Healed Beginnings by Diana DeRicci

healedbeginnings_original(5)Title: Healed Beginnings

Series: Men of Silo #2

Author: Diana DeRicci

Genre: Contemporary Romance

Length: Novel

Publisher: Purple Sword Publications (May 22, 2013)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5 Hearts

Reviewer: Thommie

Blurb: Ed Norwood is living in limbo. He has his friends, his job, and his parents, but he’s feeling restless. More so now that his ex has found something perfect with another man. Maybe it’s time to reevaluate and move on. He wished he knew.

Duncan Nichols is the man who could change everything, if he is willing. Ex-Army Veteran trained in canine Search and Rescue, Duncan and Ed’s first meeting is fraught with tension and worry after massive storms slice through Silo. Duncan is surprised to find a community that is open and giving in Silo, and is welcomed to return to show off his dog’s skills at the annual firehouse fundraiser.

Without the stressful distractions of storms and missing people getting between them, lust flares nearly out of control between the two men. Only Ed wants and needs more in life than a friend with benefits, and when he says as much, Duncan is quick to put the kibosh on even dreaming of a happily ever after. Then real life intervenes when Ed’s mother falls ill, and Duncan returns to Ed’s side in support.

Can Ed break through the barriers Duncan has put up to protect himself? There’s more to Duncan than the left hand he habitually hides. Ed believes if Duncan cracks even a little, he can prove it. If it just wasn’t his heart at stake to make that happen…

Product Link: http://purplesword.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=3&products_id=142

Review: I loved this book a lot. It was fun, it was hot and it had an emotional approach without it being too much or too heavy. The story follows Ed, a fireman in Silo, and Duncan, a Veteran released from the Army due to his loss of left hand.

Each man has his own troubles and is trying to make their way in life. Ed is feeling deeply the need to have a relationship, to feel that overwhelming and all-encompassing emotion called love. Watching his ex – and now best friend – in a glorious relationship with his new love, the envy and sorrow he feels from not having someone to love that deeply is making him ache inside and crave a change.

Duncan, on the other hand, is a completely different case. On top of his PTSD and the bitter feelings his loss of hand has left him, there is a deeper reason hidden in his past he not only doesn’t want to be a part of a relationship, but doesn’t even come close to thinking of such notion. If there is one thing that makes him run, that is the idea of love and commitment.

Yet when the blurb said that the lust flares nearly out of control between them, it’s exactly so. I loved how heavy that was in the air between those guys. Scorching hot, erotic as it gets, sensuous even at times, the pairs intimate scenes were too intense and credits to the author for not failing that. Ed’s longing in every scene they had made my heart skip and Duncan’s fears, his almost unconscious need for something that scared the hell out of him was perfect.

The story, the plot all revolves around this romance and how each man reacted to the possibility of that special relationship we all crave, knowingly or not. The approach on Duncan’s issues was quite decent and Ed’s reactions to Duncan’s fight-or-flight instinct were lovely to read. My main issue was the speed that some feelings and thoughts came forward. While the time-frame between their first meeting and their settling was big enough, the seriousness and the heavy loving emotions and the forever thoughts came way too fast for my satisfaction.

Nevertheless the end result was quite lovely. A nicely written romantic story that I don’t hesitate to recommend to the fans of the genre, accompanied with exquisite descriptions of some fascinating male characters and scorching personalities. A book I quite enjoyed reading.