Reviewed by Dan & Cinnamon

TITLE: Twenty-Two

AUTHOR: S. Davidson

PUBLISHER: Encompass Ink Publishing

LENGTH: 1684kb

RELEASE DATE: June 1, 2018

BLURB:

Taylor’s job was to photograph the spoils of the war. His instructions – make our military look good. Problem – the view was not always a pretty one. His obsession – keeping some of the worse images that he captured, often the last proof of what the depths a man will go to when faced with his own morality. Often, his images were so horrific, he didn’t dare let anyone else see, particularly the military.

Ryan ran a successful business, was well respected, and was raising two children. Surrounded by small-minded people, he didn’t dare come out as a gay man to his employees or his clients without the fear of losing business. Instead, he traveled miles from home just to keep his secret safe.

Sometimes, a one-night stand becomes more.

Twenty-two veterans commit suicide every day. Will Taylor be part of that count? Not if Ryan has any say in it.

DAN’S REVIEW:

As I’ve come to expect from this author, this story was full of some fairly horrific images of war. The image of a wounded soldier named Dave dragging himself over to help his friend Taylor, with only one hand haunted me for hours, and the image of Taylor holding his hand later…  I just went back to look to make sure I got Dave’s name right and rereading the section again brought tears to my eyes. Damn you Ms. Davidson.

But let’s start with the beginning of the book. It begins with the end. Literally. The first chapter is also the last chapter, or at least part of it. I was a little confused. Who were these people and who in particular was this Taylor guy who was putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger? Well…then we popped back in time and got the story. In typical Shelly Davidson style, we met and lost several people along the way, some of them within pages of getting to know them. If you haven’t read this author’s books, you might not ‘get’ what I’m about to say, but I need to tell you that in my case, she manages to put the actual image of what is happening in the story directly into my mind. I see what she is writing about. Some of this stuff is graphic enough that my mind wants to censor it out, but a day after reading the scene and having finished the book, that image I described with the heavily wounded soldier above is still stuck in my head.

This one was emotional. There are graphic scenes of combat, there is PTSD, there is blatant homophobia including a disturbing scene with a pick-up truck and a rope, there is hurt/comfort, there is suicide, there are some really f’d up things. But together…they work.

I love this author’s writing style. She always leaves me with a book hangover as I’ve mentioned in earlier reviews of her books. This one, and her other works are not for the faint of heart. They aren’t for the average Love Bytes reader. But if you like your reading a bit…ok…maybe a lot on the dark side, then you need to read this author.

My only complaint with this current book? I want more. What happens next? I particularly want to know more about “Buckin’ Sam’s”.

I very highly recommend this one to anyone who is strong enough to read it. It didn’t leave me crying like The Ties That Bind by this author did, but it did leave me emotionally bruised.

DAN’S RATING:

CINNAMON’S REVIEW:

Shelly Davidson… That woman is a pure genius. I love her writing, plain and simple. It’s raw, gritty, honest, and so powerful that you feel the tiniest details. Not sure how she does it but the events, emotions, feelings she portrays resonate to your very core. I knew all too well what to expect after being broken by her two previous books, so I was a bit afraid and also psyched and curious when I heard about the new story.

Then I started and in a few mere pages I got the biggest gut punch I have experienced this year. And the story hasn’t even begun… Now you gotta promise me you’ll go on reading no matter the size of this punch. It will be worth it, I guarantee!

So even before it all started I was already shocked and falling for one of the MCs. And then the story truly began and I got a beautiful, emotional, painful love story spiced with the gritty, brutal details of the life of a combat veteran. Please read the warning and triggers carefully and take them seriously. Some scenes may even haunt you for the rest of your life.

The title speaks for itself and you know in advance that this will be a difficult topic to read about. The suicide rate amongst military veterans is devastatingly high. 22 a day… that means one in 65 minutes… let it sink for a while… unbelievable.

The portrayal of Taylor’s struggles is masterful. Your heart is going to break for this young man (and for all the men and women out there in the same situation who live around us) and all the horrid things he goes through each and every day.

The plot is wonderfully built and you don’t even realize how quickly you are sucked into this world, how quickly you feel for these amazing characters.

This story is another masterpiece by this author with all the vividly described events and the wide range of emotions we get to experience though our MCs. We get family, we get friendship, we get adorable kids, parenting, we also get bigotry, prejudice, small town living, we got life on a ranch and we get flashbacks… scary, gut wrenching, devastating flashbacks. We also get two strong wonderful men, each with their serious amount of baggage who share a powerful chemistry, and find a vulnerable, true kind of love in each other that needs to be cherished and protected through it all. Taylor and Unka Ryry deserve all the happiness. I hope we get to see more of these two in the future.

Highly recommended.

CINNAMON’S RATING:

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