Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: The Long Way Home

SERIES: Sequel to Mark of Cain

AUTHOR: Kate Sherwood

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 308 Pages

RELEASE DATE: August 30, 2019

BLURB:

Sean Gage grew up full of hate and aggression, and losing his legs in a car accident has only made him more bitter. He was suicidal before the wreck, so now, with no legs? What the hell has he got to live for?
The world has been much kinder to Paul Gill. He’s spent most of his life cushioned from harshness, first by his family, and then by his wealthy boyfriend. He knows he should stand on his own, but he can’t deny how much easier it is to just go along with their goals for him.
When Sean comes to Paul’s clinic for physiotherapy, they clash. Paul’s a responsible professional, and Sean? Well, Sean’s an asshole. But as they work together on Sean’s rehabilitation, they discover that maybe they aren’t as different as they initially seem. Maybe Sean can teach Paul how to fight, and Paul can teach Sean that sometimes a fight isn’t necessary.

REVIEW:

From the moment I finished Mark of Cain (years ago!) I wished that Sean would get his own story. And yay, it’s finally happened! The Long Way Home begins a few months after the end of Mark of Cain, about six months after Sean Gage lost his legs in a car accident that may have been a suicide attempt. Even Sean isn’t entirely sure whether it was or not. Sean is still exactly the same; a complete asshole who takes his anger out on anyone who gets close enough. Where once he would have used his fists to vent his rage, he’s now limited to nasty, hurtful remarks that have everyone around him on edge and fed up.

Paul on the other hand is one chilled out guy, a little too chilled really as he tends to go along with whatever his family expects of him because it makes his life easier. I loved the fact that he is Sikh and gay isn’t the main issue of contention with his family, because I assumed it would be. Usually if religion is involved in m/m books, the gay is not okay. Instead, Paul’s parents would be happy with any man he brought home…as long as he’s rich enough and socially elite enough. Paul’s preference for cruising through life causes just as many issues as Sean’s assholishness.

As usual with Kate Sherwood’s books, this is very character driven, the secondary characters playing important roles and very much present. Lucky for us, that means we get lots of Luke and Mark, who are probably two of my all time favourite characters. I loved the interaction between Luke and Sean, it was almost as important to this story as the relationship between Sean and Paul. And I loved that Mark was confident enough in his relationship with Luke that he could acknowledge that the two other men would always have that closeness.

There were so many things I enjoyed about this book, but two definitely deserve a mention. One, the way Sean started making up stories about a fictitious boyfriend to tell to random strangers. As Paul points out, most people who were questioning their sexuality would experiment with sex, Sean experiments with coming out. It was actually quirky, and weirdly cute, and totally suited Sean.

Secondly, kittens. Five abandoned kittens who bring Sean and Paul together like nothing else could have. Often the use of ridiculously cute pets to soften the personality of a character, it bugs the heck out of me. Almost like it can be an easy fix. But there is nothing gratuitous about these kitties, they fit the story perfectly. And the way the men pretend to chat with them…awww. Cuteness overload.

I would think that this book could be read as a standalone, but I always find that difficult to judge when I’ve read the previous book. However, I strongly recommend you read Mark of Cain first, as it’s a brilliant story. Plus, Mark and Luke feature heavily here, so if you aren’t already in love with those guys, you might wish they’d give up some of their page time to Seam and Paul.

RATING:

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