Review: Wonderful story
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 27, 2014
Tootsie's Review at Mrs Condit & Friends: Hiding in Plain Sight is the second book in the series Safe Harbor. Here we have Vladimir, a gay hockey player who just recently admitted to himself, that he was in fact gay. He is afraid to say anything to any of his teammates, as everyone knows how homophobic a locker room can be. Vladimir is also Russian, which does not help him in making him feel more comfortable with his situation. As a matter of fact, it scares the hockey pucks out of him, if his home country were to find out.Joe is a badass ex delta force. He was discharged for an injury to his hand and sent home. Since that time, he has come out as an open gay man. He doesn’t advertise, of course, but he will not hide any longer. He is looking for someone that is open and ready to have a relationship, not someone who wants only one night stands in the closet. He likes to hang out at the local pub which is for gay customers primarily. There he can be himself, enjoy his time without fear, and just have a good time. Here is where he meets Vladimir for the first time. Unfortunately, due to some negative publicity on Vladimir’s end, he does not receive a warm welcome in the pub. He leaves the pub quickly and Joe runs out after him. He can’t help but feel this is one man he should not let get away.I was highly impressed with the author for how she told their story. She uses today’s problems and current events that are happening right now. Because of this, for me, it made the story much more believable. If you follow today’s headlines at all, then you should have a little understanding about what is happening in Russia. Not only with the LGBT, but also with the Olympics. As this is Vladimir’s home country, you can certainly understand why he does not want to go back there. He hasn’t had any contact with his immediate family, so he is ready to cut ties with everyone and everything and get on with his life here in the U.S. Cassandra Carr tells a beautiful story of honesty, trust, friendship and love. She allows the characters to develop feelings for each other before they take their sexual relationship too far. All of this is new to Vladimir, having a boyfriend, sex, and admitting to not only himself, but everyone else, he is gay. Your heart breaks for him as he struggles to tell his teammates and some of his closest friends. He doesn’t know how they will handle this new information he wants so badly to share with them. He is a very strong character, once he made up his mind to own his sexuality. He now realizes how nice it would be to live an open lifestyle. Will his teammates accept him, who will support him in his moment of truth? The author throws in a few twists and turns that definitely keeps you on your seat waiting to see how it will play out.If you read the first book in this remarkable series, then I highly recommend you continue on with this one. Some of the players in the previous story make a small appearance here, and I for one, love to see past characters show up. When it’s all said and done, this is a love story about two guys who find each other, despite the consequences, and continue to thrive even though they are a part of a sport that normally does not allow much lenience for homosexuality. Will love prevail, despite what they face? I cannot encourage you enough to read this wonderful story to find out.