Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Something Shattered 
AUTHOR: Bailey Bradford
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 200 pages
RELEASE DATE: 12/19/2015
BLURB:
Jesse Martin never knew what it meant to belong anywhere until he moved to the small town of El Jardin, NM. Something about the town called to him, and he set about doing what he could to fit in. If that meant keeping some parts of himself separate, tucked away from prying eyes, then that was what he’d do.
Tomas moved to El Jardin to escape the memories of a vicious attack that left him a shattered, broken man. The physical wounds would heal, but the emotional ones seemed insurmountable. Unable to leave his home for more than a brief walk to the mailbox, Caden’s isolation was just one more torment that ate away at his hopes of ever recovering.
Two men, each with their own personal demons, living only yards across from one another. Each is fascinated by the other, but unable to find a way to breach the problems that keep them apart. The solution comes in the form of one yappy little poodle, Loopy. His frequent escapes from Caden’s yard gives Jesse a reason to approach his neighbor, and form a tenuous bond that will heal their wounds and maybe, just maybe, end their lonely nights.
Publisher’s Note: This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers may find objectionable: Male/male sexual practices.
REVIEW:
After moving around for most of his childhood, Jesse Martin has made a life for himself as a cop in the small town of El Jardin. He’d like to think he’s good at his job so when someone new moves into the house across the street at 2am, he notices. While at first Jesse wonders if there’s something shady going on, he quickly comes to realize that there’s more going on than meets the eye and that the broken man he’s been watching could use some help. Things are more complicated than they appear, however, and Jesse is going to have to decide for himself just how involved he wants to be, especially when someone else doesn’t like him hanging around.
Caden is a sweet man who found himself in a horrible situation and is still dealing with the trauma months later. I really felt for him; watching him struggle with something as simple as opening the door to go get the mail was heartbreaking. Jesse was a nice counterpoint to Caden’s character and even when he knew it wouldn’t be easy, he still wanted to try and help Caden heal.
The best part of the book for me was watching as Caden started trying harder to fix himself; when he decided that opening up about what happened to him was necessary to try and help other people he cared about, it was like watching a huge wall come down.
The overall pacing was good but I was left a little unfulfilled with parts of the story itself. There isn’t any resolution with the people that hurt Caden and you never find out what happens with his brother-in-law either. It was a nice story about healing, however, and I did enjoy it, just not as much as I expected to.
RATING: 
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