3.5 stars / Purchased copy from Amazon
SLOAN PARKER (@sloanparker) – Take Me Home http://www.amazon.com/Take-Me-Home-Sloan-Parker-ebook/dp/B00H91CC4U/
Take Me Home tells the story of two childhood friends, Evan and Kyle, who have been suppressing their feelings for each other. Ten years ago as they were traveling to new lives on the West Coast from the Midwest, they almost banged each other in a motel room. You have to watch out for those on the side tempters of lust, after long, boring drives across America. They came to their senses before it was too late. The in-the-heat-moment could have ruined their friendship.
Due to circumstances beyond their control in the present, they find themselves too close for comfort. Evan ends up staying with Kyle because of a breakup. Evan surprises Kyle with train tickets as a solution to two problems – as a means to travel back to their hometown for Christmas and provide time for Kyle to finish his next novel. Heading through the mountains during winter is a recipe for whiteout and wipe-out.
Added to the will-they-won’t-they drama is a treasure hunt subplot. The reality show that just hired Evan wants to look at the journal that Kyle just received from his deceased Grandfather’s estate. On top of the personal dilemma of finding one’s true love/soulmate, one must contend with professional risks – job loss and writer’s block to a bestselling series.
The most enduring surprise of reading Take Me Home was the excerpted content from the Grandfather’s Journal. I found myself wanting to read that story. There were poignant, romantic, and wistful alluded-to-moments that the main story lacked. The sex scenes between Evan and Kyle were descriptive but I felt cold after reading them. Reading the moments expressed in the Journal, that left me hot and bothered.
At one point, I found myself yelling at Evan and Kyle to get over themselves. After the third failure-to-ignite-moment, I was reaching a drug induced state of pent-up demand with no pay off. I wanted the blizzard to end it all. What saved it for me were the Journal contents and its love after war premise.
If you love HEA moments, then this story has multiple fixes. At the end, the main HEA of getting-what-you-want could have been enough but instead an additional HEA of the picture perfect cul-de-sac, white picket fence future rears its cotton candy head. Even the criminal in the main story gets an HEA moment. Get your insulin ready.
wecoble 