I’m not sure I have the right words to convey how much I loved this book; it touched me deeply on many levels. It also reinforces something I’ve known for quite a while: a good love story doesn’t have to be all hot and heavy between the sheets to be a wonderful book. Butterflies I Have Known is a slow burn romance with only fade-to-black scenes and little hints at spice and it’s one of the best love stories I’ve read this year.

Milton Glass is a renowned photographer in the twilight of his life. His one and only desire is to find the reincarnated souls of two men he knew that were taken before their time. He’s been touring with his work, traveling to many cities, hoping to find what he’s been seeking for many years.

Matthew Richter has been visiting a local Asian market for two years now. He keeps coming back even though their prices are a bit higher than at another place he used to shop. He’s not sure why but he’s drawn to Jian Wei even though Jian torments him every time he sees him in the store.

Jian noticed Matthew the first time he came into his family’s store. When he realized that Matthew kept coming back, week after week, he couldn’t help doing little things to torment him and draw attention to himself.

I loved all of the characters in this book – even the ones that were difficult and supposed to be unlikeable because they added depth and interest. There are a lot of family dynamics in this story. Jian is the oldest of four and he helps to run the family business. He loves to torment his siblings by changing the way their Google device addresses them. Matthew is the oldest of two children. He and his brother do not get along at all. His brother is constantly making rude comments about Matthew and the fact that he is gay and introverted.

I could go on and on about this wonderful story but then I’d end up telling the whole thing. It’s not the kind of book that has any gotchas so I don’t believe that anything I’ve written is a spoiler. This is just a very lovely story that brought me to tears more than once (that means I loved it).

Reviews for Kristoffer Gair

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Jian opened a cardboard container filled with lemon tea and grabbed two six-packs. Mister Important Professor could afford to buy two, especially since he’d inconvenienced Jian in the first place. He then checked the incoming produce, and when he didn’t find any lychee, grabbed a third six-pack of the tea.

Jian’s father was nowhere to be seen when he returned. So much the better.

“Here you go, Mister Important Man.” Jian transferred the tea from his arms to the arms of the object of his discontent. “Thank you for waiting so patiently while your humble servant retrieved what he could of your most profound wishes. No fresh lychee either.” He started to head away, then stopped. “Or is it Mister Important Professor?”

The professor’s face turned beet red. “I never said I was important.”

Thinking of the professor as the professor felt…odd. The name suggested someone much older, like in their fifties or sixties. This one didn’t look much over Jian’s age. Maybe he was an old soul acting like an old man in a younger man’s body. What a waste of good genetics.

“True. My father says you’re important.” Jian knew he could be accused of being rude, but he switched to speaking Cantonese to avoid insulting the professor in a language the man understood. “You almost never talk when you come in here, and you give off the impression you don’t want to talk to anybody, like they’re beneath you. You might even be handsome if you learned to smile and changed everything about your personality. Right now, you’re just another uptight white man. But, we do appreciate your business.”

The professor stared at Jian for at least a solid ten seconds. While the man remained silent, he moved his lips, though almost imperceptivity. Jian swore the professor must be continuing the conversation in his head. Seriously? Who does something like that? Is he even human? The professor finally took a deep breath and exhaled. “Thank you for the items.”

Jian watched him start walking away. Much to his surprise, the professor paused and looked back over his shoulder.

“Oh, I don’t think I’m better than anyone else, and I’m not trying to be something I’m not,” the professor spoke in perfect Cantonese. “Also, I come here because I love the food. Finally, you don’t know me well enough to talk about my personality. That would be like me saying you come across as someone who enjoys annoying his father and the customers for no other reason than because you can, and you probably admire yourself in the mirror every morning, too.”

Jian felt his jaw drop, which he then shut with a loud snap. “What? Seriously? You’ve been shopping here since we opened two years ago and you couldn’t mention you speak Cantonese? You’ve understood everything we’ve been saying about…I mean to you?” He decided to change tactics and switch to Mandarin. “You sure talk when you want to.” See how Mr. Important Professor liked that!

“I only speak when I have something to say,” the professor replied back to him in Mandarin.

Jian felt his own face burn with the sudden rush of blood. “Don’t let my father hear you speak Mandarin! He’ll probably offer you my bedroom and I’ll wind up in the basement. Why are white people so weird?” He stormed off and caught a Caucasian woman glaring at him. “Not you. Him. He’s weird. You’re perfection. Have you tried the new Thai milk tea packets we just got in?”

“Jian!” His father’s voice bellowed throughout the store.

“Huh.” Jian looked up at the ceiling. Had his father installed cameras he didn’t know about? “He doesn’t even have to see me do something wrong anymore to know I did.”