Reviewed by Carissa
TITLE: Damaged Goods
AUTHOR: Cooper West
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 200 pages
BLURB:
Professor Jesse Ford feels like a failure in both love and life. He’s moved home to live over his mother’s garage after his previous relationship ended in heartbreak and a minor academic scandal, derailing his career. Tired and disappointed, he holes up to lick his wounds and concentrate on his next book, determined to avoid anything having to do with love or romance.
Jesse starts to change his mind when he meets Templeton, the beautiful and engaging punk rocker working as a short order cook at their small town’s popular diner. Templeton, a talented musician, is back in town after escaping from his abusive boyfriend back in Seattle where they had tried to start a band. Encouraged by friends and family, Jesse and Templeton realize they can’t fight their mutual attraction.
The two men from very different worlds decide they might have a chance, but they find their tentative romance threatened by the many secrets Templeton is keeping, and Jesse’s own bruised heart. When Templeton’s dangerous ex shows up, both Templeton and Jesse have to decide whether their fledgling relationship can withstand facing the demons of their pasts.
REVIEW:
Jesse Ford really needs to swear off men. Especially men of the fixer-upper kind. What with a drunken ex who basically stole his work, trashed his career, and sent Jesse scurrying back to his mother, Jesse Ford is positive that he needs to swear off damaged men. Because he can’t fix ‘em, and they keep trying to break him. Which makes his tendency to make googly eyes at the cook in his friend’s sandwich shop, all the more annoying. Because if there is one thing Templeton is, it is damaged goods. And Jesse has sworn off fixing men. Forever. Even if they are tattooed, sweet, and can play a keyboard like they were born to it. Still…he has been down this road before and he knows exactly where it leads.
And then Templeton’s ex comes to town and all Jesse Ford’s intentions don’t amount to a hill of beans. Because Jesse Ford might need to swear off men, but he can’t turn his back on this one.
Since my last attempt at Cooper West went so well, I thought I would give this other book of her’s a chance. And while there is a lamentable lack of shifters in this novel, there is also less angsty overload, which was greatly appreciated.
Much like Jesse, I am a sucker for a fixer-upper. At least in men (in books). I just really love how a guy can go from rock-bottom to solid ground all with the help of his maybe-love. And while I don’t expect (and would rather not have) love that conquers all in my stories, I do like when two guys come together to help fix each other.
I did appreciate how Jesse realized that he just could not go around hoping to fix every man he falls for. It is unrealistic, and would probably leave him a lot more broken than any of these losers that he picks up. And his struggle between wanting Templeton and knowing that he could just be walking down the same old path (to heartache) all over again, was very well written.
I do however wish the dude had cut Templeton a bit more slack. Yes, breaking up with someone ‘to save him’ is one of my pet peeves, but Templeton has been in an abusive relationship for almost ten years, and I think it would be fair to say that when it comes to his ex, he is not firing on all ten cylinders. But I also understand why Jesses reacted that way. I mean, having the dude you are falling for dump you, with only a craptastic explanation, has to suck. And in real life, I would probably be siding with Jesse here–but this is fiction and I want my MCs to be perfect. But flawed. Perfectly flawed?
Anyways…I enjoyed this story. Enjoyed the background plot of the fight for the GSA at the local high school, and really liked the political activism in the story. Even if it was on a small scale. It gave the story something to balance out the crazy ex plot that was circling around Jesse and Templeton. I do wish there had been more focus on Templeton’s music, though. It is on the fringes of the story, occasionally poking its head in to have a look around, but I would have enjoyed having that aspect of Templeton come into play more often. I did really love Jesse’s mother, and liked how she tied into the story. She is a little…well she is a little bit hippie, but then that is perfect for her. And she did a good job of tying both Jesse and Templeton together…even if she did have an unnerving habit of walking into rooms with closed doors (with naked people on the opposite side of said doors).
Good story, and I would recommend reading it if you just want something with a touch of angst, but not too much. It has interesting characters–that are very well written–and a nice plot. And while I would have loved to dump Templeton’s ex in a pit of hungry alligators, I do like how he was handled here.
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