@SignalBoostPR, @debbiereadsbook, @vllocey,
No matter how far you go love will always lead you home again.
The world has changed quite a bit since Carl Cimino was a young man in Port Plechard. The small Connecticut coastal town once had everything that he held dear: his family, his friends, his hockey team, his school, and his first love, Mike Rinnert. Back then gay boys didn’t parade along the rocky shores in bright rainbow swim trunks. They hid their shame then moved away or married a nice girl and pretended to be happy. After a dismal marriage attempt and a lackluster playing career that ended with an equally unsatisfying coaching job, Carl is called back to Port Plechard to attend Mike’s funeral and swears that he’s just seen a ghost.
Either that or he’s had one too many sips of his father’s homemade wine. He soon discovers that the spirit hovering around Mike’s grave isn’t a phantom at all, it’s Tigh, Mike’s much younger brother. Tigh is nearly an exact replica of young Mike right down to his dark sensual eyes, wavy hair, and lips that beg to be kissed. The two men are drawn to each other immediately, but there’s more than one hurdle to overcome: a sizeable age difference, small-town gossip, personal demons, family problems, and a hurricane just to name a few.
5 out of 5 (exceptional)
Independent Reviewer for Archaeolibrarian - I Dig Good Books!
This is book 6 in the Colors Of Love series (you have NO idea, how many times I typed the spelling of Colours!) But you do not have to read the others. Books one and 4 were 5 star reads, from me, and 2 and 3 were 4 stars. I missed book 5!
This is, I thought, a much darker read than all the others, and I read this book in one sitting, 200 odd pages before 8am!
As with the other books, only one of the two main characters have a say, and Carl's voice is powerful. Damaged and broken, but powerful nonetheless. His strong, but often depressive voice makes up for the lack that Tigh doesn't have a say.
Going home for his best friend's funeral would have caused many pain, but for Carl, it pushes him over the edge, and into a faster path of self-destruction. Only Tigh's strength and help helps Carl pull himself out of that pit of despair, along with a couple of surprising people who I didn't think would help him.
Tigh is Carl's best friend's younger brother, a LOT younger than Carl, but it's not thrown about too much. I liked that it pops up at key points, but only really when it's needed.
Carl's self-destruction is painful reading, it really is. You can see it happening right in front of you, and you can't stop it. He was already on a downward spiral when we meet him, but Mike's death was the straw, really.
It's very difficult reading, but also, you get sucked in so bad because you want to see how Carl pulls out of it, you NEED to see how this plays out with Tigh and before you know it, you've ran out of tears, of cheers and of pages.
And Arn pops up, I love him! Love the little digs he makes about his clients, who are the subjects of the previous books. That made me laugh. But Arn is sad, and I don't want him to be. Will he get a book?? I hope so.
Trigger warnings for alcohol abuse (Carl) and PTSD recovery (Tigh)
5 amazing stars
** same worded review will appear elsewhere **
* A copy of this book was provided to me with no requirements for a review. I voluntarily read this book, and the comments here are my honest opinion. *
USA Today Bestselling Author V.L. Locey – Penning LGBT hockey romance that skates into sinful pleasures.
V.L. Locey loves worn jeans, yoga, belly laughs, walking, reading and writing lusty tales, Greek mythology, Torchwood and Dr. Who, the New York Rangers, comic books, and coffee. (Not necessarily in that order.) She shares her life with her husband, her daughter, one dog, two cats, a pair of geese, far too many chickens, and two steers.
When not writing spicy romances, she enjoys spending her day with her menagerie in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania with a cup of fresh java in one hand and a steamy romance novel in the other.
Comments