Title: Damaged Heart
Author: S.C. Wynne
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novella (134 pages)
Publisher: Loose Id (September 23rd 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3 Hearts
Blurb: Cory Johnson was just twenty when he fled Bayville, following his father’s suicide. Estranged from his abusive mother, he’s made a new life for himself as a successful lawyer in Los Angeles.
When Cory’s mother dies, he grudgingly returns to his hometown to handle the estate. Rhys Tucker owns the construction company that is going to renovate Cory’s childhood home. But Cory is unaware that Rhys has harbored a crush on him since they were in high school. When Cory comes home, Rhys takes that opportunity to get close to Cory. Or at least try to.
Their physical chemistry is undeniable, but will Cory ever be able to have a real relationship with Rhys after being so emotionally scarred by his past? Can a heart as damaged as Cory’s every really come home?
Product Link: http://www.loose-id.com/damaged-heart.html
Reviewer: Tams
Review: Cory Johnson has returned home in the wake of his mother’s death to tie up loose ends. He is less than pleased to be back in Bayville, as much of his childhood he can remember wasn’t nice, and he wants nothing more than to distance himself from this place as quickly as possible. Until he meets a former classmate at the hotel restaurant. Rhys remembers more of Cory than Cory does of him, and sets out to remind Cory who he was, and give him a reason to stay in Bayville.
The damage from Cory’s past goes deeper than Rhys initially thought, and Cory is hell-bent on returning to LA, regardless of what develops between him and Rhys. Can Rhys’s love repair some of the damage that is permanently etched into Cory’s soul?
I have to give it to Wynne. I literally felt Cory’s pain throughout this story, his seemingly unnatural almost allergic reaction to Bayville because of his past. But I didn’t feel like that past was explored as well as it could have been. I was waiting for a huge revelation that never came.
The push and pull between Cory and Rhys was borderline too much as well. For the most part, I understood why Cory struggled with being loved, he is still young and spent more of his life in hell than he has in LA, but there came a point where I just wanted Rhys to walk away.
This was just an okay read for me. If you like, stories that have that constant push/pull and a struggle to find happiness, then you’ll probably enjoy this read.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *