Title: Love Can’t Conquer
Series: Love Can’t, #1
Author: Kim Fielding
Genre: Contemporary
Length: 260 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (June 3rd 2016)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Blurb: Bullied as a child in small-town Kansas, Jeremy Cox ultimately escaped to Portland, Oregon. Now in his forties, he’s an urban park ranger who does his best to rescue runaways and other street people. His ex-boyfriend, Donny—lost to drinking and drugs six years earlier—appears on his doorstep and inadvertently drags Jeremy into danger. As if dealing with Donny’s issues doesn’t cause enough turmoil, Jeremy meets a fascinating but enigmatic man who carries more than his fair share of problems.
Qayin Hill has almost nothing but skeletons in his closet and demons in his head. A former addict who struggles with anxiety and depression, Qay doesn’t know which of his secrets to reveal to Jeremy—or how to react when Jeremy wants to save him from himself.
Despite the pasts that continue to haunt them, Jeremy and Qay find passion, friendship, and a tentative hope for the future. Now they need to decide whether love is truly a powerful thing or if, despite the old adage, love can’t conquer all.
ISBN: 9781634773218
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7756
Reviewer: Aerin
Review: Kim Fielding writes my favorite kind of books, full of feelings and emotions, with real characters who are not perfect nor do they strive to be. Her books are not as steamy as I’d like and yet the storytelling and the writing make up for the little things that are lacking. Who needs sex in every chapter when they get characters that are real, flawed and so easy to relate to?
Jeremy and Qayin are not young chickens who experiment with love. They’re both in their 40’s and they feel very single one of those years, especially Qayin. Qay is a recovering addict with a closet full of secrets and skeletons. Life has not been kind to him, and the only way he managed to drown his anxiety and depression was by losing himself in a world of booze, drugs and sex. Qay managed to get his life turned around and he’s one of those lucky people who actually learned something from his past mistakes.
Qay’s past still haunts him every single day. But he’s determined to finish college so that he can better himself. I have so much admiration for people who overcome their struggles and this was one of the things I loved the most about Qay. Yet, regardless of his determination, Qay doesn’t think much of himself and he knows he’s not good enough for someone like Jeremy.
Jeremy is a park ranger who’s like a modern version of a super hero: Super-Ranger to the rescue! Jeremy’s childhood was hell. He was bullied and made fun of, his parents were cold and indifferent, and the one person he felt didn’t hate him jumped off a bridge in an effort to kill himself.
When Jeremy got the opportunity to move away to Portland for college, he left and never looked back. Jeremy is all about helping people, especially LGBT homeless teens, and the respect everyone has for him is easy to see. Jeremy has an innate goodness that not many people possess, and that goodness prevents him from turning his back on his drug-addict ex-boyfriend Donny, when he shows up at his door beaten up and bloody.
Jeremy finds himself the target of some nefarious dealers his ex socialized with, while trying to pursue a relationship with Qay and save the world, all at the same time. The plot itself was thriller-like and well done. The relationship between Qay and Jeremy was sweet and full of feelings.
In all honesty I felt like this plot and the relationship between these two didn’t go together very well. I ended up being overwhelmed because Qay’s relapse and his difficulty in accepting Jeremy’s feelings took all my focus and all my heart. The bad guys needed to go, because the last thing I needed to keep up with was Jeremy getting shot and all the craziness that came with that.
This was a great book, I really enjoyed reading it! I am so very excited to read the next one in this series because NEVIN!!!! He was my favorite secondary character, I liked him even more than I liked Rhoda, and she was a kickass woman! Nevin with his filthy mouth and an even filthier personality will probably get his own book and I’m going to love every single page of that bad boy falling in love.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *