REVIEWED by Jen B.

TITLE: Shattered

SERIES: The Protectors #11

AUTHOR: Sloane Kennedy

PUBLISHER: Self

LENGTH: 308 Pages

RELEASE DATE: December 15, 2017

BLURB: 

I failed Caleb once because I was a coward. And he ended up paying the price. Never again…
Ten years of war and the loss of nearly his entire family have left thirty-four-year-old former sniper, Jace Christenson, with nothing to come home to. And he prefers it that way. Life consists of his work in an underground vigilante group, the near-constant search for the last remaining link to who he used to be, and a string of meaningless sexual encounters that serve only one purpose… to make it easier to not feel anything anymore.

But when Jace gets the call that the young man he saved two years earlier has gone missing, he’s forced to deal with the truth he’s been trying to deny from the moment he laid eyes on Caleb Cortano.

That the young man is so very much more than just the exception to all his rules…

You know how if something shatters when it breaks, there’s no way to find all the pieces to put it back like it once was? Maybe sometimes it’s better not to even try…
Nineteen-year-old Caleb Cortano has been barely hanging onto his sanity in the two years since the truth about his father’s depravities came to light. A victim of the man’s crimes himself, Caleb has only managed to find any semblance of peace when he’s in the presence of the man who saved him once before.

But when he finally comes to accept that Jace Christenson wants nothing to do with someone who’s shattered beyond repair, Caleb finds another way to seek solace from the pain inside.

As the fear of being reunited with the father he both fears and misses becomes more and more likely, desperation has Caleb doing something foolish that brings him face to face with the only man he’s ever wanted… but who doesn’t want him back.

Caleb stays with me until we get some answers… just me…
When Caleb’s life is threatened, Jace refuses to walk away a second time. Even if protecting Caleb means he’s risking his own heart, Jace isn’t going anywhere. At least not until he can put some of the missing pieces of Caleb’s life back together.

But will Caleb be able to do the same for the equally broken Jace?

Will two shattered men be able to find all the missing pieces to be who they were truly meant to, or is Caleb right? Some things just aren’t worth trying to fix…

REVIEW:

This is another solid installment to the series that follows along the same path as the others. Caleb is 19 years old, though we met him a few years ago when he was 17. He is a bit beyond his years due to the things he’s been through (you can get more of that background reading Eli’s (Caleb’s brother) book). He continues to suffer the aftermath of his past, and when it starts closing in on him, he crumbles a bit and goes on the run.

Jace hit it off with Caleb back when they met when Caleb and Eli came into the fold. However, with Caleb being so young and “damaged” and Jace’s history of sex being sex and a way to vent his feelings, he stayed away. Until he is told Caleb has run and needs to be found. When Jace finds him, things are worse than he was expecting. He takes Caleb into hiding to keep him safe and hopefully to help him heal a bit. It takes some effort on Jace’s part, as he has to give a little of himself to get Caleb to open up, but it eventually pays off for both of them.

Caleb has turned to self harm as a way to deal with the pain and stress. Cutting has been the only thing that has helped him survive and it isn’t all that easy to just stop, though he does realize it is wrong and makes an effort to quit. He falls back on it when things get tough, but Jace has definitely helped him and he continues to get better.

There is a lot going on with the gang, as Eli is also involved with Caleb’s father being on trial, etc. Both Eli and Caleb have issues they are dealing with in relation to that, as well as with each other and their past roles. Eventually, communication is key, and they make strides in moving on.

I loved seeing the others involved in this series, and with there being so many at this point, it is fun to have the memories of their stories come back as they are reintroduced here. Of course, there is a sneak peek into the next installment and a promise of a future story for others. To be honest, I’m most looking forward to Silver and Dalton’s story to see how they are making out. They are two people who definitely need some love, and I can’t wait to see them get it. Anyhoo, I definitely recommend this story and the series as a whole. You really can’t go wrong if you like seeing young men overcome some pretty horrific pasts to get their HEA and find new families at the same time.

RATING: