Reviewed by Kimberley
TITLE: Odd Man Out
SERIES: Cade Creek 10
AUTHOR: Stormy Glenn
PUBLISHER: Siren Bookstrand
LENGTH: 137 pages
BLURB:
Asked to look into a suspicion of abuse, Bear Black finds himself more intrigued by the man he is investigating than he really should be, especially considering the man is married. When he suspects that Andrew has been attacked, Bear goes in for the rescue and finds a man that calls to his soul as much as his protective instincts.
Dr. Andrew Sutherland has spent the last three years in hell, never knowing when one wrong move might end in another beating. Hiding his abuse from the world has become so common place, he doesn’t even think of how odd his behavior might look to the outside world.
When he’s rescued from the latest attack by a man right out of his fantasies, Andrew doesn’t know whether to submit to the desire he feels or run for the hills. But when his actions put Bear in danger, will Andrew be strong enough to stand up and protect the one man that has come to mean the world to him or will his fear prevent him from keeping Bear safe?
REVIEW:
In book # 10 of the Cade Creek saga, the author delved right into a subject matter that is rarely discussed. Domestic violence against men acted out by their female spouses, partners or significant other.
This is a subject matter that I think should be explored, discussed and dissected because it happens quite a bit. More often than you would think. I applaud this author for not only writing about it but doing it in a way that was realistic and tastefully done. She didn’t romanticize or attach any unnecessary bows or blinkers to it.
An observant colleague suspected that Andrew was being abused and even though this colleague wasn’t a fan of Andrew’s, he still reached out to someone to help him.
I really liked Bear and Andrew together but I feel that their relationship should’ve developed a bit slower than what it did. Andrew needed time to heal mentally. He’d suffered unspeakable physical and mental abuse at the hands of his wife and her ‘cousin’ and it was heartbreaking to read. I appreciated the HEA in this book, as do in all of them, but in this one, I felt that this particular book should’ve had a HFN ending just to give Andrew time to heal.
Bear and Andrew are absolutely perfect together, though. Bear is Andrew’s savior, his protector, lover and hopefully soon husband. There are a lot of broken souls in that town. A lot of them. Although the town is know as a place where the broken souls can find happiness and make a fresh start, they would definitely benefit from having a mental health professional in residence. I really like this series. The storylines are interesting and the characters are engaging; you care about what happens to these men. This is another favorite in the series.
Please be advised: this series features mild to mid violence and may deal with issues such as domestic/family violence, physical, mental, sexual abuse and rape so if those are your triggers, I would recommend you skip those parts.
This book is part of a series and as such should be read in sequential order. It is recommended that your read the Blaecleah Brothers Cowboy series as their characters cross over into this series.
RATING: 
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