Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Tainted by Our Choices

AUTHOR: M.K. Lee

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 223 Pages

RELEASE DATE: February 8, 2017

BLURB:

Meet Jack. A successful environmental officer working within an industry that is so very far from his childhood dream of saving the planet that he no longer recognizes himself. How he’s found himself in Houston, Texas, where he has no one, and nothing but his work for company, he tells himself repeatedly he doesn’t know. But when the place that became home had the heart sucked right out of it, and all around him was the remnants of a life he wouldn’t get to have, Jack ran, at the first opportunity given to him.
On a bright, sunny morning, Jack sees a face so familiar to him that he knows it better than his own, one that takes him back first to a beach in his childhood home of Tampa Bay, and second to a college in Boston where Jack learned and lost his heart.
Tarred by our choices is the story of first crushes, loves, and heartbreaks, and the fallout that left Jack clinging to his past. Join him on his rediscovery of himself, as a chance meeting reminds him of the life he always wanted to lead. Is he brave enough to live it?

REVIEW:

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. Between the way it was written, to the complexity of the characters and the story in itself. Just beautiful. I’m a sucker for a good HEA but sometimes it seems like it’s not real. This book drags you through a roller coaster of emotion. It is like reading someone’s everyday life story and I loved every minute of it.

We first meet Jack. Jack is up to his eyeballs in a job he doesn’t like, in a place that doesn’t feel like home. Still dreaming of home and the one person that made it feel like home. Jack is struggling to stay afloat in his own mind sometimes. One of those days brings him downstairs to get some much needed coffee, when he run into the one person he lost his heart to. Dylan. Jack’s character made me cry through this whole book. I just love him. No matter what the situation he keeps going. He had his heart handed to him by Dylan years ago and although he doesn’t really date anymore, he still keeps going. And when he sees Dylan again, no matter how much hurt he obtained, he still shows love and affection. He still is that soft hearted man you fall for. You can’t help it.

Dylan has always tried to keep tabs on Jack, even though he was the one who left. He always wanted to tell Jack why but he could never get up the nerve. Sometimes in this book, you almost want to hate Dylan. Until you find out why he is the way he is. (I can’t tell you lol). But it’s a struggle. Jack, for so long, just wants to know why. And you end up just bawling because Jack feels like it’s all his fault and maybe there is something wrong with him. That’s about the time you want to smack Dylan. But alas you can’t. Because as is with anything in life, sometimes it’s just hard.

The relationship between these two from the time they meet as kids is so sweet and endearing. As 14 yr olds, they really didn’t know much about being gay, but they knew they were different. They never acted on it as kids but it just melted your heart to see them together. As time goes on and they grow older, they still melt your heart. But they break it too. Life isn’t always perfect.

The one thing I have to add as well as far as this book is concerned is I love the way that the author was so keen on the environment. From making sure things were okay in certain places to showing what things are really like in environmental hazards such as oil spills. I love that the characters were so involved with everything. The love that they had to make sure our beautiful wildlife survived, even down to the smallest frog, was what made this story even more inviting. The care they take with everything and wanting to make the world a better place. It was nice to see characters so life like. It was great to see it be like every day life and not just a story to be told.

RATING:

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