Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Officer Garrett Wreckley is a train wreck. He’s a widower seeking to bury his grief by working until he drops. Following an incident on the job, Garrett takes a mandatory four-week vacation, sailing a rented sailboat around the Caribbean.
Pulling into a sheltered cove on what he expected was an uninhabited island, Garrett is finally gaining peace, but this is interrupted by a beautiful young man appearing on the shoreline. Intrigued, Garrett accepts the young man’s invitation to swim ashore. Nigel is a twenty-two year old man who’s lived on the island with his younger brother in the care of their aunt since their parents died more than ten years ago. Garrett’s spidey-senses are tingling off the charts hearing Nigel’s unlikely tale—and he’s soon following Nigel through the jungle to their compound and learning that all is not well in this idyllic paradise. Caught between his gut instincts to protect Nigel and his brother, and the attraction that blooms more sudden than a summer storm, Garrett makes a snap decision that saves everyone’s lives.
Expect high seas chases and deadly encounters—all in the name of greed, something Nigel and his younger brother have never known first hand. Garrett’s more than a hero, though. He learns to embrace the love that Nigel offers, and it leads them all to places neither Garrett nor Nigel ever expected to be.
For me, this was interesting, and a bit thrilling. I connected easily to Garrett, but the situation surrounding Nigel’s family seemed almost like a dreamscape. Could this truly be real? And, when they did move through the drama, would this budding romance stand strong in the face of catastrophic changes? I don’t want to reveal too much about the circumstances that keeps Nigel and his brother “sheltered” on their island. It had a bit of convenient coincidence, but it wasn’t enough to detract from the story, for me. The sweet romance between Garrett and Nigel was precious, and I liked how that balanced the dire moments of escape and chase. It seemed Garrett would be heartbroken again, but both he and Nigel decided to take some very bold strides toward happiness, together. It’s a happy ending with less drama at the end than I had expected.
This story is a solid adventure-romance with just enough action to keep me turning the pages late into the night. There is a bit of an age-gap, and a whole lot of an experience gap, what with Nigel being wholly innocent but sensing Garrett was a man for him.
A review copy of this book was provided by Dreamspinner Press.
