Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: Bradley & Mike: One Storm, Twelve Men
SERIES: Storming Love #2
AUTHOR: Stephani Hecht
PUBLISHER: MLR
LENGTH: 70 pages
BLURB:
Bradley is just a normal, unassuming man. He works as a banker during the day, then goes home to his dogs and his grandfather. There may be the occasional speed bump since Gramps has several medical conditions that keep him home bound, but that nothing that Bradley can’t manage. It’s not like he even has a social life. Not so soon after breaking up with Mike, the man who Bradley had thought would be the ‘one’. Only to find out that Mike was a jerk.
When ex-PJ, Mike finds out that his ex is planning to ride out the upcoming hurricane, he doesn’t know whether to strangle the man or to go help him. In the end, love prevails and Mike rushes to Bradley’s side. Will they survive the hurricane? Or are they doomed?
REVIEW:
Short stories are pretty much hit or miss with me. I’m sure it’s quite challenging to include an intriguing back story, significant character development, interesting plot and dialogue all the while keeping the story moving forward under a certain word limit. This story was unfortunately a miss for me.
When I read the blurb it immediately grabbed me. I loved the idea of Mother Nature trapping former lovers in a house while not letting them escape the elements or each other.
The story starts with Bradley boarding up his terminally ill grandfathers home when his ex, Mike shows up out of the blue. Mike, knowing his ex would be battling this hurricane seemingly alone comes charging in to help Bradley and ride out the storm with him.
I think the biggest problem I had was Bradley. Without a doubt he was the main character but I found him, simply, unlikeable. We learn he was hurt, badly, by Mike when he broke up with him after a 5 year relationship, through text message. Granted, he has every right to be angry, but he just comes off as a bratty child. Mike was Air Force Special Forces, he was constantly deploying into dangerous countries. He felt breaking up with Bradley would be the best course of action because he had never wanted Bradley to mourn him. During his last deployment he was shot and couldn’t return to service so Mike comes to help Bradley with the intention of trying to get him back. What plays out are a series of temperamental out burst from Bradley that always results in him storming off. In lieu of that I think it was hard to see any real chemistry or passion between Mike and Bradley.
We are also introduced to Bradley’s sick, cantankerous grandfather. Again, I didn’t understand this relationship, either. Bradley grandfather was downright cruel at times. Not, mean to be funny or mean because we’re family and its ok, but mean to hurt Bradley. I also never saw any real affection from the old man. I never got to a point where he was endearing and that affected the whole outcome of the story. We also find out that Bradley has absolutely no support financially or emotionally from the rest of his family. He’s essentially all alone. Again, I wasn’t pulled into the story or the characters so overall this fell short for me.
RATING: 
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