REVIEWED by Jen B.
TITLE: Sweet Surrender
SERIES: The Den Boys
AUTHOR: A.T. Brennan
PUBLISHER: A.T. Brennan
LENGTH: 268 Pages
RELEASE DATE: June 15, 2018
BLURB:
“It didn’t matter what I wanted. My life had never been about me or my wants. Why would that change now?” ~ Rhys
Three years ago I lost my sister to cancer, and my life was shattered. I lost everything I loved and have been existing ever since. It wasn’t until I met my new family at The Den that I began to feel whole again, but there was always something missing. People may think of me as a player who likes to joke around, and outside of my new family, that’s all I let them see. It isn’t until a chance meeting with shy and sweet Caleb that I’m finally able to open up and let someone see the real me.
“My entire life had been about my disabilities, but for the first time I felt like someone saw me for me, and not for what made me different.” ~ Caleb
Living with profound hearing loss is hard enough but add epilepsy to the mix, and my life is a constant struggle. Riddled with social anxiety and the constant fear of being hurt, navigating friendships and relationships is next to impossible. No one in their right mind would want to put up with all of my problems, and I’ve resigned myself to a life of loneliness. After meeting Rhys my bleak future alone suddenly seems less and less certain.
This is such an enjoyable series! I suppose this could be read on its own, but I recommend reading the others so you are familiar with all the characters. The friends who work at The Den have formed a family unit, something which most characters have all really needed for one reason or another.
Here, Rhys works at The Den. He is trying to put his life together after being outed and turned away by his family. He is also grieving the loss of his sister and trying to be there for his hearing impaired niece as much as his parents will allow, which isn’t much. He sort of comes to the rescue of Caleb who happens to have an epileptic related seizure outside of The Den.
After everything went down with Rhys’ actual family, he took advantage of his newly out status and played the field so to speak, but he is really looking for something more now. He senses Caleb might be that person, and it really seems mean to be seeing as Caleb is also hearing impaired. But, Caleb is dealing with a few other issues, and Rhys has to take things really slow, which allows them to really get to know one another before anything else.
I really loved all of the elements involved in this installment. I loved how easy it was for Rhys to understand and communicate with Caleb Right from the start, it was easy to see that Rhys was just a great guy and caring person and thankfully it doesn’t take long for Caleb to believe it and trust him. Given Caleb’s issues and his past, that was completely understandable. There’s a bit more to this story involving Rhys’ niece, but seeing them grow as a couple and then become their own family was what I enjoyed the most. It was also great seeing the other guys again, and I’m looking forward to seeing what’s next in this series.
