Author: John Charles
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages/Word Count: 115 Pages
At a Glance: Despite some telling rather than showing, this was an enjoyable weekend read.
Reviewed By: Taz
Blurb: Matthew Kailen has two rules:
- I don’t date guys from work.
- I don’t do relationships.
A respected paramedic and the son of a homophobic father, Matthew learned to stay deeply entrenched in the closet for his own protection. He remained under his father’s radar until his sister Meredith and her husband were killed by a drunk driver. When Matthew became the guardian of their two young children, his life got complicated.
Trent Paleck completed his residency in Emergency Medicine at Lake Community Hospital outside of L.A. Despite the abundance of hot surfers and muscle studs, he longed to get back to the east coast. When a position for an Emergency Room doctor became available at Amity Hospital, in Trent’s home town, he jumped at the opportunity to move home.
Trent never expected to find what he did, when he found himself working alongside Matthew. A reluctant attraction quickly blossoms into something deeper. Can Matthew find in Trent the one thing that will cause him to break his own rules? Is Trent ready to trade in California surfers for the father of two young children? Both men are faced with what appears to be insurmountable challenges when Matthew’s father takes actions to prevent Trent from having the man he wants and Matthew the children he loves. Can they climb over the hurdles to find the love they desire?
Review: Overall, I really liked Love on Life Support. In the end, it packed a satisfying, romantic emotional wallop!–my favorite kind of story. In fact, I had to wipe a few tears from my eyes. The love between Trent and Matthew is so honest, and the way they work to find their way to each other is heartwarming. Add to this a wonderful cast of side characters, most lovable and endearing, and one hell of a villain, and you have the makings for an excellent story. It was really more of a long novella, so the book progressed rather quickly.
Despite the many positive attributes to this book, there were a few things which distracted me as I read. Most notably was in how the author chose to tell us about characters’ emotions rather than show them on the page. At key moments throughout the book, the author would tell us what particular emotion a character was feeling, whereas I would have preferred the actions spoke for themselves. One of the characters took a while to clue in to the needs of the other as well, which made him seem a bit insensitive until he figured out the best way to approach the man of his desires.
All this said, I would recommend Love on Life Support as an enjoyable weekend read, perhaps when you are in the mood to capture an emotional ride, crank out some of those tears just to give yourself an emotional cleansing. If you find yourself in that situation…as I did this weekend…then this book is for you.
You can buy Love on Life Support here:
