Reviewed by Dan
(Warning: Contains Non-Consensual Partner Rape and domestic abuse references)
TITLE: Broken Bones
AUTHOR: Deja Black
PUBLISHER: DSP Publications
LENGTH: 197 Pages
BLURB:
Dan Tolliver, the adopted son of alpha pack leader Jeremiah Tolliver, has suffered his last moment of abuse by his lover Keith Mulligan and finds himself in the hospital. There he meets dark and sharp-tongued Dr. Aiden Kavanaugh , who believes Dan needs some of his straightforward kind of medicine. Still, there is something different about the doctor.
Aiden is a sandman, a weaver of dreams, and has been on earth far longer than even he knows. He’s at the end of his time, ready to transition, and needs a human mate to keep him connected to the world he’s grown to love. Only he hasn’t found a special person who makes him want to stay. He doesn’t despair, because not every sandman has the chance to choose, but he knows if he doesn’t find a partner, he will soon lose his physical form and exist only in dreams.
When Aiden realizes Keith is a far greater monster than Dan has any idea, they grow and work together using the support of the pack—and Dan’s inner strength—to overcome impossible odds.
REVIEW:
This book left me feeling confused. At first I really liked it, but as I progressed through the book, things got a little unbelievable, then they just ended up being odd. Let me explain.
When the book opens we meet Dan Tolliver who has just been beaten and raped by his partner. Whoa, triggers for some folks, and all before we even get to Chapter 1! But let’s get past that. When Dan is able to get to his phone, he calls his best friend Shelly who gets him to the emergency room to be seen. He is severely beaten, but doesn’t disclose the anal bleeding or rape, so he sits in the waiting room as a lower priority. Part of the reason for the wait is the ER staff’s familiarity with Dan. He has been there repeatedly for mysterious bruises, broken bones, etc., and the staff all know it is domestic abuse, but Dan won’t admit it.
Dan finally gets to be seen, and we (and he) are introduced to Dr. Aiden Kavanagh. There is something about Aiden that seems to draw Dan to him. Dan is the adopted human son of an alpha werewolf and was raised in the pack, in fact he is even considered one of the Princes of the pack. (That was a little odd terminology to me, as wolf packs don’t usually have “princes”). So Dan is used to the mating rituals of his pack, but he is human…so why is he instantly feeling something from Aiden?
The truth comes out and Aiden turns out to be a Sandman, as in “Mr. Sandman, bring me a dream…” It turns out that Dan’s father knew about sandmen but had never mentioned them. Convenient. Next it turns out the abusive ex is also a Sandman, but one of the bad guys, where Aiden is one of the good guys. Then we find out there is also something different about the best friend Shelly, which we don’t get answered until the end of the book, when it has absolutely zero importance to the plot or storyline. Like I said, a little odd, and odd enough to have me second guessing my really liking the beginning.
Overall I felt the writing was OK for a new writer. There is some action and drama related to the ex-boyfriend, and the rape/non-con items that I warned you about above, which did not show up in the blurb and could cause reader distress. I’m not sure where Ms. Black is going with this story from here. It seemed incomplete, like maybe she was setting it up for a sequel, but I don’t know that for sure.
I will have to give this one a rating of “It was OK” and wait to see where the author takes the story in the future.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: