Author: E.L. Esch
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (213pgs)
Publisher: Loose Id (16th July 2013)
Heat Level: Low – Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3 ½ – 4 Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: What would you do if you lost five years of freedom? If everything you’d ever known was torn away from you, all because the one person you counted on to save you didn’t come through?
This is the cruel reality for Gabriel “Red” Thatcher, convicted at age nineteen for the murder of his father. Now twenty-five and eight months out of prison, Red has nothing to his name and no one to help him. He is carrying close to him a rage hotter than white flames. Had his sister just testified on his behalf in court, he could have been spared the horrible things that happened to him in the doghouse. Things that’ll make him never look at intimacy the same way again.
Red can’t take swallowing his bitter rage alone anymore. Unable to kill the growing loneliness and ire with time, he heads into the Flower District in search of a gay bar to drown his sorrows. There he meets the bubbly, easy-on-the-eyes Silo Winters.
When Red learns that Silo did three years in prison for an accidental oil fire, he brings Silo home, not so much for a wild romp as to relieve his aching loneliness. Besides if anyone will understand Red’s pain it’ll be Silo, who’s gone through some of the same horrors he has. However, he definitely doesn’t count on Silo becoming so much more than a sexy shoulder to lean on. Now, if only Red can learn to let him in.
Purchase Link: http://www.loose-id.com/seeing-red.html
Review: For five years Red suffered in prison, everything he had was torn away from him because of one-act of protection and the one person who could help him kept quiet. Red has been out of prison for eight months and has been struggling to find his feet, his anger at his sister for not coming forward sooner is blazing, and his time in prison has left him emotionally scarred. When Red meets Silo in a bar, he takes pity on the man who is in a similar position to himself and lets the man stay with him for the night, one night becomes one week, and soon Red finds himself with a roommate who wants to be more. Silo served three years in prison and had many of the same experiences as Red did, but Silo refuses to let it haunt him. Falling for Red is hard as Red seems determined to hug his hurt to him and let it poison him, but Silo has fallen for the man and can only hope that he can crack the shell that Red has encased himself in.
This is a great story of two men who both suffered in prison but who have reacted differently to the experience. Red’s story will break your heart, it is a story that is fraught with injustice and a scared sister and the terrible experience that still lingers. Silo’s story is nearly as heart breaking, a stupid drunken prank that led to prison and the attentions of a demanding cellmate. These men come together at one of the lowest points in their lives but they both react differently to their pasts. Silo puts it all behind him and embraces the life he is creating, Red hugs his experiences to him and lets them guide his actions and emotions, but together these men begin to move forward more.
Both Red and Silo are great characters in their own ways; they complement each other and help each other just by being there. Silo is a bubbly character and hasn’t let prison get to him, Red is cranky, and his prison experience tinges everything. Silo is just the type of person that Red needs to heal his hurts but it isn’t easy for Silo to crack Red’s shell. Red at first believes that Silo is as affected as he is but soon realizes that he has been projecting his own troubles on Silo. It really is amazing to watch them together and to see Red heal slowly with Silo’s help. Their relationship progresses slowly from friendship to love and it is wonderfully done, while Silo was willing to go full throttle from the start Red held them back and it has a much better effect for their whole relationship.
I recommend this to those who love damaged men finding love after a long struggle, forgiveness, comfort, peace and a great storyline.