Author: K-lee Klein
Publisher: Self-Published
Length: 146 Pages (Kindle)
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: I enjoyed this sequel very much. While I feel it lacked some of the depth the first novel had, it still went a long way in revealing more about our two main characters and the demons that still held them both.
Reviewed By: Sammy
Blurb: Loveland, Colorado is a special place, a community of creativity and art, with scenic views and majestic mountains. The city brought Lucky and Jack together, but staying that way will take more than cold-air kisses and sweet valentines.
Jack Canon should be over-the-top happy. He has a job that makes him proud, students who make him laugh, a studio that brings out his creativity, and a man who treats him like he walks on water. But shadows from his past keep coming between him and the joy that should fill his heart. Jack needs to reconcile some bitter loose ends, before he can move forward.
Lucky Roberts is in love—hook, line, and kitchen sink. He wants to shout his feelings to the rooftops and scatter little handmade valentines all over the world. He thinks he’s okay with not being perfect, and knows Jack isn’t perfect either. But when his own past rears its ugly head, Lucky discovers that old habits die hard. Maybe opening his heart to Jack won’t be enough— maybe he just isn’t enough.
Jack and Lucky risk getting caught in limbo between the past and present if they don’t have the strength to share the skeletons in their closets. To move forward together, they have to find the courage to look back…together.
Warning: May Contain Spoilers From Book One in the Series
Review: Some may disagree and say that K-lee Klein’s sequel, Lost in Loveland, could be read as a standalone, but I would argue that much would be lost if the reader chose to do that. So, I will forewarn you that my review will contain spoilers from the first novel in this series, Lucky in Loveland, and therefore, please proceed reading with that in mind. This author does sweet romance unlike no other. Even when she throws in a bit of angst here and there, her characters have such fantastic chemistry together that even newer relationships have that lived-in, almost married feel to them. Lucky and Jack are no exception. Theirs is a story of love—fragile most assuredly—yet still, it presents as a profound lasting type of love if they only allow themselves to share the tortured past both cling to and cannot deny.
Lucky and Jack are attending a celebratory night out with the hockey guys after Lucky’s team placed in a weekend tournament. While at the bar, Lucky lets go and drinks just a bit too much, but that’s okay ’cause Jack keeps his head about him and looks after his man. But an unwelcome visitor shows up at the bar and reminds Lucky of a past he has fought so hard to forget. When that same person makes a pass at Jack in the restroom, Lucky comes unhinged and turns violent. This is a side of Lucky that Jack has never seen, and never wants to again. On top of that, Jack’s phone has been pinging incessantly with more and more threatening texts from his sisters. It seems that not only Lucky has unfinished business, and Jack must now head back home—a place he had run from—to finally settle his parents’ estate and deal with his three angry sisters. Each man feels they must keep this ugly side of themselves from the other, but if they are to survive as a couple, then not only must they confront their problems but they also must trust each other to look beyond them and see the person each desires to become.
I enjoyed this sequel very much. While I feel it lacked some of the depth the first novel had, it still went a long way in revealing more about our two main characters and the demons that still held them both. I think I missed the town members the most in this story, for they were what made the first novel so special—the community that surrounded Lucky and, later, Jack, was what made Loveland and all the events that took place seem so very real and special. This time there was more emphasis on personal growth—particularly for Jack, who had to come to terms with the death of his parents even though that loss had occurred more than a year earlier. Unfortunately, I felt the reunion and subsequent outcome/resolution with his sisters was a bit too easily managed. The amount of vitriol and anger Jack was slapped with from the moment he returned home was fairly intense, and while I did think some of that was explained and resolved appropriately, the speed with which that occurred was a bit mind-boggling.
The other issue I had with this installment is actually more of a desire for further information about Lucky’s past. We got tempting snippets of things that he had gone through before Jack arrived in Loveland—I really wish these had been developed a bit further, for I feel they would have only added to the story, making it much richer plot-wise. However, that desire cannot detract from the fact that Lucky continues to be such an endearing creation—a person you really want to meet and hang with—he is just that sweet. I loved reading the interactions he has with Jack, particularly near the end of the novel when he makes a decision that could have potentially ended what he has with Jack before it has a chance to move to the next level.
Lost in Loveland is a novel that gives you an opportunity to watch a fragile relationship between two scared men blossom into something more—something that could possibly become a “happy forever after” in so many lovely ways.
You can buy Lost in Loveland here:
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