Falling is easy. Landing without breaking your heart? Impossible.
Harper is no longer behind bars, but it doesn’t feel like it. Ten years serving time for a crime he didn’t commit have left him shut down, numb, and a frozen wreck over the simplest of choices.
He’s acutely aware of the dark-haired young man checking him out in the supermarket, but he’s too deep in panic mode to even meet the guy’s gaze. Afraid the slightest move will trigger a fall that will never stop.
Fresh off a long-term relationship with a controlling man, Malachi is stuck living with relatives who think he’s a waste of oxygen. The tall guy in the long, gray coat is the first bright spot he’s glimpsed in a long time…though the man’s unblinking stare at a bottle of shower gel is a touch alarming.
Hard experience tells both of them to turn away before lust turns to hopeless attraction, and inevitably to disaster. But once their sparks connect, the arc of electricity is too strong to deny. Even if the cost is too much to bear.
Warning: Contains an ex-con with disaster written all over him, a boy toy who’s trouble with a capital T, a damp old British house, compulsive meddling, and enough hot sex to cure the severe case of nervous babbling.
How many times can a heart break before there’s nothing left to mend.
Barbara Elsborg has this incredible ability to make me fall head over heels for absolutely every single character she writes. Whether they’re alphas, broody, broken, sweet, sheltered, jaded…it doesn’t matter. Her signature writing style of dry wit mixed in with heart breaking angst, panty melting eroticism, and an added element of suspense never disappoints me. If you’ve read any of her other books, you’ll know exactly what I’m talking about. And if you haven’t and that sounds like something you may enjoy, I cannot recommend a better author for you.
Twenty four year old Malachi is struggling to get by. After leaving a relationship with a man that controlled every aspect of his life, he longs to make it on his own. But life has different plans for him. Unable to get a job, unable to afford a place of his own, he’s barely making ends meet living with his sister and her homophobe asshole of a husband. When Malachai notices a beautiful man standing at a supermarket and looking as lost as he feels, he feels an instant connection…and a strong surge of lust. When his brother-in-law actually does him one act of kindness and helps him get a job with a contraction company, Malachi’s first day of work brings him face to face with the man who’s been a constant presence in his nightly fantasies.
Thirty four year old Harper has spent the last ten years of his life behind bars for a crime he didn’t commit. Shunned by everyone he once knew, they all turned away from him when he was sentenced, including his father. Harper felt the stare of the beautiful young man with the face of a fallen angel that day at the store, but he’s terrified that his past will continue to taint his future.
No one was listening. No one ever had.
He was still falling.
Malachi was a character that you fall for right away. He has such a caring heart even after everything he’s been through. But he also has a dry wit and a sharp mind that makes him endearing even though he may not be the alpha male I’m used to reading about. The way that he soothes Harper and breaks down his walls bit by bit was equal parts emotional and beautiful to read.
“What?”
“Afraid of wanting this too much. Afraid of hurting you. Afraid of falling. Afraid of landing.
My heart absolutely broke for Harper and everything that he’s been through, especially when the details behind his arrest and sentencing begin to come to light. You’d have to be cold and dead not to feel for him.
The attraction between them is instant and solid. The chemistry is absolutely sizzling. I absolutely loved these two together.
Amidst the romance there’s also the suspense of the mystery behind exactly what happened with Harper and who may be responsible. Add it all together and this was an absolute page turner. Harper and Malachi together were absolute perfection. They healed each other’s broken pieces. It’s like they were two halves of a whole; they fit. It was sexy, sweet, emotional. I couldn’t get enough of them.
Of course it just wouldn’t be a Barbara Elfsborg book without all shit hitting the fan in the last 15%. I love that added bit of angst and suspense. Knowing that Malachi ex, Conrad’s, book is next, I also really liked getting that little peak inside his head. For a character that I wanted to hate for most of the book, I have to say he really made me question everything I thought about him at the end. I can’t wait to read his story.
If you’re looking for a sizzling hot and emotional MM romance, then this book is a no brainer pick. I loved it!
