Hearing Hanke

I was hooked when I read the teaser for Hank and Lee's story at the end of Protecting Paul. After reading it, I can say that their story did not disappoint.

In Waking Wyatt, we meet Hank and learn that he rarely speaks, and this story delves into why he has selective mutism. Hank had a terrible childhood with parents that berated and neglected him to the point that when they decided to leave Shafter Falls during his junior year of high school, he stayed with Wyatt as his guardian. He has worked for Wyatt for 15 years, and he considers Wyatt and Sam to be good people, and he does not realize that they view him as family. Hank associates family with his parents and how horrible they were. That's a big reason Hank is very uncomfortable with change, and meeting Lee throws him off kilter.

Lee, Paul's best friend, comes to Shafter Falls to help plan Paul's wedding. He lives in Denver and has missed Paul since he left. Lee had a bad day and resigned from his job due to a homophobic supervisor who denied his leave for Paul's wedding last minute despite it being approved in advance. Lee decides to focus on Paul's wedding and then determine his next steps. When he arrives on the ranch, things look up when he meets Hank. Hank is a fumbling and blushing mess after seeing Lee and the incident where Henry, the goat, knocks Lee on top of him. Throughout the story's beginning, Hank can barely speak to Lee, and he spends a lot of time blushing and running away from Lee, which confuses Lee.

Hank has gone to therapy, and his therapist gave him techniques to get him to speak again, which he has not done. Because he wants to speak to Lee, he goes out to practice those techniques and speak with strangers to prepare. At first, it is hard for him to speak to Lee, but as the story progresses, he is able to speak to Lee with ease.

They are extremely cute together. There is a bit of angst and miscommunication because Hank found it hard to speak and clear things up. They both fall in love fast and hard and get scared, but after a slight freak out from Hank, they begin to work together to build their future. I loved how they got their HEA.

I received a free copy of this book via Booksprout and am voluntarily leaving a review.