Reviewed by Taylin
TITLE: At War With a Broken Heart 
AUTHOR: Dahlia Donovan
PUBLISHER: Hot Tree Publishing
LENGTH: 205 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 26, 2019
BLURB:
What’s the perfect recipe for an emotional MMM romance?
One autistic coffee shop owner, one morose mug maker, and a mostly cheerful police detective.
Fie Morogh Russell goes off to war with a broken heart and returns with a shattered spirit. He hermits away in Bideford, Devon, making mugs, with his service dog, Haggard, for company. Post-traumatic stress turns every memory into a minefield, and life is dismal with one or two rare exceptions.
Davet Heuse drags his younger brother to Bideford for a new start. Both autistic, the two siblings have fought hard to enjoy freedom by the seaside. While Davet runs a coffee shop from his tiny house, his brother pursues his dream at university.
Detective Sidney Little has transitioned from military service to the police force easily. His unrequited crushes and his estranged father are the only points of frustration in his life. He hasn’t quite figured out how to deal with either problem.
When a tragic accident brings Davet’s world crashing down around him, can Fie and Sid help him through the pain of loss?
REVIEW:
This story is a tale with three leading men, all of which have something broken in their lives. Fie – the ex-bomb-disposal soldier with PTSD and ex-boyfriend trouble. The best part of his day is his early morning coffee at Davet’s coffee shop.
Davet and his brother Fraco are autistic and proud of it. Davet runs the shop while Fraco lives ten minutes away studying at University. He opens his café earlier to accommodate Fie, the man who takes his breath away, yet is clearly troubled. Davet is in tune with Fie – especially when he struggles around crowds.
Detective Sidney Little worked with Fie in the military and had always held a flame for the man. He moved to Bideford mainly for the heart. He also harbours a light for Davet. The broken part of his life is his relationship with his homophobic father.
All three men have been friends since moving to the small Devonshire town. As the blurb says, Davet experiences a tragedy. Fie and Sid come together to support Davet through it, and in turn, he helps them in ways they couldn’t have foreseen.
This story tore me in two. Parts of it I adored, and parts of it niggled at me.
The three mains, I absolutely fell in love with. I treasured everything about them. Davet’s autism is part of who he is. Social conditions are awkward, but at the same time, his situation enables him to say what’s needed when others would stay quiet. Fie and Sid, empower and accommodate him. They are typical military types with a need to protect. While Fie tends to go quiet and relish his inner hermit, Sid brings levity while completely understanding what is at stake. Everything about the interactions between the three, from their banter, to their caring and more intimate times, I relished.
Through a good portion of the tale, loss reigns, and I’d defy anyone not to have at least a lump in the throat while reading.
Told in the third person, each chapter is headed by one of the three mains, letting the reader know the viewpoint being written. For me, this element was surplus, as the opening sentence of the chapter clearly indicated who’s pov was at the fore.
The developing relationship is the focus of the story, facilitated by events of the past and present. And this is another place where I have issues. To focus on the boys, certain elements were left out of the story.
Spoiler alert here. Bypass the next paragraph if you don’t want story secrets.
The blurb says that tragedy strikes Davet. Indeed, there is a death of someone close to him, which leaves Davet devastated, especially as there’s an investigation. Death means a funeral. Even without police involvement, in the UK, it can be at least a month before a funeral can be arranged. Though, I’ll admit that no specific times are uttered relating to autopsy and release of the body. In one section Davet is at Fie’s talking about the pending funeral, the next day. Within the space of 24 hours, not only are aspects of the funeral altered, like the addition of going for a walk to honour the dead, which at a stretch I can accept. But, on the trail, the reader discovers the walk is to scatter the ashes of X. There is no reference to a cremation. Davet was very close to X, and there was no mention of viewing the body or ever seeing X to pay respects or to say goodbye. Since Davet visited the crime scene, (where later, camera evidence from the area is mentioned and never followed up) he would have gone to see X. In the UK, people typically attend the cremation; then, at a later date, the ashes are scattered. Even in a small town like Bideford, it highly unlikely they could cremate and spread the ashes on the same day. The ashes wouldn’t have cooled down enough. There were also a couple of inconsistencies. In one sentence the funeral is described as a funeral, the next a memorial. Then, when Davet first kissed Sid and Fie, the event was defined as a snog. Later in the story, the same incident is described as a simple peck
So, for those who didn’t want spoilers but the outline of my grievance. There are timeline and procedural aspects that don’t quite stack up. Only the troublesome parts of certain events are written about. Also, there is an action from Davet which leaves Sid and Fie saying ‘we need to talk about relationships’, and the chapter ends. In the following sentences, there is a six-month time jump where no conversation happened, and Davet is still single.
I get that the focus was on the three men, but when one introduces a dramatic arc, certain events are expected. The lack of these parts, or explanations for their non-inclusion, left holes in the story and me asking questions.
I found At War With A Broken Heart, to be a book of two halves. The first half dealing with grief, the second with fixing what was broken and forming relationships. The story flows in a way – not like the sea, but more like a barge traversing a series of Locks.
There were parts of this story that I loved. The characters were awesome, and much of the dialogue was inspired. It was how the story was put together, that I had issue with. Hence, only giving it three hearts. However, if you are looking for a story that is a tearjerker, then this definitely fits the bill.
RATING: 
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