Reviewed by Marieke

TITLE: Knave of Broken Hearts

SERIES: Love in Laguna #2

AUTHOR: Tara Lain

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 224 pages

BLURB:
Jim Carney has a full time job—running from himself. Since he walked out on his wealthy family at sixteen because he’d wrecked his best friend’s life over some yaoi graphic novels, Jim has lived a macho, blue-collar existence of too much booze and too little responsibility. Then Billy Ballew, the man Jim most admires, gives Jim a chance to come through as his construction supervisor. For once, Jim is determined to make someone proud. Then Jim goes in for a physical for his new job, and his yaoi dream comes to life in the form of cardiologist Ken Tanaka. Jim discovers he has two heart problems—a wonky mitral valve and a serious attraction to his doctor. But Ken is a major player, and Jim might be just a notch on the doc’s stethoscope. To Ken, Jim is unforgettable—but the living embodiment of his traditional family’s worst nightmares. How come the minute Jim decides to be responsible, he finds himself taking care of his kid brother, getting a proposal from a wealthy woman, making a deal with the devil, and winding up in the hospital—when all he really wants is the Knave of Broken Hearts?

REVIEW:

Jim Carney is deep in the closet, even from himself. He’s asked by Billy––who we know from the previous Laguna in Love story–– to act as his construction supervisor. He takes the job dead serious, maybe a little too much.
The evening before his first day on the job, Jim meets a beautiful Asian man, who catches him before he falls flat on his face. But Jim won’t let himself like the guy more than platonic friendliness. But then the next day he has to get a physical for the company insurance. The doctor finds a heart murmur and sends him to a cardiologist, which happens to be…yes, the pretty Asian guy, Ken Tanaka.

Ken has his own set of troubles with his family. His mother wants to marry him off to a girl. When he finally convinces her he’s gay, she sets him up with a young Asian boy, who turns out to be very, very big trouble. Not spilling the beans on that one folks…

Jim and Ken circle around each other for ages, but never truly touch until Ken is very drunk and about to be molested by his annoying date. Jim can’t let that happen so he rushes in and chases the date away, only to be seduced by his dream man. Afterwards he’s ashamed and runs, as would any deeply closeted man. Of course, fate happens to create lots of situations that’ll throw them back together again. One of them is Ken being drugged, dates that happen to be at the same restaurant, a little brother that needs help and helps out with the construction job, and even a floppy heart valve that needs repairing. So yeah, fate’s been keeping them busy.

This book was full of ‘action’ as in shit that hits fans and all that stuff. But it still got a bit boring at times. The story dragged on about how Jim wanted to be ‘normal’ but couldn’t forget Ken. Then when he finally did accept himself, his dad lights a bomb underneath Jim’s seat. It wasn’t that the whole book dragged, just some parts, but that was more than the previous book in this series. That one was so awesome it got my hopes up high for this one, maybe a bit too high. I did love it, though. Jim is so sweet and caring, even if he doesn’t see it himself. He takes care of his little brother without any second thoughts. He rescues Ken over and over again and sacrifices himself even if it kills him.

So yes, Jim is an amazing guy. I wanted to strangle him at times, Ken too, but it made them feel pretty real. They’re not perfect fake characters that have a fairytale story. It’s troubled and sometimes a tad boring just like real life. But there are multiple explosive situations and loving moments to make up for that.

Yes, I’m glad I read this even if I liked the first book better. No it’s not a bad book, it’s actually great, so just go and read it!

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

ARe