Reviewed by Susan65
Title: Sanctuary Found
Author: Sloane Kennedy
Narrator: Michael Pauley
Series: Pelican Bay #2
Heroes: Maddox/Isaac
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 9 Hours, 13 Minutes
Publisher: Sloane Kennedy
Release Date: April 20, 2018
Available at: Amazon and Audible
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads
Blurb: Coming home should be the easiest thing in the world, but I’ve never felt more lost….
When his stellar military career comes to an abrupt and terrible end, 32-year-old Maddox Kent returns to the town he never planned to step foot into again, hoping to mend the rift he himself caused with the brother he left behind. But coming home means facing some hard truths about himself and his actions. When he has the chance to start making amends by helping his brother with the wildlife sanctuary he runs, Maddox is thrown another curveball when a stranger appears….
As long as we keep moving, everything will be okay. That’s what I keep telling myself, anyway….
For 21-year-old Isaac, Pelican Bay is only supposed to be a stopping point on the trek from San Francisco to New York. With his little brother, Newt, in tow, Isaac is just looking to make things right by returning something of value to a person he wronged. But “getting lost” in the next big city proves to be a problem when the brutal Minnesota winter claims Isaac’s car and strands him and Newt at the animal sanctuary. When the owners of the place offer him a job, a desperate Isaac agrees, despite the presence of a man Isaac instinctively knows could be his downfall….
It should be so easy to let him go, but I can’t. And not just because I want to protect him….
Nothing about Isaac makes sense to Maddox. Not his piercings or makeup or flashy clothes. And most certainly not the snarky mouth that doesn’t match the vulnerability Maddox sees in the younger man’s eyes. But one thing does make sense to the hardened former soldier. Isaac is running from something, and Maddox’s gut is telling him not to let Isaac and little Newt go until he can ferret out the truth.
Review: I loved this story as much as I loved the first one, even though I had not thought that possible. I think that had a lot to do with the amazing writing of Sloane Kennedy, and also by the stellar narration by Michael Pauley.
Maddox Kent is the brother of Dallas Kent from book one, Locked in Silence. The brother who basically shunned his broken brother and left him as a pariah in their hometown. I was not sure Maddox could redeem himself, but he did, and does it so spectacularly that Dallas, and the readers, have no choice but to see how much he wants to earn his brother’s forgiveness.
Dallas and Nolan play a large part in this book, and it in no way took away from the new lovers of Maddox and Isaac. In fact, they are instrumental in the entire storyline from start to finish. Maddox is damaged but tries to hide it. His PTSD and guilt cripples him to the point that he won’t even ride in a vehicle…until he is forced to. Isaac is damaged, as well, and carrying a huge secret. Isaac travels to see Dallas and Nolan to return Nolan’s stolen violin. The same violin that he’d stolen. This sets off a chain reaction that begins with Maddox going all he-man, and Isaac wanting to find a safe place for himself and his baby brother, Newt.
Nolan, surprisingly, is the one who seems to easily forgive Isaac for the theft. Isaac is honest about what happened, and why, and that is basically all Nolan needs. Now, Maddox is another story. He is already over protective of his brother, for reasons, and he is just a jerk at times, too. But he also has his reasons and sometimes they get the best of him. Isaac is young, goth, and obviously running from something. But when the opportunity presents itself to stop and rest for awhile at Dallas’s animal sanctuary, something that Newt so desperately wants, Isaac takes a chance.
There are many aspects of this story that I loved, and I could not think of a better narrator than Michael Pauley to bring the entire cast of characters to life. There are many aspects to this incredible story of moving forward, recovery, and forgiveness, topped off with an abundance of love between men and between brothers. Michael Pauley has such a talent when it comes to portraying the many emotions that plague this book and he does it in such a way that you forget this is not real life. There isn’t much more I could ask from an author or narrator. Highly recommend this book, but read book one first.
Overall Impression: I loved it!
*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*
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