Carly's Book Reviews: Heart by Garrett Leigh: Review & Excerpt

Friday, October 31, 2014

Heart by Garrett Leigh: Review & Excerpt

Cover Artist: G.D. Leigh

Heart

by Garrett Leigh

Genre: Contemporary, M/M Romance

Cornish pastry chef Seb Wright dreads the summer tourist season. The cash injection to his artisan fudge pantry is more than welcome, the extra work, less so. Then one summer, a shadowy Good Samaritan catches his eye. Irish Traveller Dex is bewitching, a beautiful sullen enigma who turns Seb's world upside down until he disappears in the night, vanishing like a mystical summer rain.

Twelve months later Dex is in the midst of a dark storm. A slave to his master, 'Uncle' Braden, he spends his days cleaning caravans and his nights working in Braden's other businesses. His short summer with Seb seems a lifetime ago. Lost in the savage violence of the murky underworld, he doesn't dare dream he'll ever find his way back, until one night, a brutal crime opens the door for a chance escape. A new life beckons, old faces emerge, and immersed in the heady vibe of London’s East End, new love begins to heal his fractured heart.

Seb took a drink of his beer and set it down again with undue care. “You can’t read, can you?”

“Can.”

“I don’t believe you.”

Dex slid off his stool and shoved his hands into his pockets. He wasn’t sure what he’d expected when Seb had ambushed him, but it wasn’t this. So what if he couldn’t bloody read? It wasn’t like he’d ever been to school to learn.

Seb caught his arm. “Don’t go, Dex. I’m sorry, okay? I won’t tell anyone. I promise.”

Seb’s hand engulfed Dex’s wrist, his touch as charged and heated as it had ever been. Dex felt his resolve melting, ebbing away until it was all he could do to fall back onto the bar stool. “I can read some,” he said mutinously. “I can read numbers, and names. Knew the name of your shop, didn’t I?”

“Can you write?”

“Never tried.” Dex looked down. Lying to Seb felt all wrong. He’d heard the name of Seb’s shop on the street, and the only name he could read was his own.

Seb was silent for a moment, then without warning, Dex felt his fingers brush through his shower-damp hair. “It really is brown. I thought it was just wet.”

Dex fought for the strength to shy away from the soft gesture, but nothing happened. “The bleach grew out.”

“It was dyed?”

“Couldn’t you tell?” Dex had forgotten his brief stint as a blond was all Seb had ever known of him.

“No, not at all. You look totally different now. Not sure I would’ve recognized you without the scowl. You just about shocked the shit of me. I… I thought I’d never see you again.”

My Rating: 5 of 5 stars

HEART is an emotionally story that immediately touched my heart. Dex has only a few happy memories from his childhood. After being sent to work with his Uncle he has known nothing but hardship, pain and degradation. Emotionally, physically and sexually used and abused, he finds a brief moment of happiness in the company of Seb, a baker he runs into by chance one night.

Seb's tender loving care calls to Dex's heart, and Seb can't help but dream of a lifetime of caring for the waif of a man whose inner strength calls to him. Hope and love should bring healing, but when the violence of Dex's past threatens their new found happiness and secrets are revealed they must re-evaluate their feelings for each other and decide if their love is enough to overcome the challenges and last a lifetime.

Garret's damaged and emotional characters always tug at my heartstrings. Dex and Seb's story is an especially poignant one that brought tears to my eyes on more than one occasion. The traveller community is close knit, and usually has a reputation for taking care of their own, but there is always darkness to be found opposite of light, and this story reveals both in exquisite detail. With suburb storytelling, detailed characters and emotional depth HEART comes to life in the readers hands.

Garrett Leigh is a British writer and book designer, currently working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Black Jazz Press. Her protagonists will always be tortured, crippled, broken, and deeply flawed. Throw in a tale of enduring true love, some stubbly facial hair, and a bunch of tattoos, and you’ve got yourself a Garrett special.

When not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter, cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as possible. That, and dreaming up new ways to torture her characters. Garrett believes in happy endings; she just likes to make her boys work for it.

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Garrett also works as a freelance cover artist for various publishing houses and independent authors under the pseudonym G.D. Leigh. For cover art info, please visit blackjazzpress.com.