Review: Back Where He Belongs by Isobel Starling

Title: Back Where He Belongs

Author: Isobel Starling

Publisher: Self-Published/Kindle Unlimited

Length: 151 Pages

Category: Contemporary

At a Glance: The story does a great job of setting up the lives these two men left behind, and what happened in the interim while they were apart; though, while I do appreciate that this was a short story, I did have one very serious problem that stemmed from how the ending wrapped up so swiftly.

Reviewed By: Sammy

Blurb: Back in Scotland after five years working in Australia, Kier Campbell finds himself stranded on a road in the Scottish Highlands on Christmas Eve. He has to get to the next village urgently or freeze to death in his broken down hire car. Kier hikes down the icy road and as he walks memories of the life he’d run from-and the love he’d abandoned in Scotland return to haunt him.

With a blizzard fast approaching, a passing motorist finds Kier and offers him a lift. He is surprised to recognize the driver. As the weather worsens he realizes they is no way he will reach his parent’s farm, and so is stranded with his savior for the holidays.

Kier’s one Christmas wish is to make up for the mistakes he made all those years ago, but, curiously, he finds he has an unexpected rival for his lovers’ affections…

Review: Five years ago Kier left the only man he’d ever really felt connected to, because he was afraid to come out to his parents and the small community in which they lived. He claimed it was in order to travel, to experience life beyond the Scottish Highlands, which had been his life to that point. But the grass is definitely not always greener, as Kier was to discover. Now home from Australia to see his family, Kier feels even more keenly the loneliness he has dealt with the entire time he has been away. As fate would have it, the man he left behind materializes out of the snowy hills just as Kier’s rental car breaks down, stranding him many miles outside the village.

Time has not stood still for Douglas since Kier left him heartbroken and alone. He has pursued his dream of starting a business, and even had a relationship that lasted nearly three years. However, nothing prepared him for the jolt he received when the stranger alongside the road turned out to be his long-lost lover, Kier. Now the two men are thrown together during a heavy snowstorm, and the conversation they should have had five years ago is going to have to happen if either man is going to act on the raw emotions they both still feel for one another.

Back Where He Belongs by Isobel Starling is a story of second chances that sweeps the reader up in a past romance that never had any real sense of closure. When Douglas told Kier he was ready to come out to their parents, and live the life both of them had dreamed about, Kier gave in to his fears and ran. In this incredibly sweet short story, we get the full picture of what the past was like for these two men, and the reasons Kier left it all behind. We also find out that the kink for puppy play both men enjoyed was mutual and something that allowed them to have an extra layer of intimacy they could only find with each other. The passion that bound Kier and Douglas was still very much alive even after five long years apart.

The story does a great job of setting up the lives these two men left behind, and what happened in the interim while they were apart. Despite the years, the attraction they felt was very real, and the emotional and physical tension they feel when they come back together was so well done. I had no problems believing these two guys should have never left one another, and I was solidly rooting for them to somehow bridge the gap and remain together after Kier’s holiday visit. Even the puppy play was presented in such a way that those who may not be familiar with the dynamic between the owner and pup could understand and appreciate the deep level of trust it takes to engage in such kink.

While I do appreciate that this was a short story, I did have one very serious problem that stemmed from how the ending wrapped up so swiftly, and with little exploration by the characters as to how they viewed their future together. The author had taken such pains to unpack the past, their lives during their break up, and even how they needed to recognize that if they were to go forward from here, things could not be the same as trust had been broken. However, when it came time to resolve this story, it was undeniably too swift and out of the blue with no page time given to Kier and Douglas even discussing whether they had a future together. The ending was just jarring in comparison to the rest of the book.

Even though I found that a bit disappointing, I must admit that these are two characters whose story I would love to see evolve into a full novel. They were sweet and so right for each other—and, in the end, that made this a lovely holiday tale I think many will enjoy.

You can buy Back Where He Belongs here:
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