Wrecked Paperback – May 15, 2015

This novel offers a lovely combination of true love, mysticism, primitive versus sophisticated, all of it exciting and on Key West. Mathew is the son of a merchant who, when the ship that they are taking to the New World with lots of cargo, wrecks on a reef and Mathew is thrown overboard. Next thing he knows, he is in the arms of a strong and exotic man named Rief, who works as a salvager and just happened to see Mathew fall. They are all each other ever wanted, Mathew sweet and intelligent, and Rief strong, talented, and mysterious. Mathew is in Key West with his father and his sister, both rather overwhelmingly wrapped up in their own worlds and both uninterested in and unforgiving of Mathews predilections, even those they don’t know about. The salvage company in Key West is responsible for the ship now so Malcolm and Rief have reason to be thrown together. And that’s when Malcolm learns that the exotic salvager has a psychic past and is intrigued that the man seems to have known that Mathew would someday come into his life.The author pulls together a fascinating view of Key West in the eighteenth century with the added spice of the mystical. I enjoyed just how unusual the plot was. The characters are strong and well drawn.

Rief's life has been tormented by visions that later come to life. They have left him ostracized from society with no friends and little love from his family. The only visions that he welcomes are of a mystery man that he's been seeing for years. They are the only peace and happiness he knows and he is sure that the man he dreams of is only in his imagination. Until a storm wrecks a ship just off his island and the man he saves from crashing waters is the man he's been seeing in his dreams for years.Mathew has never been able to satisfy his father's expectations. He's forever been a disappointment no matter his accomplishments. With his recent inheritance Mathew has funded his father's partnership into a shipping venture across the ocean in the hopes of one day winning his approval. However a storm may just run those hopes aground when the ship wrecks and Matthew is tossed overboard.His quest for love is about to turn around when he's saved from a watery grave by an unknown man. This rescue and Rief's visions are part of a bond that neither man can deny. But they live in a time when love between two men is illegal. With everything they have going against them, can they create a life together to nurture this unexpected love?I received an ARC of this book and am leaving an honest review.

I'm not a huge fan of historical romances. . .so the fact that I gave this story 4 stars says quite a bit.I very much enjoyed the relationship between Rief and Mathew. They needed each other for very different reasons. Both men felt so much shame for their same-sex attractions throughout their lives, but finally recognized love is love and it's just how it's supposed to be. Once they were ready to accept their relationship, the two men faced very different familial reactions. While the reader can be assured of the awfulness of Mathew's father, it was a nice surprise to see Rief's brother willing to keep an open mind.A surprising pleasant side character -- Maggie. While she never acknowledges Mathew's orientation, she is supportive of his happiness.I still don't love the historical romance, but this was a pleasant read.

It was an interesting and refreshing change to have an historical romance set off Key West rather than in Cornwall where such shipwreck stories often take place. I enjoyed learning things about the area in this time period and the author's descriptions piqued my interest enough that I am going to seek out more information about this place in this time. I loved the two main characters and the fact that they are fated to be together as foretold by Rief's paintings. Both men were realistically wary of beginning a relationship due to the law of the times, not to mention the parental antagonism on Matthew's side. I adore stories where a character finds a loving relationship and through that learns to stand up to familial bullies. I was also very pleased to see that Matthew's fiance, Maggie while clearly of her time and conventional was not painted as a vengeful witch as can be the case with women in this position in romances. She genuinely wanted happiness for Matthew. I would really like to read this story from her point of view. I found myself very curious about what she might really feel and what her position in society would be after being left by Matthew. An excellent historical with a great choice of setting.

I am a big fan of historical M/M romances, and this one really satisfied. I loved the characters, especially Rief and his special gift. I loved how Mathew found himself through the accident, and then helped Rief find his own strength and worth. I also really liked the portrayal of Maggie. Often the jilted fianceé can be harsh and nasty, but Maggie is painted as a classy lady who cares about Mathew’s happiness. I always like to see how an author can make the love between two men work out in a time when such relations were against the law. The growth of the relationship between Mathew and Rief felt realistic and natural for the time period.I received an ARC and am voluntarily leaving this honest review.

I enjoyed this book. I found the premise to be quite creative and engaging. It was very definitely an interesting read I would recommend. I felt some situations reached a bit far in suspending disbelief. Some of the personal dynamics and the sexual relationship strained my ability to remain completely involved in the characters. Yet the story was full of illumination into a time and culture I found fascinating, and the vast majority of the writing was brilliantly done. And, I did develop a strong affection for many of the characters especially in the faults of many being delivered as understandable and bearing a desire to do better. The book captured my interest such that I believe I would read it again to retrace a very nice journey into the lives of these star-crossed lovers.