Did It Have to Be Gnomes?! cover art

Did It Have to Be Gnomes?!

Carry a Faerie, Book 1

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Did It Have to Be Gnomes?!

By: Michele Notaro
Narrated by: Zachary Zaba
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About this listen

Am I afraid of gnomes? Maaaaaaaybe.

Did I take on a huge gnome job anyway? I sure did.

Am I about to ask my crush for help? Well, I have to ask someone, right?

I get called out to a huge mansion with the biggest number of invading gnomes I’ve ever seen, and I’m not sure who to call to help. And I definitely need some help.

So when Winter Montgomery just so happens to stop by, I know I have to ask him. I’ve been crushing on the handsome guy from afar for years, so now’s my chance to get close—and get some much needed support.

As long as I don’t let him see just how much I hate gnomes—okay, I’m actually terrified of them, but he doesn’t need to know that… right?

Did It Really Have to Be Gnomes?! (Carry a Faerie, Book 1) is a MM urban fantasy and the first book in Miles and Winter’s love story. Each book will have its own supernatural problem with a HFN ending for the couple, but there will be overarching plot themes throughout the series.

©2025 Michele Notaro (P)2025 Michele Notaro Dragons & Mythical Creatures Fantasy Romance Heartfelt Feel-Good
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Michele Notaro pens another amazing story, and it is a wonderful start to a fascinating new series, “Carry A Faerie”, a magical urban fantasy MM romance with various paranormal beings including gnomes. Miles is in the business of removing magical pests, never exterminating them, taking them to a sanctuary instead. His next job has an infestation of his least favorite pest, gnomes, an infestation that is too much to handle by himself. He asks Winter Montgomery, the guy he not so secretly admires, to help him out, and Winter, whose admiration is mutual, is more than happy to because he will get to spend time with Miles. Miles and Winter are a perfect team, and their magical abilities jive well, with Miles being an empath and Winter a null. The job turned out to be even more complicated, gnomes that were possessed and cursed, so they had to call for more help. Winter calls in his friend Lyric, and then they add a necromancer named Chaos, who comes with a twin brother, Ace, all great side characters who add a lot to the story, Miles’ new familiar too. I loved how everything played out in this wonderfully delightful story, with the perfect balance of drama, witty dialogue and humor, heartfelt emotions and a slow burn, but so worth the wait, romance. Great writing, plot and world building, as well as character growth and development. Michele Notaro, thank you for another amazing story, wild ride and a reveal and ending leaving you wanting more.

🎧📚🎧 Zachary Zaba did a fabulous job voicing these characters and delivering a perfect portrayal of each. I loved his take on the two leads, Miles and Winter, embodying their personalities completely, and did the same performing the roles of the secondary/side characters, and was just as amazing. His pacing and tone are ideal for the story, and he conveys all the characters’ emotions in his performance, making you feel them all. Zaba is an entertaining storyteller, and his captivating performance keeps you glued to the story.

Fascinating & Magically Delightful Story & Listen🎧 

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Listener received this title free

This book is very entertaining. It's fun and exciting, with a lot of action, romance and humour, not to mention some amazing found family. The world building is great and creative, and what a fascinating world it is, with different kinds of magic practitioners and magical creatures!  I love how we find out facts about the MCs and the other characters bit by bit throughout the story. Miles is an empath who owns his own extermination company, except it's for faeries who are pests. He really cares about them and wants to put them in sanctuaries, not kill them, so his job is even more challenging. The big problem is that he is disgusted by and scared of gnomes, whom other people seem to find cute. He has always had a crush on Winter since high school, and now he gets a chance to befriend him.
Winter works for another extermination company that actually kills the faeries, but he hates his job. Winter has always liked Miles as well, and they are so sweet together. (Winter has a big dog named Goliath, a name I heartily approve of because I had a Newfie with that name as a kid. But his friend Lyric is right, his naming abilities are otherwise horrible, especially the nicknames he calls Miles. In this regard, the author gets to fulfill her penchant for weird nicknames, which we see in all her books!)
Winter's magic perfectly complements Miles' magic. They have a really big extermination job to do, but they have some intriguing new friends to help them out. Miles has also recently acquired an amazing firebird who just may be his familiar. We have a cliffhanger at the end that will segue into the next book, which I can't wait to read.

