Car restorer Dean Milford knows how to make damaged things beautiful again. Only, after a bad breakup, he loses sight of who he is, playing the field and distracting himself with any man he comes across. But now there’s only one guy who really matters to him. And maybe with his latest restoration job—a vintage Cobra—he’ll get the chance to let him know.
Losing his sight wasn’t the worst thing to happen to Lee Studer—losing his independence was. It’s taken a while, but he’s finally found his place in the world—in a garage. Funny enough, his acute hearing allows him to pinpoint engine problems just by listening. And even better, he’s going to have a chance to help his long-time crush, Dean, rebuild his fantasy car.
As the restoration comes together, so do Lee and Dean, building a friendship that quickly turns into so much more. But before they can think about a future together, they have to deal with the past. Only that turns out to be more dangerous than either one ever dreamed….
Title: Heart Unbroken
Series: Hearts Entwined: Book 4
Author: Andrew Grey
Release Date: August 6, 2019
Category: Contemporary
Pages: 192
Amazon
Dreamspinner Press
Lee and Scott were done with the Cadillac. Scott was just moving the car out of the bay when a hand touched Lee’s shoulder. Lee tensed until he smelled Dean. “You two do amazing work.”
“I hear the problems, and he sees them. I know my way around most engines, and he guides me. I wouldn’t be able to do this job without him.” Lee was well aware that Scott would be a great mechanic whether he was there or not. He was grateful that Scott worked with him, and he hoped he was helping Scott more than he was slowing him down.
“Trevor and I have come to an agreement. I’ve been restoring cars for the last decade out of my home garage, but I can’t keep my head above water. So he and I are going to partner together.”
“Down at the old Sears place? Trevor has been looking into that lately, and he always seems to be able to find the right fit for his ideas.”
“Yeah, exactly. And he said you and Scott might be interested in working with me. I do a lot of the body work—that’s my specialty—but I need experienced people to rebuild the engines and things like that. I can do it, but I’m better at other parts of the process.”
“I can talk with Brent and Scott.” Lee was excited about the possibilities. He’d heard one of the guys mention that Dean had just come across a Cobra he intended to restore. Lee’s hands itched to spend some time with that engine.
“Please do that. We’d all be working for Trevor, so things wouldn’t really be that different. But you’d have the chance to work on classic cars for a change, bringing them back from the dead.” Excitement filled Dean’s voice, and it was catching.
Lee nodded as his nose filled with the richness of Dean’s cologne , even over the garage’s exhaust fumes and grease. “Okay. I’ll think about it,” Lee said, wishing he had more questions, if only so he could get Dean to stay and talk with him a little while longer.
Where to start….
First.. love the cover!
Okay, so in this one, if you’ve read the first two in this series, you should remember
Dean, who is best friends with Trevor and Brent. He’s a bit of a player and still stuck in the bachelor life, even though his friends are both loved up and living their own lives… he seems a bit bitter about it, and to be honest, he was hit and miss with me in the other books, I wasn’t sure if I was going to like him… even at the beginning of this one, I didn’t really… but it all changed when he met Lee…
Lee works with Trevor at the garage, he’s the ears in the duo of him and Scott, who is deaf. A blind and deaf mechanic? I know… it’s hard to wrap your head around, but they seem to make it work and they’re both good at it…. Plus they have very supportive friends, whom I love.
Because Dean is a restorer of old classic cars and Trevor owns his own garage, he offers Dean a partnership of sorts to work for him but still do his own thing… which Dean appreciates because he was barely keeping his head above water financially as it was. A bonus was getting to work with Lee, who he had his eye on for a while but never did anything about because a bad breakup had him playing the field and not interested in getting hurt again, and Lee was a bit younger than him as well….which showed, a lot in my opinion.
Dean seemed kind of jerky until he caught Lee’s attention too. I liked watching them get to know one another and watching them both kind of navigate something new. Dean because he was opening himself up for something more than random hookups and Lee just getting to experience a normal type relationship with a normal guy… not that his impairment was abnormal, but it was just the way he felt. I can understand how hard it would be feel normal when everyone treated you with kid gloves…
And that brings me to the few things that I didn’t like…. There was the stereotypical overbearing mother… which I get… I’m a mother of two teenagers and sometimes I still treat them like they’re 10…. And they let me, why? Cuz I’m their mom and sometimes you just gotta humor your mom…but my goodness, Lee’s mom was too much….every conversation with her, literally every single one was him telling her that he’s not a kid… that he wants to be independent… that he cares about Dean, because yes, she was even a jerk to Dean…” what are your intentions with my son”, and “I think you need to break up with him”… like, really?? … I understand her concern, but it was too much, though she did redeem herself by the end I guess.. was still very stereotypical.
Also, things kept happening at work and when the guys went out to the club… elaborate things that you’d expect in a superhero movie with over the top villains … I knew exactly who was causing problems though I didn’t guess how they were related, I was annoyed when nobody seemed to know who was behind it all when it was so glaringly obvious.
Lastly…. Lee can smell illness? Is that a superpower? Someone walks up and asks to talk to Dean and he’s like…. Hepatitis or HIV? … I can smell it.
That whole part had me like…. Whaaaaat?
Overall though, I love this author’s stories and I love the way in which he uses impairments and real life problems with life and love. I like the complex situations and realistic views and solutions in handling things. I like the little embarrassing moments that some author’s skip over and I love the happily ever after’s that we get in this series. I was glad to see Dean get his happy and I loved the way he loved Lee.
It was a sweet read and I hope the series continues.
4 pieces of eye candy
Andrew grew up in western Michigan with a father who loved to tell stories and a mother who loved to read them. Since then he has lived throughout the country and traveled throughout the world. He has a master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and works in information systems for a large corporation.
Andrew’s hobbies include collecting antiques, gardening, and leaving his dirty dishes anywhere but in the sink (particularly when writing) He considers himself blessed with an accepting family, fantastic friends, and the world’s most supportive and loving partner. Andrew currently lives in beautiful, historic Carlisle, Pennsylvania.
Author Links
Facebook Group All the Way with Andrew Grey
Twitter @andrewgreybooks
Leave a Reply