Sixteen long years behind bars. Almost half his life. But finally, freedom and a future Dominic can see. Yet as he steps into the world, a whispered threat shatters his hopes of a fresh start. He’ll never be able to stop looking over his shoulder.
Ren narrowly survives the most dangerous situation of his life, but at least his attackers think he’s dead. Spending the summer stuck on his brother’s archaeological dig isn’t his idea of fun, but it beats being fussed over by his mother. It’s as good a place as any to heal physical and mental scars, and he has plenty of those.
The roar of Ren’s motorbike is his lifeline, the one thing that makes him feel truly alive. But a moment’s lapse in concentration and he knocks Dominic off his feet. The accident brings together two damaged souls whose pasts won’t stay buried. With danger on their tail, hanging on to hope—and to each other—won’t be easy.
Join Dominic and Ren as they fight to keep the shadows of the past at bay and their future bright. In a world where love is fragile, two hearts learning to heal may just discover love is worth the risk.
WARNING
Please note that one of the main characters in the story is in prison for murder. Sexual, physical and psychological abuse of a child is mentioned but no on-page detail is given. Sexual abuse of an adult is also mentioned but not shown on-page. Suicide is also mentioned in passing but not part of the story. There is some graphic violence.
Amazon – Kindle Unlimited – All Regions
If you read book one, you know about Col’s brother serving time in prison. First for killing his parents and then taking the fall in what was clearly self defense. So you have to know going in that this story is going to be hard to read at times. But then we also have Ren, recovering from nearly being beaten to death by a career criminal he was working undercover to catch. Two very broken men, yet they find each other.
There are definitely moments of levity in the story. The more comfortable Ren and Dominic become with each other, the cuter they get. I found their humor and way of joking around with each other was probably rather healing.
Letting themselves let another person close to them took a little warming up. But it was so worth it. I loved when they just hung out without anything sexual at all. Getting to know each other and accept each other. I almost gasped when they told each other the true horrors of what they had each been through.
But Dominic. Wow. For a man who has spent half his life in prison, when he really probably shouldn’t have spent any time in prison, was strong without being unapproachable. As much as his brother Col and Col’s boyfriend Theo wanted to help, he needed to slowly work his way back into life. While he was always looking over his shoulder and planning his way out because he was told another criminal would be looking for him. I can’t imagine his pain.
What Ren went through was brutal, but not nearly to the extent of the long lasting abuse Dominic had or the years in prison. I was a little surprised that Ren wasn’t on guard from the men who tried to kill him. By all accounts he should have been dead and he figured that they assumed he was dead. Until they realized he wasn’t.
Even bringing the story to closure, Ren and Dominic had to go through so much. Finally getting some redemption and validation was so satisfying. They make such a great couple.
I think the only thing I didn’t like was what they chose to do as a job after the dust settled. I don’t see Dominic doing that job at all. Seems a waste of all of his knowledge.
I’m going to repeat this- there is some heavy stuff in here. Take heed with the trigger warnings.
4.5 pieces of eye candy
