I didn't like this. It read like a fanfiction, seemed poorly plotted and explained. One dimensional characters and inauthentic speech.

The Mourning Dove and His Snow Sparrow follow Callum and Aurear. Callum lives on his own in the woods in a cabin he used to share with his mother, who passed away. Aurear is a fox sparrow who is found injured whilst Callum gathers firewood. Something interesting takes place, though. One second it is an injured bird, and the next, a human man. Callum still proceeds to help Aurear through his injury, and they grow close, especially since Aurear was tasked with watching over Callum once his mother passed away. The two develop romantically, and there is some definite spice in the novella.
This was a short story. I always find they leave me wanting more. I think the story could have been developed further. For example, some residents claimed to see a monster flying and promised to find and kill it. This would have created an interesting plot point. The book centres mainly on their sexual relationship to the point it was difficult to read sometimes due to Aurear's naive knowledge of human sex and how Callum was inexperienced and in some pain during and after their encounters.
I loved the epilogue, it was an emotional journey between two lonely people. The cover is gorgeous, and it was a wholesome read overall. It may be a personal issue I have with short stories and novellas - I always want deeper, longer stories.

Thank you to BooksGoSocial and NetGalley for providing this ARC!

A bite-sized story! The novella was pleasant enough, but for its size, the scenarios seemed over-dramatic (three near-death experiences in about 150 pages is a little much for me). The writing was very repetitive, as if the character’s thoughts had to be explained and made clear three times over before the story could move on. The book took “tell not show” and turned it into “tell several times not show,” which gave a more unpolished quality to the writing. The romance was nice enough for something of this length but nothing revelatory. Ultimately, this is more of a pick-me-up than a high-quality, fleshed-out narrative, and there’s nothing wrong with that per se—just not really my speed.

Also, I knew the other reviews said this was explicit, but I don’t think I was prepared for just how explicit it really was—definitely not what I usually expect from published pieces! Nothing about it was improperly advertised (I see now it's literally listed as erotica), so it’s totally all my bad, but I was definitely surprised.

I didnt read the excerpt/preview. Did not realize the explicit nature of the book and connotation. I can appreciate the love story woven by the author. However, the "fantasy" type storyline was not to my liking and very cheesy.

At just 120 pages, The Mourning Dove and His Snow Sparrow was a quick, light read. Being only novella length, the story is perforce simple, without a lot of twists and turns, but it was still enjoyable and I still got caught up in the characters even in such a short space of time. The story includes some spicy bedroom scenes, but also had a lot of emotional drive, especially in the final few chapters. A nod must be given too to the gorgeous cover art. Overall, I am glad I decided to give this story a try and I recommend it to those looking for a quick one-night MM fantasy read that combines steamy sex scenes with plenty of heart. I am giving this book a solid 4.5 stars.

This novella was very sweet and also spicy!
Callum is lonely on his homestead after the death of his mother and he moves through life without much intentionality until he comes across an injured sparrow who, magically? (idk lets not question the logistics), transformers into a winged man: Aurear.
This little story is very cozy fantasy coded with some sweet endearing moments but also a handful of bittersweet realties.
If you peruse fanfiction with your tags set to hurt/comfort then this is the read for you!

Thanks to Netgalley and the marketing team at BooksGoSocial for the arc in exchange for an honest review!

This book was super sweet, the romance was quick to develop, and there something so bitter sweet about a lonely man finding love. I adored the magical realism. The “newly human discovering sex” trope is also a good one. There’s no shame and the pleasure is just straight forward and sweet. The writing was stark and straight forward, leaving nothing to the imagination. I don’t recommend this to young readers at all. This is very adult although it does have a very sweet romance.

Cute novella with enough spice to hold my attention. Some of it is...weird, just the way the fox sparrow is described when human. There are also a few parts that don't necessarily make sense, but are entirely forgivable given the erotic nature of the novella.

Very cabin-in-the-woods & blanket-sharing with a touch of hurt/comfort.

This is a sweet (and spicy) little novella about a young man who lives alone in a northern forest and a bird, who also turns into a man, who falls in love with him. While there were various inconsistencies that brought me out of the moment, besides that it was a quick read and the short length made me want to keep going to see what happened between the two. The last chapter, while technically more of an epilogue, was a nice way to wrap everything up too.

Also, can I just say, this cover is BEAUTIFUL?

Thank you NetGalley and BooksGoSocial for approving my request!

This novella is pretty straightforward, and the storyline is spare. It definitely falls in the 'cozy fantasy' category as much as it does in romance. I would have liked the characters to have a bit more agency, but for all hurt/comfort scenes, there wasn't a huge amount of action anyway, just vibes. If you like MLM cozy affection and a cottage romance in the snow, this one is cute. :)