Reviewed by Roberta
TITLE: The Empty Box
AUTHORS: Jane Davitt & Alexa Snow
PUBLISHER: Loose Id
LENGTH: 94,561 words
BLURB:
Dave’s taking life day by day after leaving Travis, his emotionally abusive partner of fifteen years. Working as the cook at the Square Peg is all the social life he has and he’s content with that.
When a swerving car leaves him sprawled on the snowy sidewalk with a broken ankle, being rescued by his new neighbor, young, sinfully pretty Jeremy, seems like the start of something good, even if twenty years separate the two men. But Travis isn’t content to let Dave slip away and Dave’s his own worst enemy, holding Jeremy at arms’ length when Jeremy wants to get as close as possible.
With decisions about his future complicated by his tangled past, can Dave accept the second chance Jeremy offers or will his heart stay empty of love?
REVIEW:
I was really excited when I saw there was another book coming into the Square Peg universe. I liked the fact that it’s a standalone book and if you haven’t read the other two books, you still weren’t lost.
Dave is a man who is in his mid to late 40’s who had gotten out of an emotionally abusive relationship 18 months prior and who is just living this quiet life. Dave still feels horrible over the way that relationship went. How he was treated and how he allowed himself to be treated. Dave figures that he’s not worth anyone falling for. Dave just has so much guilt built up and his feelings of self-worth aren’t what they should be. However, it’s up to Dave to realize that he’s got this wonderful support system in the people that he works with and in his new love interest, Jeremy.
Jeremy, I liked this guy. He is in his late 20’s and he owns his own business. He works from home and he’s quite adorkable in his babbling ways. He saves Dave one night and from there he realizes that this is a man worth knowing. Jeremy is like this really sweet, adorable puppy who is just so full of love. Jeremey is also a man who knows how he feels and what he’s feeling is that Dave is meant to be his. Jeremy is such a really great guy and I enjoyed his screen time.
Now, there was a bit of sexy time in this story, however, I will say that it was never just having sex between the two of them. You could actually feel the bonding of them each time they had sexy time. I enjoyed their intimate scenes together. You saw them relate to each other in such a base way and you knew that it wasn’t just sex. It was about them opening their emotions to each other without having to say the words.
There were some really great secondary characters. Shane, Ben, Vin, Patrick and Helena. Such good people in Dave’s life that he could count on whether he knew it or not. They were there for Dave when he had his ups and downs. I really liked these characters as they each loved and respected Dave and Jeremy as they got to know him. I really liked Locke, the beekeeper. He was a great older gentleman who Dave met on his rounds of the Farmer’s Market. Locke really was a great guy and he was able to impart such wisdom and yet, he was a gentle soul. Travis…now I get that Dave had to deal with his ex and did he ever!! Travis for all his horribleness, I really felt for the guy. He was chasing something and could never find it. He had his addictions and they led him down a horrible path.
I have to say that I liked the way the authors handled Travis’ addictions and his behavior. I liked that even though Dave felt guilty over his part in their relationship, how he had had enough of Travis’ behavior and left him. I liked that they showed Travis trying to coerce Dave into taking him back and then flipping out when he wouldn’t. I liked that they showed the manipulative behavior of someone with addictions and how they use people and they also lose people from their lives. That to me the saddest part of this entire story was Travis. My heart went out to him as he was hurting and by hurting himself…he hurt other people.
Overall, a really good book and a really good addition to the Square Peg stories and I can’t wait to read the next one. This book held a darker feel to it to me and that is exactly what it needed to be. But beyond the dark…there is always light if you let it in.
RATING: 
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