Title: Ben’s Rainbow
Series: Rainbow Key: Book Three
Author: Victoria Sue
Publisher: Amazon/Kindle Unlimited
Length: 242 Pages
Category: Contemporary
At a Glance: I loved this book. I love this series. Very serious issues are given weight, but they are balanced on the other end of the spectrum with acceptance, love, friendship, family and a whole lot of therapy. Highly recommend!
Reviewed By: Carrie
Blurb: Benedict Keeler was one of America’s most popular models. Hot body, hot career, and super-hot boyfriend, until a devastating house fire destroyed his face and his dreams. After being told all his life that a pretty face is the measure of his worth, he can’t face another rejection and runs from his lover, eventually hiding out on Rainbow Key.
Zachary Jones, a highly sought after photographer—even if he would rather shoot the homeless in Manhattan than a fashion spread—is now facing the real possibility that a genetic disease will render him blind and his days behind a camera may be over.
Two devastated men, one haunted by his past and one convinced he has no future. Will they both hide from the world, or will they give love, and each other, a second chance?
Review: Our journey into the lives of the misfits on Rainbow Island continues with Ben’s story. Ben is a former model and is drop-dead gorgeous. Except, because of a series of unfortunate events, he barely survives a fire in a celebrity’s home, and the left side of his face and neck are now scarred beyond saving. Ben’s on the run, from anything and anybody who may be a reminder of his old life. Coming to Rainbow Key, he has finally found a measure of solace and the solitude he craves. Once again, Victoria Sue is leading us on a journey all about the power of love, and this time about second chances also. Exploring the age-old adage “beauty is only skin deep”, she has weaved us a tale of a scarred model and his one true love, a man who is now going blind. Sounds heavy, doesn’t it? But it’s not. Sue handles the issues her main characters face head on and with such aplomb that while weighty, they are not so heavy that they drag the storyline down a negative pathway. She also has created with this series a set of secondary characters who provide an underpinning that helps support her MCs in each of their individual journeys. You can absolutely read this one as a standalone but be aware, we are talking about the lives of several men and a few women who have made a family of sorts on Rainbow Key and so they do intertwine. Don’t be surprised if, after reading this one, you want to go back and read books one and two. On second thought, just start with number one and read from there!
Benedict Keeler has been on the run. He found Rainbow Key, with its low profile and secluded beaches, and he finally found a place he could rest. You can pretend the world is very far away from an island. But Ben found more than that; he found a family and a home. God knows he never had either of those before, at least not loving ones. Ben is as emotionally damaged as he is physically damaged, only the emotional scarring began years before the accident which left him disfigured on the outside. He lost the love of his life because he couldn’t trust that Zach would ever love him for more than his pretty face, so when that is taken away it leaves him reeling. Ben’s a model, an exceptionally handsome man in high demand in the modeling world. His life was changed overnight when a talent scout spotted him in the mall, and his first job landed in his lap. From trailer trash to Milan is quite the leap, but Ben made it. Only, he never trusted it or the people in his life it brought him. In one horrible day, Ben loses his boyfriend, his life as a model, his home and his livelihood.
Zach Jones is a photographer, a very serious photographer. Cataloguing the needs of the unfortunate, the aftermath of war, and the effects of poverty in third world countries is his passion. Fashion shoots, not so much. But then one day a buddy has him fill in for him, and he’s struck dumb by the beauty in his viewfinder. Making room for Ben while filming the Sudan was hard, but surely Ben knew how much he loved him… Right? And then it all falls apart and for four years, Zach searches for Ben while burying himself in war zones around the world to keep busy. Having a genetic disorder such as glaucoma should have made him cautious, especially since his older brother was an ophthalmic surgeon because of their family connection to the disease, but instead Zach ignores the signs and wakes up blind in the middle of Africa. He comes to Rainbow Island so that he can recuperate in a slow, no stress location away from his brother, away from everyone. Or so he thinks.
Two men, both are incredibly successful by worldly standards, but both so busy being individuals that they never take the time to build a solid foundation for their relationship. So, when trouble comes, the relationship falters—sometimes love in and of itself isn’t enough. Ben and Zach had to have catastrophic circumstances bring them to a point where they only had each other. No pretty face, no camera, no causes or expectations, only sun, sand, surf and the time for open communication. The love is still there and now they have a chance at forever, but it ain’t easy, and frankly, four years is a lot of water under the bridge, especially when things ended so badly to begin with.
I loved this book. I love this series. I NEED Matt to find his HEA, and now, thanks to this book, I NEED Chris to find his too (maybe with Zach’s older brother? Hmmmm, please?). Read this series. Victoria Sue has created romantic, heartwarming stories that will leave you with a smile and probably quite a few tears. I mean, geez, some of the things these characters have gone through, are still living through…. You would think these books would be so dark and yet they aren’t. That’s the power of Sue’s writing. Again, these very serious issues are given weight, but they are balanced on the other end of the spectrum with acceptance, love, friendship, family and a whole lot of therapy. Highly recommend!
You can buy Ben’s Rainbow here:
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