Title: Crossed Hearts
Series: Hearts and Scars, #1
Author: K. Vale
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (265 pages)
Publisher: K. Vale (April 27th 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Blurb: One heart’s been broken. The other is secondhand.
Kory Vansant doesn’t deserve to be alive.
As time sucks him dry of energy, sapping the final ounces of strength from his congenitally enlarged heart, he’s forced to end his career as Kory Kent, porn star. Staring down death, he questions his life choices and prays for a miracle. For another chance at life, he vows to change who he is at his core.
His prayers are answered. A perfect heart now beats in his chest, but it comes at a heavy price. The donor is an innocent young man cut down far too prematurely.
Kory’s blemished history and his donor’s spotless past are far from ideal matches.
As his debts skyrocket, Kory can’t help but think his resolve to walk the high road is being tested. After he meets the adorable Will Squire at the gravesite they both visit, he’s doubly damned because there’s no way he can keep up his end of the bargain. What happens when a man breaks a deal with a higher power?
Will often prefers the company of the dead to that of the living.
Following a bad breakup, he pours himself into his two jobs—funeral director at his uncle’s mortuary and part-time paramedic. He’s drawn ever closer to Kory, as if fate sticks her fickle hand in and pushes them together like two unlikely puzzle pieces. But sometimes history can’t be buried, and maybe divine intervention isn’t always right. Will discovers everyone is imperfect, no matter how pretty the outer package.
And opening one’s heart is never easy, but can be oh, so worth the pain.
ASIN: B00W0IJW1I
Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/Crossed-Hearts-Scars-Novel-ebook/dp/B00W0IJW1I
Reviewer: Prime
Review: I’m just going to put it out there: this is an amazing book, something I would never have guessed from reading the blurb. Frankly, the blurb for this book had me in two minds as to whether or not I should read it or if I would find it boring. But I am so relieved I did read this one because… wow… it’s sweet and emotive, hot and sexy.
The story follows Kory and Will. They meet in unusual circumstances, as outlined in the blurb. Kory is an ex-porn star, artist/painter and has just had a brush with death only to be saved by a heart transplant. Will seems a bit quirky at first but he’s just an ordinary guy, in fact, they both are ordinary guys who happily followed life where it took them. He just happens to work for his uncle mortuary as a mortician; he’s also a part-time EMT.
Okay, this may seem odd but to me this book is summed up by song lyrics that just popped into my head (Keep The Light On by The Whitlams (2006)). To me it just sums up the book perfectly, at least in my, possibly warped, mind:
We stumble into each other’s lives/ And we knock some things over/ Try not to make a sound.Each time you reach out/ A new shout or shine-on/ We run in and fall out/ Fumble around for the key.
I’ll always keep the light on for you/ You try so hard to be alive/ What else can you do?/ But close your eyes/ You can’t see the beautiful way/ When you’re burning so bright
Musical inspiration aside, as I said I found this emotionally engaging. Both Kory and Will have their own very different issues to get through. I really liked how neither man’s issues were placed as more important above the other by K Vale. Additionally, we get a lot of time with each MC to actually know what is going through their minds during each point of the story.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *
Thanks so much for taking the time to read and review, Prime! 🙂