Review: Saving Kane by Michele M. Rakes

Author: Michele M. Rakes

Publisher: Loose Id

Pages/Word Count: 260 Pages

Rating: 3 Stars

Blurb: Kane Abel can’t help falling for his caregiver, the handsome paramedic who saves his life, but he’s resistant. The one time Kane threw caution to the wind, he was left with a wired jaw and a tracheostomy. He can’t take much more hurt. But with his attacker’s promise to return, Kane lives in a constant state of fear, and with the ever-present paramedic, arousal.

Garrett Young struggles with the question of his sexuality, unable to get Kane out of his mind even as he fights against the demise of his long-time engagement with his girlfriend Amanda. Every day is complicated by his ongoing battle with PTSD and alcoholism, compounded by his fear for Kane’s life.

Review: Michele M. Rakes’ Saving Kane a good read but, unfortunately, is not a great one. First, it opens with the brutal assault and rape of one of the MCs. This is where our other MC comes into the picture also, which is definitely not a conventional way to introduce a novel’s main characters, but it worked for me.

Kane made a bad decision, one he usually doesn’t make. Even though Kane has worked his way out of the hell that was his childhood, he has just recently stopped dancing for money. Now he is a bartender, and he doesn’t let just any man pick him up. In fact, he usually doesn’t let ANY man pick him up. Then along comes this nice guy who seems to be wooing Kane, and giving in turns out to be the worst mistake of Kane’s life.

When Kane is close to death on his own front porch, Garrett shows up as the EMT who saves Kane’s life. For reasons unknown to Garrett, he can’t get Kane out of his head. His relationship with his long time fiancé is on the rocks, his drinking is escalating, and his PTSD is rearing its ugly head. The only thing he feels he has any control over in his life is Kane.

During Kane’s recovery Garrett is there the entire way, bossing him around and then taking him home with him to recuperate. Garrett doesn’t quite understand all the feelings he is having for Kane, and this eventually comes between them.

When the FBI turns up to speak to Kane, he realizes the man he met is more of a monster than he could have ever imagined. It will take one rogue FBI agent, a boozing EMT with personal issues, and a transgendered mother hen to save Kane.

This book was a good read, and I really liked Kane. Garrett was a whole other story. He wanted to be “normal” so badly he almost let the best thing in his life walk away. There were some great parts to this story. I liked how resilient Kane was, for one. No matter what life threw at him, Kane still found a way to survive, even flourish somehow.

There are some very dark moments in this book also. There is on page rape and violence, but on the flipside there are some very innocent moments too, such as when Garrett took Kane to the Christmas store and Kane was like a little kid in a candy store.

I think some of the situations between Kane and Garrett were forced too quickly by the author, and a longer timeframe would have made their situation more believable. There is a HEA, and it turned out to be a very sweet ending, but I feel the beginning of their relationship was just too rushed. In the end, though, I liked the book and found that I could overlook some of the situations just to enjoy this relationship.

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