I listened to the audiobook narrated by Zachary Zaba. It's hard to believe that it's possible, but the book was even more entertaining in this form than the ebook and kept me very engaged. I love his expression and the different voices he does. I looked forward to listening to the audiobook every chance I got.
I received an audiobook copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Fun and exciting - by Shana W

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Listener received this title free

Before listening to this book, I had no idea that those creepy little figurines in my step-mother’s garden were real. Or that they went around with their bits hanging out and leaving butt prints wherever they sat.

Uh…gross?

I definitely appreciated that Miles is not a fan of gnomes. Firebirds? Sure, why not? Adorable misunderstood creatures. Gnomes? Uh…no.

So when the empath who rehomes supernatural creatures is called into a home to remove the gnomes, he figures he can do the job – even if he hates the vile little creatures. The problem? There are way too many for just one guy to handle. So he hires his neighbor and secret crush, Winter, to help. Winter works for a rival extermination company. Miles doesn’t like that the other company actually kills instead of rehomes, but he really needs assistance.

Turns out Winter, who’s known Miles since high school, has a reason for working for the rival company. In fact, the guy’s got an entire backstory that makes him, he feels, out of Miles’s league.

Well, while bringing in necromancers and familiars to help, the men tackle the gnome problem and their budding feelings for each other. Aw…cute.

I liked that this book is a very slow burn and that Michele plans to continue their love story over several books. She’s done this with her other series and it always works well. Plus, I’m hoping Chaos gets a love story as well.

So…waiting impatiently for the next book to see what havoc will be wrought upon Winter and Miles.

Shout out to Zachary Zaba – I love his narrations and he did a fantastic job with this one. Again…want more!!!

Who knew?

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Listener received this title free

Zachary Zaba is a fabulous narrator. He really brings all of the characters to life. I read this story first and, getting to listen to it, it helped to fully envelope me in the story - the relationship developing between the two MC's and the calamity that is caused by the gnomes and the supernatural powers that be. I can't wait to listen to the next book!

I am a huge fan of Michele Notaro's and this new series hasn't disappointed. The best thing is, there is so much more potential for world building, character relationships and paranormal stories.
My heart went out to Miles for the clearly lonely life that he has left due to being an empath and the terrible parents that he had. What is unfortunate, but also entertaining, is his fear/dislike of gnomes which are a common pest and one he often has to catch and release as part of his job as a paranormal pest controller. His current case gets out of hand and he has to call in reinforcements which just so happens to be the man he went to school with and has a tiny crush on. Winter would not have chosen pest control as a job but took what he could get. Now he has the chance to help Miles out, the quiet enough kid from school that he still has a crush on.
These two are totally adorable together and have the sweetest chemistry. Miles empathic ability has caused him many problems in the past but Winter's ability brings a big surprise. The case that they end up working together, along with Winter's best friend turns into something slightly darker than anticipated and so has them scrambling to search for answers and clear the huge gnome infestation.
I can't wait to see this relationship develop and the found family vibes that I can feel coming amongst the group of people in this book. So much entertainment throughout the book and the sweetest vibes as Miles and Winter work each other out and the possibility of what they have, and could have in the future.

Fantastic narration for an entertaining story

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Listener received this title free

Fantastic book! Miles and Winter were adorable together and their familiars were the sweetest.

The gnomes were something alright- they sounded cute especially, when Winter found one, in a very unusual place but at times, they were freaky.

I really enjoyed this book! The narrator’s performance was absolutely brilliant too.

Brilliant performance

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