Title: Slide
Series: Roads book #1
Author: Garrett Leigh
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novel (274 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (October 14th 2013)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥ 3 Hearts
Blurb: Don’t look back. Don’t you ever look back…
Shy tattoo artist Ash has a troubled past. Years of neglect, drug abuse, and life on the streets have taken their toll, and sometimes it seems the deep, unspoken bond with his lover is the only balm for wounds he doesn’t quite understand.
Chicago paramedic Pete is warmth, love, and strength—things Ash never knew he could have, and never even knew he wanted until Pete showed him. But fate is a cruel, cruel mistress, and when nightmares collide with the present, their tentatively built world comes crashing down.
Traumatic events in Pete’s work life distance him from home, and he doesn’t realize until it’s too late that Ash has slipped away. Betrayal, secrets, and lies unfold, and when a devastating coincidence takes hold, Pete must fight with all he has to save the love of his life.
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=4259
Reviewer: Tams
Review: Pete is a paramedic working the mean streets of Chicago. Long and unpredictable shifts coupled with dangerous calls that sometimes leave him battered and bruised leave his boyfriend anxious and jittery. He met the super shy street artist, Ash, through their mutual friend Ellie. What started out as a roommate arrangement quickly grows into more based on an intense mutual attraction. But Ash’s past is shrouded in darkness and mystery that threatens their already volatile relationship.
What is perceived as secrets and lies slowly unravels as a darkness in Ash’s past that he’s tried hard to bury. This secret has caused something within Ash to break, mentally, sort of like self-preservation. He can’t really remember the memory, only the voice, and the same voice that sends him spiraling out of control for no apparent reason. Can Pete piece together the seemingly random clues and help Ash not only face his past, but also come to terms with it, before he loses him inside his warped mind forever.
I had high hopes for this book and anxiously awaited its release for weeks. The story started out on a high note, and I enjoyed getting to know Pete and Ash at the start. I soon became frustrated with Pete constantly assuming things, but never really talking to Ash, they’d just fall into bed every five minutes as if that were the answer to everything. Don’t get me wrong, these two had some serious steam, but at times, it weighed down the story. I thought I could see where the author was going with Ash’s story early on, and in the end, I was partially right. It was so aggravating and long-winded that by the time what should have been an “oh my god” moment came along; it was more like “it’s about damn time you clued me in.”
This is a rare novel that should have been a novella. I could have done with the condensed version or the footnotes. Sorry guys, I tried really hard to like this one, but it just fell flat in the end for me.