Title: The Fight Within
Series: The Good Fight 02
Author: Andrew Grey
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (206pgs)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (4th March 2013)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥4½Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: Bryce Morton needs a change of scenery. Since his partner’s death a year ago, he’s become withdrawn and quiet, so his friends, Jerry Lincoln and Akecheta (John) Black Raven, convince him to go camping with them on a Sioux reservation. Though he’s not immediately sure he’s done the right thing, Bryce becomes more interested when he meets Paytah, the man who owns the reservation’s trading post.
Paytah Stillwater’s life is filled with hurt, and sometimes the only thing he has left is pride. After being abused as a child and disbelieved when he spoke up, he has withdrawn into himself—but he can never truly put his past behind him, because the source of his pain still lives on the reservation. Paytah is proud of his heritage and careful with his heart, but when Bryce commits a selfless act of kindness for one of the reservation’s children, the walls around Paytah’s heart begin to melt.
Bryce and Paytah each fight the pain within them. When Paytah’s abuser sets his sights on one of the reservation youngsters, Bryce and Paytah must set their individual fights aside. Finding a way to stop the abuser unites them to fight their way forward—together.
Reader Warning: Details of child abuse are revealed and disbelief of the adults it was reported to.
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3639
Review: This story is part of a series and is best read in order. Bryce has become withdrawn since the death of his partner, Percy, a year ago. His friends Jerry and John finally convince him to come away with them to the reservation and to start letting people back into his life again. At the trading station he meets gruff Paytah and is intrigued by him and the attraction begins chip away at his walls. Paytah has built up his walls high after suffering years of abuse, even though Bryce is white, he breaks through Paytah’s walls with his generous honest nature, and the two become close. Together Bryce and Paytah heal their souls and Paytah faces his abuser and Bryce helps the tribe to help itself.
Okay, boys and girls; make sure you have the tissues handy from the first page because you will need them. The story starts out a year in the past with Bryce waiting eagerly for his fiancé, Percy, to return home from a business trip, but he receives devastating news. Fast forward one year to the present time and Bryce is still grieving from the loss of Percy, so his friends Jerry and John (The Good Fight) along with their kids convince him to visit the reservation with them, and it is a visit that begins to bring him back to the land of the living. Paytah has suffered in silence for years, when he did turn to adults for help; they refused to believe him, so now he keeps people at a distance never letting anyone close enough to know the emotional pain he still goes through, until Bryce walks into his life.
This is a story that is rich in detail, delving into the Native American culture and also sharing the suffering that the Native American’s still face today. The storyline and plot are deep reaching drawing us into a wall of silence and the secret suffering of abuse victims, the arrogance of the abuser and the strength of will to put an end to the abuse. It also gives the characters hope, with new ideas for the tribe to begin bringing new life into their reservation. And last but not least, we have a romance that breaks through grief and guilt and brings two men together who have each suffered in their own ways and sees them through the problems they face from living in different places.
Paytah is an incredible character. He has built up a gruff image which protects him from people getting too close, but it hides a world of hurt and insecurities. Bryce is a wonderful character, he still has bouts of grief, but his heart is still open to love and he thinks nothing of helping out some just because he thinks it’s the right thing to do. I loved both these characters and both their stories touched my heart. The suffering they both go through could have broken them both, but in the end they come through stronger than before.
I will recommend this story to those who love men with tragic pasts, finding the strength to love and trust again, facing the past and confronting it, hot, sweet loving and a very happy and joyful ending.