Title: Wrecked
Series: N/A
Author: Deanna Wadsworth
Genre: Historical/Paranormal
Length: Novel (282 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (15 May 2015)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥4Hearts
Blurb: Off the Key West coast, Rief Lawson works as a wrecker, salvaging ships and their cargo. Exiled to the outskirts of society because of his mysterious gift of sight, Rief’s only respite from his loneliness is painting an unknown blond man. When a merchant ship wrecks during a violent storm, Rief rescues a drowning victim and comes face-to-face with his destiny.
It is the man from his art!
Heir to an English barony, Mathew Weston entered the merchant trade with his greedy father and soon-to-be father-in-law. Dominated by his father and smothered by the people around him—including his sweet but tiresome fiancée—Mathew is terrified to follow his true desires. Marriage and obedience seem safer than a life of secrecy and possible prison.
After the daring rescue, a fire ignites between the two men. Powerless to resist his desire, Mathew learns what it means to be a man in Rief’s arms. With this newfound confidence, Mathew teaches Rief through gentle touch that he deserves the affection he’s long been denied. Yet their affair is doomed from the start.
Two desperate men, wrecked in heart and mind, must find a way to salvage the chance at love fate has given them.
ISBN: 9781632166562
Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=6385
Reviewer: Prime
Review: I love a Regency Era romance. I don’t normally comment on book covers, but just look at this one: doesn’t it scream regency romance? Or damsel in distress? Or, more specifically, it reminds me of the beginning sequence to the TV show Blackadder the Third, which I happen to love. It also appears a bit corny but you know what they say, “don’t judge a book by its cover”. So finished with that and onto the actual story.
Our first introduction to a character is to Matthew, her to his father’s barony and hiss wedding to Maggie Kirkwood has long since been arranged by the families. Not at all uncommon scenario in regency romances, really. However, we also meet him on the verge of death, on a ship heading to Key West.
Then there is Reif. (I keep thinking Leif). He is a pirate type of character, though not really a pirate, well maybe a bit, he does salvage ship wrecks around Key West, after all. He seems to put on a bit of a front that makes him seem like a happy-go-lucky sort of bloke, except he isn’t. He has “the sight”, which to me seems like it would be a pain in the butt, and for Reif it makes him a type of tortured soul. At first his abilities don’t seem important, but hang in there, things get real interesting.
Both Matthew and Reif are wonderful characters. But I have to admit that I had a particular soft spot for Reif. However, being a gay regency romance means that we get to explore the forbidden element of “sodomy” and how it is possible for two men even attempt to make a life together. This is where Reif’s brother, Cole, makes his impact and in the end I absolutely loved his character.
The sexual tension between Matthew and Reif is thick. The sex is hot and explosive, too. This book certainly ticks all the boxes in my mind.
Although this is a novel, it is also a rather relaxing read as well and easy to get through. The plot is both fun and satisfying to the end. At the start I had been quickly engrossed and the pages just flew by. Anyone with a penchant for action filled historical romances will be in no way disappointed to read this.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *