Review: Hearts are more than the sum of their parts...
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 05 26, 2014
I finished reading this book just an hour ago. Like some other books recently, it has left me emotionally revealed. Like those others, I'm not shying away from it.These three men - Malcolm, Charlie and Kerry - all arrived at the beginning of this story thinking they knew why they were there, as did I.We were all wrong, and this story is the slow, painful, careful, messy and joyful peeling back the layers that life has added, scarring and knowledgeable and hopeful.For me, the BDSM aspect - I would say BDSM-lite at that - was merely a way introduce these three characters. It's also the thing that, at times, separates them from each other, tries to blind the truth, educates, opens doors, heals scars, begs questions and lays out the possibilities for all of them to finally feel like they have a home to share, from now on, in all of the ways that having one can mean.I won't even really try to describe each of these three men. They are complicated and do change throughout this story, the same way many of us change when someone comes into our lives and, whether intentional or not, shifts everything, causing new light and forced glare on us. I just know I... I'm not even sure how to put that into words, how I feel about each of them. It's different and yet the same, how they are and what they did to me.As for supporting characters, they are all beautifully unique, some more likable than others, some more concrete than others. None of them are throw-aways, none are unimportant, and I like that I now know them, as well.I liked that, throughout most of the story, I really didn't know how things were going to turn out. Whether it was between Malcolm, Charlie and Kerry, or with Kerry's family, his friends, his past, the police, but ultimately, between Malcolm, Charlie and Kerry, in any combination. Actually, I don't want to use the word "between", it holds too much power in this book. The past getting between any of them and their futures, present pain between seeing the truth in friendship and not, words and habits getting between happiness fulfilled and unending emptiness. Instead I'll say there were so many things "next to" each of these men, I didn't know if, when, how they'd be able to deal with it all. I could feel how much they wanted... well, everything, but everything else was right next to them, threatening to keep those walls well-maintained.Actually, this leads to something else I really liked about this: it wasn't always about the three of them together, or decisions being made that involved all three of them. Instead, many times, the interactions and resulting actions and feelings involved two of them. Malcolm's assumptions warring with Charlie's abilities, Kerry's self-aware needs going unseen by Malcolm, Charlie's uncertainties eating away at his love for Malcolm, as well as his need for Kerry. In other words, they're all individuals within this trio trying to become just that.There were a few editorial issues technically but only once did they pull me out of the story, realizing the wrong name had been used. I passed over that quickly, though.There were a few parts of scenes that were confusing, almost like gaps made by missing puzzle pieces. It almost felt like I was reading as the author was writing, trying to get it all out without losing any of the emotional impact. Again, I moved quickly by those and my overall experiences wasn't greatly affected.The writing is strong, honest. This author does some emotional digging from which I couldn't turn my gaze, unable to stop from feeling what she was offering. As difficult as it was for me, I would love to have more, especially with this little world with Kerry, Nash, Malcolm, Grey, Charlie, Lissa, David, Matt and Marcus."He let Charlie take it. He wanted to follow this wherever it was going, because the tightness had closed up inside him, then exploded and ripped him open, and instead of backing away from the mess, Charlie had crawled inside him and began to clean it all up. To put things back where they belonged. Some dusty bits of Malcolm's psyche were being rubbed clean and put back, and he hadn't even known those bits had fallen loose."