Recent Reads: The Weight of it All and The Faction

I’ve thoroughly enjoyed two very different but equally engrossing worlds by N. R. Walker and Addison Albright for this week’s Recent Reads.

I love N. R. Walker’s stories and The Weight of it All has been on my radar for ages. Recently, a welcome nudge from a book recommendation thread on social media made me add this to my TBR list.

The story is set in contemporary Sydney and from the point of view of the wonderful Henry, in his mid-thirties, newly single after a long relationship, and bravely making some lifestyle changes about his food and exercise habits (one he indulges in and the other he avoids!)

Enter Reed, Henry’s hunky new personal trainer, who immediately sees past Henry’s insecurity about his outward appearance to the hilarious, quick-witted, lovely inner man, who has absolutely no filter. Henry’s courageous reaction to life-changing events simply hooked me, as I laughed and cried along with him and cheered on his achievements. Both Henry and Reed were so likeable and relatable and I really appreciated the message of self-worth and non-judgement that made Henry’s journey so enjoyable and admirable. I found this story as charming, funny and totally disarming as the main character who so deserves his HEA with lovely Reed.

After enjoying The Weight of it All, I couldn’t resist checking out the short seasonal story A Very Henry Christmas, with Henry and Reed, now all settled together and loved up and looking forward to their first Christmas as an engaged couple. Or they would be if Henry wasn’t determined to cook up an impossibly over-the-top storm with carefully planned accessories!

Henry is a joy, and I love how calm and devoted Reed is to him (and great to get his POV as well.) It was a pleasure to revisit the world that N. R. Walker created in The Weight of it All, along with the wonderful supporting characters and life moving on for everyone in happy and unexpected ways. Delightful! And while I was reading the equally gorgeous To the Moon and Back by the same author, it was lovely to have a brief cameo from Henry and Reed, some years on and still a perfect match.

In contrast to sunny Sydney, in the two-part series, The Faction by Addison Albright, we enter a fascinating alternative universe of vampires in modern America. In the first story, The Recruit, we are drawn into the world of Albert Manli, a two-thousand-year-old vampire, as he approaches a new recruit, Phillip Brewer, who has a terminal illness.

What makes this situation unusual for Albert is the emotional response he has for Phillip which is soon returned as a blood-mate. I relished the premise for this story and thought the world-building was amazing! I found the intricately plotted back story for the vampire organisation fascinating and very original. I really enjoyed how that unfolded and we were drip-fed information as Phillip, having adopted a new identity with the name of Neil, comes to terms with his new life.

Albert and Neil’s story continues in The Choice, where the couple faces a deadly dilemma when elements from Neil’s recent human past catch up with him. I won’t give away any spoilers! But this is a thoroughly enjoyable continuation of an intriguing and well-plotted tale by a favourite author.

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