Detective Thomas Doyle has been living a lonely, compartmentalized life ever since the death of his life partner, Aiden. He vowed never to let anybody get close to him again — the pain of losing a loved one is too much to bear. Despite his vow, Thomas is lonely, and has a number of one-night stands, sexual encounters with unnamed men he doesn’t care to remember.
Elias Byrne knows the pain of abuse and rejection intimately. Unable to escape the clutches of his older brother, Elias dreams of someone to love, and of being loved in return. He admires Thomas from afar, but the detective never pays him any notice. In a desperate attempt to get closer to him, Elias steals his wallet, then gives it back the next day.
Before he knows it, a strong attraction develops between them. Elias intrigues Thomas, but he resists his growing feelings because he doesn’t want to get hurt again. When Thomas rescues Elias from his abusive brother, will he also rescue them both from the loneliness that threatens to consume them? Can Elias conquer the detective’s hardened heart and find the love he always longed for? Or will Thomas stubbornly refuse to give himself another chance?
Amazon
Alright, so, I’m a sucker for the wounded bird syndrome.
When I saw that this one involved a hot widowed cop and a young kid with a violent past and a really tough life living with his older abusive brother….I was like, yes…I need it!
Somehow along the way though, it missed the mark for me. I’m not sure, but I think that maybe it was translated from a different language, so the dialogue was a little bit off to me, and for two grown adults, they argued and ran away from each other like children.
Now, Thomas had lost his partner a couple of years before, leaving him widowed and alone. There was something about a bed and breakfast in there, but it only gets mentioned in the beginning and then the end… then, we meet Elias, who’s been living with his abusive brother since their parents died a couple years apart from each other.
The brother Liam was abusive, sold drugs and essentially pimped his baby brother out, but Elias just went along with it all, because he wanted to please him. Literally, he says that so often, that’s the reason why he lets his brother prostitute him and beat him up.
When Thomas and Elias meet, it’s because Elias followed him home after confessing he’d been “watching” him for a long time and wanted Thomas to notice him…. I’m sorry… what? He jokes that it’s stalkerish… but dude…. IT IS! And Thomas is so mean to him…cause Elias, anytime he says or does something that Thomas doesn’t like…. He literally runs away…. Literally…. Think, Pheobe from friends, running in the park with Rachael… that’s what it reminds me of every time he “runs” away. Could you even imagine how embarrassing that would be?
Anyway… after Thomas spends most of the time telling him that he doesn’t want him and then going back after him, and Elias running away and then getting himself hurt… they eventully work it all out and Thomas tells him that he loves him. Thomas mentions the bed and breakfast, and then it’s over.
I know I’m not painting it in the best light and if you’re like me, and like the wounded bird syndrome like I do… maybe give it a chance… but don’t say you weren’t warned. It does end happily though, so, there is that.
2 pieces of eye candy from me