Friday, April 13, 2018

Review: Sanctuary Found by Sloane Kennedy

Sanctuary Found (Pelican Bay, #2) by Sloane Kennedy
Amazon
Novel: 307pgs

4 Pants Off

Blurb: Coming home should be the easiest thing in the world, but I've never felt more lost...

When his stellar military career comes to an abrupt and terrible end, thirty-two-year-old Maddox Kent returns to the town he never planned to step foot into again, hoping to mend the rift he himself caused with the brother he left behind. But coming home means facing some hard truths about himself and his actions. When he has the chance to start making amends by helping his brother with the wildlife sanctuary he runs, Maddox is thrown another curveball when a stranger appears...

As long as we keep moving, everything will be okay. That's what I keep telling myself, anyway...

For twenty-one-year-old Isaac, Pelican Bay is only supposed to be a stopping point on the trek from San Francisco to New York. With his little brother, Newt, in tow, Isaac is just looking to make things right by returning something of value to a person he wronged. But "getting lost" in the next big city proves to be a problem when the brutal Minnesota winter claims Isaac's car and strands him and Newt at the animal sanctuary. When the owners of the place offer him a job, a desperate Isaac agrees, despite the presence of a man Isaac instinctively knows could be his downfall...

It should be so easy to let him go, but I can't. And not just because I want to protect him...

Nothing about Isaac makes sense to Maddox. Not his piercings or makeup or flashy clothes. And most certainly not the snarky mouth that doesn't match the vulnerability Maddox sees in the younger man's eyes. But one thing does make sense to the hardened former soldier. Isaac is running from something, and Maddox's gut is telling him not to let Isaac and little Newt go until he can ferret out the truth.

But having Isaac around means trying to make sense of something else Maddox isn't expecting... his own body's response to the beautiful younger man. Aside from their explosive chemistry, nothing about the straitlaced soldier and the secretive misfit works.

But maybe that's exactly why it does...


NOTE: Can be read as a standalone (no cliffhangers) but more enjoyment may be had by reading book 1, Locked in Silence, first.



Review

 LACY PANTIES FOUND

The second book in the Pelican Bay series and what I like to call the hating ass town. I was kind of iffy about reading this one since the first book pissed me off so much and I didn’t want to deal with that kind of emotion again. Luckily, this book was most focused on the couple and I didn’t have to deal with inhabitants that spend all their days drinking haterade. But, while there was less about the town it didn’t mean there weren’t snippets that pissed me off, and Maddox that guy he pissed me off, but we cool now. 

We first met Maddox and Isaac at the end of “Locked in Silence” and from the get go you could tell their story was going to be interesting and sexy as hell. I can honestly say I was not disappointed. Isaac who is running from something with his little brother get taken in at the animal sanctuary and begin to build a little family with the guys from LiS and of course Maddox. While sparks fly between the two men their coming together is rather tumultuous and there’s a lot of preconceived notions that have to be thrown out. 

Maddox is dealing with PTSD and his very first attraction to a man and it’s messing with his head. Also mans doesn’t know how to use his words so he finds himself in a lot of situations where Isaac is jumping to conclusions and he’s doing nothing to diffuse the bomb. Isaac, was very defensive and could not differentiate between help and pity. His redeeming quality is being able to put it all on the line to keep his little brother safe and his willing to do it all to make sure they have money to survive. 

An incident in a motel room leads to a clash between the men but it also begins their love story. Isaac understands Maddox like no one else could, and Maddox finds himself caring deeply for the young man and his little brother. They begin to burrow themselves within his heart and he starts to think maybe he isn’t such a waste man and maybe he can begin to heal from old hurts and right the wrongs of hurts he’s caused especially to his brother and perhaps he can have some form of redemption. Because the sanctuary isn’t just for the animals, it’s become a place of refuge for him also.  

Alright, the story was good. The writing was good, and just everything came together really well. I was hella annoyed in the beginning with Maddox rehashing the hating ass town of old, and his involvement in isolating and hating on his brother and let me tell you folks it did nothing to help me go over to his side of things. I will never forgive that a town isolated and hated on a man who did nothing wrong, and Maddox knew how problematic his parents were and still acted a darn fool. The town melodrama then melts into the background (hallelujah) and our love story rises like a Phoenix from the ashes. Isaac and Maddox start to heat things and melt all the snow they were surrounded by.  

The plotty device, while very sad didn’t really add any meat to the story. I could have done with more of Maddox’s PTSD , and less of Isaac hooker boy ways but I understand the need in creating a backstory for Isaac hooker ways, but there would have been nothing wrong if he was just doing it because he wanted to. I absolutely adored Newt, Issacs little brother he really created a nice balance in the story and was an important part of the story. Children can just be backdrop in stories, providing no real presence but Newt was very much a part of Sanctuary Found and its as much his story as it is Maddox/Isaacs.  

Overall, a great addition to the series. It had the right amount of heat with sweet and while it didn’t “wow” me it didn’t disappoint me either. Sloan Kennedy is becoming an author I enjoy reading. Her stuff, some formulated but still very entertaining and I always find myself unable to stop reading. Looking forward to reading more about this town and hating ass ways, who else will succumb to love in Pelican “town haters” Bay?? 


No comments:

Post a Comment

Go ahead and talk to me!