Guest Reviewed by ReadsLate
Title: Written in Scars
Author: Thom Collins
Heroes: Sam Radcliffe and Logan Crawford
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 67 pages
Publisher: Self Published
Release Date: April 23, 2018
Available at: Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Pain fades but the scars remain.
When Logan Crawford, a former war correspondent turned best-selling author, appears on TV to promote his latest thriller, he is knocked out by his fellow guest, Sam Radcliffe. Logan’s travels around the world have opened his eyes to many things, but nothing as attractive as the man he meets that night. Sam was the victim of a vicious stabbing in his youth and is now an active campaigner against knife crime and violence. He is perfect in everyway but one: the wedding band he wears. That’s a complication Logan doesn’t need.
Sam’s life is far from happy. His husband is addicted to hard-drugs and casual sex: a devastating combination. Johan was once the shining light in Sam’s life. Now he brings nothing but darkness. But Sam respects the vows they made. For better or for worse. The attraction Logan feels for him is mutual. Ruggedly handsome and engagingly smart, Logan is hard to resist. Sam will need to overcome the anguish of his past and barriers of his present if he’s to stand a chance with Logan.
Review:
Ok, I’ll confess I picked up Written in Scars for its pretty cover and promising angst. Who of us hasn’t been taken in by an artsy cover? Or had our heads turned by a titillating title? The cover with its dark silhouette of a city and a look of consternation on the face of one of the cover models-is alluring. “Look,” it seems to say, “there are dark paths ahead. Beware.” Yet, I wasn’t ever really afraid for our protagonists. All the dark shadows were just that-the illusion of something dangerous. Now, that said, I liked Written in Scars. It was a good, satisfying read with a guaranteed happy ending.
Sam is a good guy with a good heart who has overcome a traumatic past and works to help others. He’s a good man who loves his husband…even through the hard times, and it seems like they’ve had a lot of those. Still, Johan was the love of his life and saw him through his past. But there’s the drugs Johan just doesn’t seem to want to quit. And, then there’s the constant cheating which just crushes Sam’s spirit. And Sam maybe just can’t take it anymore.
Logan is the man who has everything… world travel, a job he loves, money, opportunities, and he’s even on TV. But he just can’t seem to find the right guy, right up until he meets him at the local TV station. Thick, brown, wavy hair, high cheekbones, big brown eyes… Sam Radcliffe is gorgeous and their chemistry is instant. And Logan wants him, but… there’s that ring on his finger. Why are all the good ones taken?
Well, it’s a fair premise, an M/M twist on the damsel in distress. Or, the M/M twist on the long-suffering, good-hearted woman, married to a drunken (drug addicted), cheating lout. Will the good guy finally realize he deserves better? Especially when better is a good-looking, well-to-do older man openly flirting with him? The only real question is how bad do things have to get with Johan before Sam walks away. There are a few creepy moments but nothing that would really trigger the sensitive reader. And then, it’s only a matter of does Sam have the courage to reach out and open himself to what Logan is offering him.
Written in Scars is a good read, satisfying with a happy ending, but it won’t leave any lasting marks.
Overall Impression: It was good
*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*
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