REVIEW: Boy Blue by Jackie North (Boxcar Boys #2)

BOY BLUE

Boxcar Boys - Book Two

by Jackie North

Release Date: July 31, 2026

Review

I’m obsessed with boxcar boys. This is the second series I’ve read recently that is focused on them, and it’s such a fantastic setting. The reasons for riding the rails are diverse, as are the people who do it, so the possibilities are endless.

Jackie has managed to combine rail riding with small-town goodness, and I’m here for it.

Blue can’t seem to catch a break in life, and yet he still holds a gentleness that he didn’t have to keep. First he gets separated from one of the people he was travelling with, feeling guilty about it, then he finds himself nearly dying on a side road in a small town in a snowstorm. He needs stability, care, and love.

Wolfe lives in isolation. He thinks it’s by choice, but really life and people have left him bruised and leary of letting people in. Having an unexpected visitor is a great way to remind him that there is value in connection.

It’s a sweet story. Both men are learning to let the other in, learning to let down the walls, and embracing the small town they call home.

Add to your TBR List

GOODREADS LINK

Synopsis

Love takes trust and time.

Blue thought he could escape his life by hitching a ride on a freight train.

With his backpack and dreams of freedom, he teams up with Nimble and Star, whose company promises adventure and friendship. But when a blizzard strikes, Blue loses everything—his grip, his memory, his identity.

He is rescued by a man named Wolfe.

Wolfe lives alone and prefers it that way. After a short stint in prison, left with only the skill in his hands, he is determined to make his own way in the world and depend on nobody.

Driving back from town before the blizzard hits, he finds a young man in the snow, wounded, unconscious.

Wolfe must decide. Leave the young man to freeze to death or take him in?

Boy Blue is an m/m small town romance complete with hurt/comfort, amnesia, age gap, mutual rescue, runaways, angst, broken characters, found family, all the feels, small town vibes, slow burn, opposites attract, pining, broken homes, comfort food, flannel shirts, and snow. Lots and lots of snow.

About Jackie North

Jackie North Pic

Jackie North has been writing stories since grade school and her dream was to someday leave her corporate day job behind and travel the world. She also wanted to put her English degree to good use and write romance novels, because for years she’s had a never-ending movie of made-up love stories in her head that simply wouldn’t leave her alone.

Luckily, she discovered m/m romance and decided that men falling in love with other men was exactly what she wanted to write about. In this dazzling new world, she turned her grocery-store romance ideas around and is now putting them to paper as fast as her fingers can type. She creates characters who are a bit flawed and broken, who find themselves on the edge of society, and maybe a few who are a little bit lost, but who all deserve a happily ever after. (And she makes sure they get it!)

She likes long walks on the beach, the smell of lavender and rainstorms, and enjoys sleeping in on snowy mornings. She is especially fond of pizza and beer and, when time allows, long road trips with soda fountain drinks and rock and roll music. In her heart, there is peace to be found everywhere, but since in the real world this isn’t always true, Jackie writes for love.

Where to find them: