Reviewed by Becca

TITLE: Blush

SERIES: Uncorked #3

AUTHOR: Shea Balik

PUBLISHER: self-published

LENGTH: 187 pages

RELEASE DATE: November 29, 2017

BLURB:

Raise your wine glasses high to toast the men of Dahlonia while they discover the secret to happiness – LOVE.

Fifteen years ago, Kadyn Bellamy and Valor Lee had blown any chance of building a future together. Valor had joined the CIA to hunt down terrorists and Kadyn abhorred violence. At the time, their differences had seemed insurmountable.
When Valor shows up in Dahlonia looking as hot as ever, Kadyn needs to decide if he can reconcile their divergent viewpoints. The choice wasn’t as easy as it might seem. If only the love he’d felt for Valor had diminished, he could easily walk away. It didn’t seem fair that he might have to give up the love of his life, twice.
All Valor wanted was the future he and Kadyn had dreamed. For fifteen years, his love for Kadyn had only grown. He’d known when he’d walked away from Kadyn all those years ago, it would be a challenge to convince Kadyn they could still make their dreams come true.
It was only when tragedy struck, that Kadyn was forced to come to grips with the past. With eyes wide open, he was ready to take a step into the future. He just needed to decide if Valor would be a part of it or not

REVIEW:

TRIGGER: Scene discussing an almost rape and a beating in defense. And a beating against two guys for being gay. And it’s bad.

Wow. This was a great book. Kadyn seemed like such an interesting person when I read him in Nolan’s story. Sometimes he comes off as snotty maybe? A little flighty, but he’s not. He’s so incredibly giving and loving. He’s Nolan’s best friend and he does anything he can for people he loves. Even people he doesn’t really know. He supports and tries to be uplifting. But his story isn’t an easy one.

Fifteen years ago, Kadyn was destroyed. For three years, he lived and breathed the love of his life, Valor. But after 9/11, Valor went off with the CIA in search of his father’s killers, who was in one of the planes that went into the towers. Having a bad past as far as his own father’s death, Kadyn couldn’t conceive why people had to be so violent. And basically felt Valor chose violence and the CIA over him. Even though that wasn’t the case. For fifteen years they’ve been apart. And no matter how much Kadyn tried to move on, he hasn’t. Neither has Valor. And now, Valor is back. And he wants to be with Kadyn again. But Kadyn can’t get past what he feels. But as the weeks wear in, he’s finding out more about his past that he’s blocked out and he finally tells Valor what happened to his own father and why he is the way he is. But something else has happened that brings things to a different light. Kadyn now has a decision to make about everything and hopefully it will be the right one.

I didn’t know how to feel with these guys. I love them both and see both sides of the argument. And both sides are right and in a way, wrong. Because of Kadyn’s past, in two different instances, violence has played a part and destroyed him. So for him, just thinking of Valor going off with the CIA, knowing what he was going to do and what the CIA does, it’s devastating. And killing someone takes part of your soul.

And then Valor’s side, he’s protecting his country. He’s saving the lives of many at the death of a few. And a few who deserve what they get. Kadyn’s argument is he’s not God, which can be a valid point, but again. Would you rather rid the world of evil or destroyed more innocent?

This is a hard story for these guys. Love can heal a lot of things but it’s not the be all, end all sometimes. Love takes work. And even then, it’s not always enough. You really have to weigh what is more important against what you may feel otherwise. Now, no worries, it’s an HEA. But it makes you think. It’s a really good story. There are definitely times for tears but in the end, the good outweighs the bad.

RATING:  

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