Blurb:

Ten years ago, Peter Pan left Neverland to grow up, leaving behind his adolescent dreams of boyhood and resigning himself to life as Wendy Darling. Growing up, however, has only made him realize how inescapable his identity as a man is.

But when he returns to Neverland, everything has changed: the Lost Boys have become men, and the war games they once played are now real and deadly. Even more shocking is the attraction Peter never knew he could feel for his old rival, Captain Hook—and the realization that he no longer knows which of them is the real villain.

Goodreads / Amazon / Less Than Three Press
Release Date: February 15th

I’d been waiting for this book ever since I found out Austin Chant was working on it! I loved Coffee Boy, and I was really looking forward to reading something more by him. Let me tell you, I had a lot of hopes for Peter Darling, and it didn’t disappoint me.

I didn’t read Peter Pan as a kid, but I did read it a few years ago and loved it. This book was a great retelling. I loved how Austin built Neverland again, and got Peter flying and fighting with Hook. There were a lot of details – the fairies surprised me, they were truly amazing – but the book never felt wordy or over-achieving. If anything, the world felt completely real.

I think the way Austin played with the relationship between Peter and Hook was genius. It’s not a long book, but the transformation from enemies to lovers never felt rushed to me, it was as if they’d been heading towards it all along. And I’ll be honest, it got me right in the feels. I loved the book in general, but it was the romance that made me adore it.

Hook completely owns my heart. I liked Peter, but it found myself leaning more towards Hook as I read. Both were fleshed out characters, both were what made this book a great one, but Hook was special to me.

And finally, I really loved how Peter being trans was a part of the story, but not the focus. Austin Chant did an amazing job with it, and I’m so glad he did it. Because we all deserve to have our own adventures.

Austin Chant is a bitter millennial, a decent chef, and a queer, trans writer of romance and speculative fiction. He co-hosts the Hopeless Romantic, a podcast dedicated to exploring LGBTQIA+ love stories and the art of writing romance. He currently lives in Seattle, in a household of wildly creative freelancers who all spend too much time playing video games.

Genre: Fantasy Identity: Transgender Orientation: Gay Pairing: M/M Publisher: LT3Press Review Tag: Enemies to Lovers Austin Chant Peter Darling