Wrecked

2.5 rounded up because ... maybe I'm being cranky

It pains me to say that the development of this did not meet my expectations. At all.

It would seem like a story written for me: opposites attract (city slicker & bull riding cowboy), second chance, size difference etc. Even the opening chapters hooked me! Alas the joy was short lived. It took me far too long (as I had little interest in picking up my reader) and quite a bit of skimming in the second half to finish a relatively short book. Maybe if this were a 100 pg. or less novella it could've worked better? I don't know.

THE PLOT: Beck & Sky met when Beck was still finishing law school and Sky was making a name for himself in the bull riding rodeo circuit. They fell madly in love/lust, the kind that's highly physical, and quickly got hitched. Four years later Beck is establishing himself in his career and wants Sky to stick around for longer than it takes him to heal from his latest encounter with a bull. There's also some jealousy over a “friend”. After a heated argument Sky leaves, Beck tells him to not come back and ... that's it. Sky doesn't return and radio silence ensues for four years (4). Yep, FOUR YEARS!!!

I'll go back. The first couple of chapters gripped me. Beck gets a call at the end of the day saying his estranged husband is laying at death's door in a hospital and that if he wishes to say his goodbyes in person he better get there quick. Beck races from Vermont to Maryland in a desperate drive because despite everything he still loves Sky. Meanwhile Sky is so banged up and bandaged that he's unrecognizable. He's also in an induced coma. I was all in. How were these two going to make it back to a better THEM after such a long separation, how was Sky going to cope with being dependent (physically) on others? What were the core reasons for the break up?

Turns out that the separation was primarily over a BIG nothing Beck thinking Sky is cheating with a fellow rodeo friend Something that could've been talked out. Instead we get a four year separation in which neither party even tries to contact the other, and be aware that this story takes place now, so we are to believe that there is zero texting, FB, IG, Twitter, or any of the myriad iterations for communication we currently have. In another fantastical turn neither takes any steps towards a legal or formal separation and here's the BIG ONE: they've both remained celibate. You read it right. Not one hookup in four years. My eyes rolled so hard they almost popped out of my orbital socket. It also struck me as prudish wishful thinking.

Anyway ... I could've lived with all of that but once Sky wakes up (not a spoiler) all we get is crickets about everything worth knowing and the MC saying “I love you” or how much they love each other, and having, quite frankly dangerous sex for someone in Sky's physical condition, every other page or chapter. I was exhausted and bored.

As always YMMV and it gives no joy to not like this.

Received an ARC in exchange for an honest review...Damn, this book!?! Mandi gets me every time... her incredible writing, fabulous characters and more angst than I can handle!? Absolutely LOVED this story, tore through it in one day. Willow has reached her limit, finally brave enough to walk away from her heart, her muse, her rhythm... Stone simply doesn't get it, knowing deep down that his heart is and will forever be with the girl he threw away in order to get high, chase woman and be the famous rock star he always dreamed of. Yet through his drug-induced haze he never realized what he was doing to his love, his family, his life... a hand full of pills and waking up in rehab will quickly set you straight, but is it too late? Did he crush Willow so deeply that IF he ever finds her again, can she ever forgive him? This book was meaningful on so many levels.... heart-wrenching, had me on the edge of my seat, bawling my eyes out!? Absolutely not to be missed- HIGHLY HIGHLY recommended!?