The Rescued by Derek T. Cole

615RjXH+qpL._SL1000_Title: The Rescued
Series: The Harden City Chronicles, #1
Author: Derek T. Cole
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Length: Novella (130 Pages)
Publisher: Offhand (July 16th, 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Blurb:  Garth is a recently divorced man with a tough job: hunting the extremely nasty and troublesome people of Harden City. Trying to rescue an informant from a brutal death, he winds up with the rescued man in his home, and a relationship between the two develops.

It’s going to be tough going. Garth is a middle class worker in Harden City, but Dean, the one he rescues, is a resident of The Penn, the poor part of town. Harden City’s economic and social structure isn’t kind to the poor, relegating them to the slums of the city and making it almost impossible for them to get out. Dean is a fish out of water, seeing parts of the city that he’d never be able to see on his own. He’s due to go back to The Penn unless Garth finds a way to keep him out.

Garth begins to fall for Dean, but he knows it’s a doomed relationship. If it became known that he was gay, Garth would lose his job and all of his assets – making him as poor as Dean. He wants Dean badly, but Garth knows it will put his job and life at risk, including his ability to see his young daughter.

The Rescue is a gay romance urban fantasy with erotica. Fictional Harden City has sci-fi and paranormal elements, but the relationship between Garth and Dean feels like the real world.

The question is: will they be able to work through the challenges brought on by their budding relationship?

The Harden City Chronicles is a series of novels, novellas, and short stories detailing the lives and adventures of the citizens of Harden City. They are all gay, romantic, and erotic in nature.

Product Link: http://www.amazon.com/Rescue-Harden-City-Chronicles-Book-ebook/dp/B00LVHZ25E

Reviewer: Portia

Review: Let me start by saying, I hate most urban fantasy stories. I also am not a huge fan of cliffhanger endings. That being said, I really enjoyed Part One of the Hardin City Chronicles.

Garth Sargent is a hunter. They are the guys that the police call in when shit gets real. He is coming out of a nasty marriage and just wants to be free of “The Bitch” and to do his job. A job that takes him into The Penn. A state sanctioned permanent underclass, in my mind, I wit was the underbelly of Gotham City. The Penn is also the home of Dean.

Now that I think about it, Dean makes this story for me. Everything is no new to him. Yet, he is such a gentle soul. I couldn’t blame Garth for falling. But, I ended the book not being Garth’s biggest fan. I can’t wait to One-Click Part two. Just to see how Garth gets out of the clusterfuck he has created.

The writing is crisp and had enough suspense to hold even my jaded attention.  There are several characters introduced that I would like to get to know better in future books.

If you aren’t big on cliffhangers, you might want to give this title a pass. But in its defense, the ending was at a natural break. There is no HEA or HFN, just an ach in m gut wanting everything to work out, but knowing that was/is almost an impossibility.

Highly recommend.