Fractured Hymns is about acceptance, forgiveness, pain, grief, and most of all about love and you will absolutely feel many emotions as you read it and if you are like me you will find it impossible to put down. ~ Slick, Guilty Pleasures
Description:
Still firmly in the closet at the age of thirty, Ethaniel Shockley is content leading a solitary—if lonely—life working on a construction crew with fellow military vets. After a tragic worksite accident leaves two of his friends dead, Ethaniel returns to his family home to recuperate from a spiral leg fracture and severe Post Concussive Syndrome. He may be lucky to be alive, but he hates the independence he’s lost.
Matthew “Angel” Garrett has worked at Shockley Stables for three years, content to muck stalls and polish saddles, and to be as unnoticeable as possible. Except for weekly church outings, he avoids going into town so he doesn’t see The Look. The Look that says “I know you went to prison for killing a man.”
A chance conversation with Ethaniel gives Angel hope that maybe he can have a friendship with the gorgeous Shockley sibling he’s crushed on for years. But the more time they spend indulging in their shared love of music, the clearer it becomes that they both want more. Ethaniel sees a kindred spirit in Angel, whose soul is just as fractured from his time in prison as Ethaniel’s is from war. But Angel has another, deeper secret that haunts him—one he’s positive will destroy this new song with Ethaniel before it’s even written.
Review copy provided for an honest review
I’ve been a fan of A.M. Arthur for a number of years, I love her work, I’ve tried to get her name out
there because I feel she is one of the best gay romance authors in the business, and often times she blows me away with her poignant, serious, realistic plot lines. I’ll admit I’m an emotional reader and I have shed more than a few tears over the years reading romance, but Fractured Hymns almost dehydrated me. However, I don’t want you to get the wrong idea; yes this book deals with two men both who have been broken in different ways, both coming to terms with their new normal, and forging a relationship together despite the odds and that in of itself is a lot, but there is so much more to this book. This book is about acceptance, forgiveness, pain, grief, and most of all about love and you will absolutely feel many emotions as you read it and if you are like me you will find it impossible to put down.
Following a workplace accident that leaves Ethaniel Shockley broken in more ways than one, he’s back living at home with his family at age 30 and hating his loss of independence. For three years Matthew “Angel” Garrett has worked for Ethan’s parents keeping his head low and working after being paroled. His one outing a week it to go to church with the Shockley family and while Angel believes God brought the Shockley’s to his life and saved him, Ethan has lost his faith. While church plays a part in this book, it isn’t preachy, it’s kind of in the background, and it’s the hymns of Ethan’s youth that Angel now sings that really brings them together.
A lot happens in this book and it contains many revelations so while it would be easy for the developing relationship between Ethaniel and Angel to get lost, it does not; their relationship is front and center and everything else revolves around the relationship.
Having just finished this book, I’ve very emotional and while I’d love to go on and one about it I’m just going to ask you to take a chance on this author, read this book and find out for yourself why A.M. Arthur is one of my favorite authors of gay romance.
Thanks for the review Slick