Book Review: Only the Lonely by Lynn Kelling

Reviewed by Susan65

Title: Only the Lonely
Author: Lynn Kelling
Series: Twin Ties #0.5
Heroes: Evan Savage
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 55 Pages
Publisher: Fantastic Fiction Publishing
Release Date: May 17, 2016
Available at:  Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Evan Savage is a young teen desperately searching for something to hold on to and a way to be noticed. Living in rural Whippoorwill, Pennsylvania, his only family is an absentee father who leaves Evan alone for days at a time while away for work. Friendless and bullied at school, with only a nearby preacher named Jimmy to look out for him; Evan gratefully accepts attention wherever and however he gets it. Sometimes it feels like part of him is missing, and every day the void consumes more of Evan’s ability to fight back against his circumstances. While looking at himself in the mirror within a recurring dream, his reflection keeps reaching out to him with happiness he doesn’t feel, from a world different than his own, though much less tangible. Anonymous sexual encounters with strange men satisfy Evan’s need for company and reassurance that he’s someone worth wanting, as well as test his boundaries. But, faced with the growing temptation to slip away for good, it’s up to Jimmy, and Evan’s dream-world counterpart, to try to keep him there.

Review: Ouch! Be still my aching heart. This was a heartbreaking preview into the disastrous and pathetically tragic young life of Evan Savage, one of our unsung hero’s in the Twin Ties series. This is not a romance; Evan has no idea he even has a brother at this point, and he has yet to meet Luka or Alek. So much was alluded to in this series about Evan and his awful childhood, and this short novella goes into that past in heartbreaking detail.

I would highly recommend reading this AFTER you read the series, or maybe even after reading the first book, but I am not so sure I would recommend reading this prequel first. I think the impact of this short story would be more intense after you get to know Evan and his situation with his dad, and with Jimmy, and fully understand why he does what he does to himself. This story is not pretty and it ends with your heart in your throat. So, if you choose to read this before the series, make sure you have book one, My Brother’s Lover, all lined up and ready to go. You’ll thank me.

If you have already read this series, then stop and grab this little insight into our young Evan’s adolescence. It is guaranteed to make you love him and Jimmy more…and want to further pound his clueless father into the ground.

Overall Impression: I really liked it

*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*