5 Star Review: We Found Love

Title: We Found Love

Author: Kade Boehme

Publisher/GR Link: Dreamspinner, GR

Genre: Contemporary MM

Vice: Abuse, Mental Health, Loss, Healing

Rating: 5 stars

Lock this book up : 3.5 keys out of 5, sex is an important part of the story and supports the plot

Length: novel

Satisfaction: Well earned HEA/HFN - but very satisfied

Cover Impressions: I liked it.  The overall feel reflects the storyline well.

Best Line: "You need you."

Synopsis:It’s no surprise Riley Connors is dealing with issues. He was kidnapped as a young boy, and his parents abandoned him after his newsworthy return. He bounced from foster home to facility and back. Now an adult, ghosts from his past continue to haunt him. After a suicide attempt, he is locked away in Hartfield so that people can make him tune in to emotions he has tried to bury. 

Hunter Morgan had the kind of love that spans ages. But the stress of college and adulthood became too much to handle, and the love of Hunter’s life turned to drugs. After he overdoses, Hunter finds himself soaring out of control on the same miserable path. His brother finds him and calls an ambulance, and the sister Hunter would rather not have calls it a suicide attempt, landing Hunter in Hartfield. 
Finding love isn’t easy, but it can happen under the most dire circumstances. Together Hunter and Riley may be able to grow from their pain. But they will need to learn to live for themselves, letting love come second.

Impressions:  This book was something special.  I've read other work from this author, and I've always enjoyed them.  (Don't Trust the Cut, and The Keep Swimming Pair were 5 Star reads for me as well.)  This book, however, handled very complicated MC's with love and compassion, and more impressively, believability.  

I love tortured heroes, and I have a soft sport for MC's who have survived abuse or deep personal challenges.  I love watching them heal and find love and happiness, but often their stories are rushed, and their HEA seems forced.  I was so relieved and pleasantly surprised to see the compassion with which Boehme handled these two men.

Riley had had a very tough life, and it hasn't been getting much easier.  Though I wish I had even more of his back story, what we learned was heartbreaking.  Despite this, he has a sharp wit and a big coat of armor.  Riley seems to be on the edge of living the life of institutionalization while he yearns for a "normal" life that he has never had.  The introduction of Hunter into his life is the factor that sets him on the road to active healing, but he cannot be healed by Hunter, nor can Hunter be healed by Riley.

The quote that really stuck out to me was "You need you" and I think this is the magic of the book.  Love is important, but self healing needs to happen first.  The pacing of this love story was done perfectly.  I really believe that these men have made it past the biggest hurdles, and that they have the strength to continue their healing.  

This story was sweet, heartbreaking, and uplifting all at once.  Definitely check it out.  It is highly recommended!