s just me though. Maybe I just want to have my cake and eat it too, to have a book that’s both literary fiction and high on thrills..

If I’m not wrong, this is Wheeler’s debut novel and it is a solid offering. Definitely looking forward to his future works as polishes his craft!

Diversity meter:
Fleshed out Black character
Mental illness

“He fixes everyone else’s lives and drinks to hide from his own.” This quote pretty much sums up the main character of Matthew E. Wheeler’s debut novel, Charles “Chance” McQueen. The story takes place mainly in 1990 in Milwaukee - before smart phones and ubiquitous internet - with some flashbacks to the late 1970s. (Another thing that really dates it - everyone smokes.)

Chance is a man torn between agreeing to follow his mob uncle, who is dying, or staying a restauranteur and do-gooder. The second theme of the novel is focused on two teenagers, Alex (female, short for Alexandra) and Winnie (male, short for Winston). The teenagers are drawn very well; they are real individuals, high school grads seemingly going nowhere (working as valets at the restaurant and hanging out at the local diner). There are two other friends who are also drawn very well, Prez and Hunter. These are not cardboard-cutout teens. There are quite a few other characters, including a plethora of gangsters, who, frankly, I had a bit of trouble keeping straight, plus a number of restaurant employees and Milwaukee citizens, who really came alive for me.

The author has used pop song titles for each chapter that set the tone for that chapter, mainly tunes from the 1970s and 1980s, appropriate to the time the novel’s story takes place: I Wanna Be Sedated; Coward of the County, Should I Stay or Should I Go, as examples. I found myself going back to the beginning of each chapter as I finished it, to remind myself of the song title being used, often eliciting a smile or recognition when doing so.

Serious subjects are covered along the way: the plight of Viet Nam vets, homelessness, drug abuse, alcoholism, and date rape, to name a few. Warning: some graphic violence and explicit sex scenes.

The title mystified me until fairly late in the book, when I came upon the following. “Sometimes life was like falling onto concrete. Those were the bad days, and no matter how bloody you were, you picked yourself up and stood tall. But sometimes life was like falling onto cotton. And on those days, you lay in the rich softness and warmth of your feelings.”

Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and M.D.R. Publishing for an advance reader copy of this novel. All opinions are my own.

What does the word “chance” mean to you?
I feel like when Wheeler wrote this novel, the name Chance wasn’t an afterthought and I love when authors do this!
Chance McQueen, a once successful musician is given a second chance from his uncle Don after the murder of his fiancé. However, Don is in the mob business. (Can you say “whoa”).
With the help of a 19 year old, Chance has to figure out how to survive the criminal empire driven by murder.
This story really left me wanting more & I really enjoyed the coming-of-age bits woven into the mob scene. It was definitely an authentic novel and well written!

Mathew E. Wheeler writes in the notes at the end of his novel, Falling Into Cotton, that he wants honest reviews, so here goes. What attracted me to the novel was the mafia theme, with Chance McQueen's uncle dying and having only one heir to take over the family business, that being the poorly named Chance. When the author stuck to his theme, I was happy. But Chance is not a mafia guy. He owns a popular local restaurant, and much of the novel focuses, if focus is the right word, on the restaurant and its employees, along with various friends of Chance. I found that aspect of the story both boring and confusing. More structure is needed to help the reader both remember the characters and figure out how they fit the story. Author Wheeler apparently has a musical past, and each chapter is dressed with notes and chapters are titled after various songs, one or two of which I recognized. That seemed a pointless affectation on the author's part. But the worst are the so-called paid advertisements dividing the novel. My advice to Mr. Wheeler is to keep his affectations out of the book and concentrate on the story. Until that happens, it's hard to see him as a writer with a future.
Thanks, NetGalley, for the ARC.

