Rekindled Flame M/M Romance
Dreamspinner Press
June 13, 2016
200
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Morgan Ayers is a firefighter who watched as a home was burning down and the family sat terrified. When he was told that their tenant Richie was still in the house Morgan ran into the burning house to save the man. This heroic act would change his life forever.
When Morgan went to visit the man he saved to see how he was doing he found out that it was Richard Smalley the boy he grew up with and who knew all his secrets. It was at the age of thirteen that Morgan and Richie both confessed to being gay to each other. It was at the age of thirteen that a friend insisted they marry each other in a play wedding so that they would be allowed to ride one of her ponies. It was also Richie that Morgan left behind when his father just up and moved them to another state.
Morgan’s mother died and his father turned to alcohol, it was Richie’s family that kept him from starving when his father used their grocery money to buy his next drink. It was Richie’s family who saw that he got some presents at Christmas time and now it was Richie who Morgan had saved.
When Morgan discovered that Richie would be put into a hotel he insisted he come home with him. Richie was a marine and his last mission left him in a wheelchair. Richie would never walk again and his life revolved around his nightmares and his memories. As far as Richie is concerned he is nothing just a waste of a human being. An investigation showed that the fire was arson and apparently Richie was the target. If someone wanted him dead then living with Morgan would put Morgan’s life at risk.
It doesn’t take long before Morgan and Richie realize that what they felt for each other as kids was very real and time hasn’t changed anything. The problem is that Richie doesn’t want to be a burden on Morgan and someone is still trying to kill him. What chance is there for the two men to have a relationship?
I always feel all manner of emotions when I read an Andrew Grey book but this one really touched me. Every day we hear about soldiers fighting in Iraq or Afghanistan coming home with PTSD, missing limbs and suffering unbelievable pain, and those are the ones who actually come home. What I never took into consideration was that so often these men are under strict orders not to discuss anything that went on since it was a secret that could lead to their arrest, so how do you get the help you need when you can’t explain the nightmares you are having.
This book is more than just a story about two gay men it is a story about two men who each in their own way have been witness to nightmarish incidents. As a firefighter Morgan has seen his share of families who have lost everything and as a marine Richie has seen nightmares of his own. It is a story of learning how to deal with the hand you have been dealt and going on.
