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From the blurb:
Charles Preston Carmichael is the most infuriating man I’ve ever met.
I want to sock the golden boy of college hockey right in the mouth.
He enjoys telling me everything I’m messing up. Publicly.
And since he’s my roommate for the next year, I can’t avoid him.
Yet there’s something about him that makes me watch him.
Something dark.
A secret I want to uncover.
When he returns from a weekend away, broken and haunted, I can’t keep my distance anymore.
He needs someone and I’ll be damned if it’s not me.
Soon my life no longer revolves around hockey, but the nightmares he’s living with.
Desperately I want to save him but I can’t, not yet. The timing has to be just right.
Can I watch him destroy himself as he tries to hold tight to the things that matter or will I be the final hit in the destruction of his life?
Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's Review:
Saddle up boys, girls, and enby folks because Hidden Scars is a gut-wrenching and heartbreaking read. Please, please please read the TW if you have any reservations at all because there is on page graphic descriptions of what one of the MCs goes through. With a title like Hidden Scars I'm guessing you can see where it's going from there but just in case you've been forewarned.
How many times can your heart break for a character while reading? The lifelong physical, not to mention psychological abuse of Preston from a person who should have loved him killed me to read. It defines his life. Every day in his head is a mantra of what he needs to do in order to be the most perfect he can be. He can't make a mistake. He can't have people in his life who he cares about or care about him. He can't have anything that could threaten his perfect control or he'll be subject to the painful consequences. Again, how many times can your heart break in one book?
Then we have Jeremy who has the unfortunate luck of getting stuck with Preston as a roommate. Preston, as is his way, is nothing short of a condescending dick to not only Jeremy, but all of his teammates. Being his roomie, Jeremy gets it the worst, but he also gets to see the little cracks behind the mask Preston wears. He pushes back against those cracks. Jeremy takes the verbal abuse and fights back. Sometimes with his own brand of venom, but sometimes with a simple touch of a pinky to let Preston know he isn't alone. Those simple moments of kindness throw Preston out of whack more than any tongue lashing because that's something he hasn't had before. Touch. Touch that isn't meant to cause pain or torment. Touch that doesn't require anything from him. Touch meant to comfort, not harm. Touch that makes Preston want to claim Jeremy as his own and never allow another person to touch what was his. Yeah, Preston is a possessive bastard both in and out of bed and that's just one of the things that makes Jeremy just as gone for him.
"This is what I've craved but couldn't ever ask for.
He's going to break my heart."
This romance is a bumpy ride my friends, but packed with heat, and thankfully Jeremy and Preston do finally get their HEA in the end. Honorable mentions have to go to Brandon and Paul who I was unsure of at the start but turned out to be amazing friends. 👏🏻 Also to Jeremys family who couldn't have been better humans. They brought much needed levity to the story with their antics and helped it from being a totally dark read. Preston and Jeremy will be with me long after I finish this book. I'm just so glad they found their happiness after everything. No one deserved it more.
"He shows me that I'm lovable even in the dark moments when everything tells me otherwise. "
Rating: 5 Stars
Hidden Scars is available to buy as an ebook or to read with Kindle Unlimited subscription.
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