Reviewed by Cheryl
TITLE: Radical Hearts 
SERIES: Deviant Hearts #2
AUTHOR: A E Ryecart
PUBLISHER: Self Published
LENGTH: 360 pages
RELEASE DATE: June 20, 2018
BLURB:
When the past shatters the present, how can their future be saved?
Taking shelter from a storm in a ramshackle bookshop, security consultant Lee Adams only wants to wait out the weather. Wary and cautious following the collapse of his long-term relationship, Lee’s got no time and even less interest in having a man in his life but when the flirty, dark-haired assistant invites him to a campaign meeting to save an old pub from being bulldozed out of existence, Lee finds himself saying yes when everything tells him he should be saying no.
For Dominic Russell, the Save Charlie campaign is personal. Charlie’s was where the frightened teenager he’d once been found a safe haven to be himself without fear or shame – until the events of a long-ago night ripped his world apart and forced him into a decision that changed his life forever.
Against the background of Lee and Dominic’s unfolding love story, the campaign to Save Charlie is falling apart. Nobody’s interested and nobody cares – until a stranger with vision, passion and conviction arrives. He’s the shot in the arm the campaign needs, and he’s come with a full syringe. But something about Charlie’s saviour doesn’t add up.
A whispered revelation, an angry confrontation, and the campaign takes a dark and disturbing turn. As Dominic’s new-found trust is tested to the breaking point, everything he’s trying to save threatens to destroy him.
For Lee and Dominic, preserving the past might just tear down their future.
REVIEW:
Although this is book three in a series, it can absolutely be read as a standalone. It has a very different tone from the first book, being more of a slow burn, concentrating on the growing relationship rather than events going on in the background, although they feed into each other to form a complex pattern that draws the reader in. There is no violence through the book, until one short, sharp shock at the end. Most of the tension comes from the struggle of the characters as they enter into a relationship and the detailed building, one at a time, of a set of circumstances that slowly transition from mundane to intriguing to suspenseful, to downright dangerous.
Both MC’s have been hurt by the past but are ready to move on. Both are hesitant and they stumble towards a relationship with neither of them having much of an idea about what exactly they’re doing.
This is against the backdrop of an attempted campaign to save a local pub that has particular significance for one of the MC’s. The two stories run side by side. The growing romance and the unwinding of the political campaign.
The author is very clever in the way she weaves in seemingly insignificant events and details, leads us down blind alleys and conceals key information until exactly the right moment.
When all the strands come together there is an explosive confrontation that leads to a vicious and brutal scene that then allows for a resolution that doesn’t tie up all the loose ends but shows the path that needs to be taken to get there. Some characters from the first book make welcome appearances and the more sedate pace of this book as compare to the last in no way takes away from the sense of growing unease and slow build toward a complex conclusion.
The characters and situations have a beautiful sense of realism and there is a lot of detail and emotional depth that gives the book a sense of familiarity and a beautiful flow. I think that even though I prefer the first book purely because of the subject matter, this one is better written. It has better flow and an almost flawless execution. The subject matter is interesting and although it didn’t keep me on the edge of my seat like the last one did, it certainly sustained my interest,
I more on to book three with high hopes.
RATING: 
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