“If I got rid of my demons, I’d lose my angels.” ― Tennessee Williams
BLURB: After two years, Matthew Langer is still getting over the death of a loved one. He’s steered clear of serious relationships, but when he meets the irascible, dirty mouthed and tempestuous Shane Templar that decision has never been harder. Shane is sexy, warm and funny, and Matthew finds himself trying like hell not to care about him. Especially when Shane, with his quick wit and hacking skills, is quick to stand up for justice and avenge wrongs. Then Shane strikes at the wrong target, and Matthew realises just how far gone he already is. At the threat of losing for good yet another man who’s broken through his armour, Matthew finds his heart stripped bare. He must face the demons of his soul or a future without love.
REVIEW: The opening of this book pretty much set the tone for the whole book, and WOW what a tone it was. When we first meet Shane Templar, he finds himself tied spread eagle on a bed with his client ehm… taking care of himself. Turns out Shane is an escort, and he has ended up in a pickle. David, his client, is a good guy that just made a not so good decision in drugging Shane. The two have been out together before, and Shane understands the pressure David is under from his father. When David ends up in the hospital just hours after a disturbing phone call, Shane rushes to his side to find out what happened.
When he arrives at the hospital, Shane meets Matthew Langer. Matthew is David’s father’s lawyer. He has been in the process of healing for two years after the tragic death of his lover in a car accident. He has worked for Walter Debussy for a while. Matthew inherited the job from his father when he passed away, but he has been questioning the decision to work for the man since he realized how homophobic the man is. When Matthew is called to the hospital as Walter’s lawyer, he finds out that David has been beaten and Matthew believes Walter and his hired muscle are responsible. When Shane shows up at the hospital, the spark between Matthew and Shane is pretty much immediate, but Matthew can’t bring himself to date yet, and they both go their separate ways.
A while later, Matthew runs into Shane again while looking for David at all of the man’s favorite bars. The two men end up going home together, and this seems to be the push Matthew needs to start moving forward again. Shane is starting to have strong feelings for Matthew, but he realizes that Matthew is going to take some time to fully move on from the husband he lost. All is going well between the two men until some of Shane’s hacking causes Matthew to end their relationship. Both men are devastated, and there seems to be no chance of a reconciliation until tragedy befalls one of them.
I liked the path these two took to get to their happy ending. Matthew thought he would never love again and Shane had never really felt loved. They truly were an opposites attract story, one that pushed every boundary of the law and one that fought to uphold them. Their relationship was definitely a slow burning one, but it was worth watching them figure it all out. I liked that both of these men were flawed, but they seemed to rise above everything that was holding them back and find some happiness that they both so desperately needed. Though this author is not a newly published author, she is new to me and I will be checking out more by her, and I do hope you will join me.
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