I'm still trying to figure out what to say about this book. I loved it but it's hard to say why--most likely because of the deep friendships and how things kept crossing over into love (platonic and otherwise). Then there were the mob guys and their violence (not so good) but definitely essential to the plot. For most of the book there was a movie running in my head alongside the reading, it was that real to me. Great characters! Leading the story were damaged and alcoholic restaurateur Chance; love struck Winnie; shy Little Cat; the staff at the restaurant; Jes, the homeless vet. Without any one of them the book wouldn't be nearly as good.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. For a story about mobsters, with violence, sex scenes (I skipped) I have to say it was a sweet book. The main characters were sweet and their motivations and innocence and wounds made them all very human. This was a book I needed to read, right at this time. Escape and smiles. I hope there is a sequel because these are people I would like to follow.

Chance McQueen is a successful restaurateur who abuses alcohol and enters into dangerous romantic relationships to make him forget what might have been. He had a loving fiancé and a promising musical career. He lost them both. While he’s a broken man, he generously helps others. He supports a women-in-crisis center, helps feed a homeless veteran and has befriended and mentors Winnie, a nineteen year old who has lost his father.

Chance’s uncle is the head of the Milwaukee mob and wants his nephew to take over the family business as his health is failing. While Chance has no interest in a life of crime, if he refuses, the current man next in line to take over, who hates Chance, will surely kill him.

Falling Onto Cotton is Matthew E. Wheeler’s impressive debut. The characters were well developed. The fast-paced story, which takes place primarily in 1990, held my interest throughout. This is a dramatic story but the author has a good sense of humor, which is evident throughout. And a good taste in music. The music of the times is effectively used to head each chapter providing an enjoyable means of placing the reader in the era. You have to a smile when you see chapters titled by songs from The Rolling Stones (You Can’t Always Get What You Want), Nirvana (About A Girl), Coolio (Gangsta’s Paradise), Prince (When Doves Cry), Sade (Smooth Operator) and more.

This debut novel packed a lot into its pages. Chance McQueen is a handsome, successful restauranteur, who also has family ties to the mob. Chance has lots of problems including heavy drinking, affairs with married women and people who want to kill him. He is also someone who is generous and tries to do the right thing for the people in his life. Some of my favorite parts of the book were his interactions with his staff.

This book is a coming of age novel, romance and mob/crime story all in one. Having said that I think that the author might have been trying to do too much. All the story lines were good, but I wish that they had each been fleshed out a little more. I did love the characters and the 80's setting was fantastic.

Chance McQueen is a successful restaurateur in gentrifying Milwaukee. He's also the only surviving blood relative of his uncle, a mob boss who's kept Chance away from the family business until now. But facing a terminal illness, he impores Chance to take over a criminal enterprise Chance has absolutely no interest in pursuing. He'd be perfectly content if his boyhood rival Frank and the capos of the other Midwest families fought over Uncle Vinnie' s territory when the time comes, and before then, he fully intends to have broken off his affair with Frank's wife.. But when his hands is forced and he realizes what the game is and who's the real players are, he had second thoughts. A predictable, periodic novel with longer notes, play lists, and assorted musical ephemera.

This is a book about a guy who tries to do the right thing but is constantly facing his inner demons. He is 'next in line' to take over for his family in the mob, but he is not sure he wants to do that. He struggles with this and his complicated love life throughout the book.

I really enjoyed this book. It was face paced and I really enjoyed all of the side characters (and there were a lot of them!) . All of the 80s/early 90s references and song titles were a bonus!

Thank you NetGalley for the copy of this book.

I loved this book, I loved the characters, the story was good. There was a fabulous paragraph about the pasta sauce comparing the ingredients to dances, I have read that paragraph to several friends, which is not something I regularly do. I enjoyed this book very much if I can do any more to get word out let me know.

I really enjoyed this debut book by this author. The story takes place in Detroit in the 80’s, the mob and all its elements are here. Chance McQueen has had rotten luck in life and some of his choices have not been the best. It is his relationship with Winnie, a fatherless teen, that kept me reading. Navigating life as a teen, first love, and self-discovery for both.

Thank you to NetGalley for the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

Did not finish. Stopped 25% through because of glamorization of controlling sex. Overall premise is interesting (restauranteur who escaped his crime family is asked by his dying uncle to return to lead the family; if he does not, his rival will kill him), but I found the sexual content and embarrassingly bad pillow talk off-putting.