“ So shines a good deed in a weary world.” ― William Shakespeare
Author: Andrew Grey
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Pages/Word Count: 200 Pages
Rating: 5 Stars
Blurb: Luka Krachec immigrates to the United States to find his cousin dead and his cousin’s wife hospitalized after a terrible accident. He meets Peter Montgomery at the funeral. The American seems nice and captures Luka’s attention when he offers to help him with his English.
Peter has spent most of his life believing he shot his father at age six, and his family uses his regret and overwhelming guilt to keep him under their proverbial thumbs. Peter does his best to make up for what he did by helping others, and agreeing to help Luka with his English yields something amazing when they hit it off.
When Peter opens up to Luka about what happened when he was a child, Luka senses some holes in the story and suspects Peter needs some help, so he approaches the head of the psychology department at the college where he works. Neither expects to open a long-barricaded door to secrets, denial, and family manipulation.
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Review: Luka Krachec lost his family when he came out to them. Then he lost his lover to sickness after three years of being together. At that point in his life he has no reason to stay in Serbia. So with the help of his cousin in America, Luka defies the Serbian government and sneaks out of the country. Luka has legal paperwork, a job, and a place to live waiting for him in America, basically a fresh start.
Upon arriving in America, Luka realizes that it doesn’t matter how much you plan, things can still fall apart. When a stranger picks him up at the airport, Luka finds out that the cousin that has sponsored him is dead, and the man’s wife is unconscious in the hospital. So instead of a happy family reunion, Luka finds himself attending a funeral and conducting a bedside vigil. The only bright spot to be found was meeting Peter Montgomery.
Peter Montgomery is thirty-one years old and probably one of the saddest men I have read about in a while. He has been punishing himself for twenty-five years due to a mistake made when he was a child. The worst part is his family has joined in on the punishment, and Peter feels he isn’t worthy of love. When he meets Luka and agrees to help teach Luka English, small cracks start to develop in the walls he has built around himself for years.
Luka helps Peter to sort through the memories of the past, and Peter helps Luka fight the Serbian government that wants to force him back to his home country. During these battles we get to see the good in both of these men, and the heart of gold they both possess.
It has been a while since I’ve loved both MCs all the way through a story, but that is exactly what I did while reading this one. Of course, there were some characters that I didn’t like, but they added to the story and made it well rounded. It was a nice change to have all of the drama focused on the outside of the relationship instead of between the two love interests. Another wonderfully written story by Andrew Grey that you won’t want to miss.
Love the storyline here. Sounds great. :)