Title: Against Reason
Author: Scarlet Blackwell
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novella (109 pages)
ISBN: 978-1-61922-219-9
Publisher: Samhain Publishing (February 18th, 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Cat
Blurb: He lost his heart once. Is it too damaged for love to find it again?
In the five years since the love of his life abandoned him at the altar, Jake Morgan hasn’t left his house. The locals in this small, English town have dubbed him “Mr. Havisham”, but he’s too preoccupied wrestling his demons to care about Dickensian comparisons.
Forced to admit he’s losing the battle to keep up his large estate alone, he reluctantly places an advert for help. The striking young man who answers his call shakes him to the core.
When Darius answers the ad for the position at the mysterious mansion, the bitter, lonely master of the house tugs at his heartstrings. Setting aside his own run of bad luck, Darius batters at Jake’s emotional walls with kindness and determination that defy all attempts to drive him away.
Just as tendrils of new love begin to intertwine, though, a terrible voice from the past intrudes. And threatens to drive Jake back into the shadows where Darius can never reach him.
Purchase Link: http://store.samhainpublishing.com/against-reason-p-73235.html
Review: Against reason is a story about a man who is very broken and another that is going through a lot of personal issues, such as finding a job to make ends meet and keeping a roof over his head.
I am going to start by talking about characters. Jake had been left at the altar five years ago and was still reeling from it. He is very heartbroken, the town talks about him and calls him Mr. Havisham (from Great expectations), and he has suffered physically and emotionally for the tragedy. Aside from the jilting, he is also a recluse, and has a severe case of OCD. I liked Jake since i do relate. Some people that aren’t experienced with OCD may not understand some of the references to numbers, and the need to keep his personal space.
There were things I didn’t like about Jake, such as he sometimes bordered on being plain mean and cruel to Darius in my opinion.
Darius, I would have liked a little more information such as why he was having such employment issues, why he was fired, since he seemed to be a very hard worker and easy to please. Marc… I won’t even go there… Nope didn’t like him but I am sure we aren’t supposed to.
I actually liked the storyline, but I have a thing about broken main-characters, especially if they can overcome whatever broke them. I like a lot of angst and there is tons of it in this story.
One of my favourite things was the dining room. This was a big shocker and I won’t tell you what was there, but I liked the description, I found it slightly macabre and felt it really emphasized the pain Jake was suffering from.
I am not sure a wedding cake left out would even be standing in five years, but I myself let the reality go from that and liked the effect it served. After all this is fiction. I also would have liked to know where Jake go his money, had such a huge house and grounds and why he didn’t have to work
If you like, a good romance full of angst, dark, sad stories, broken men and some relatively hot mansex this is for you!