Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Puzzle Me This (2^nd Edition)

AUTHOR:  Eli Easton

PUBLISHER:  Self-published

LENGTH:  120 pages

RELEASE DATE:  September 6, 2019

BLURB: 

Luke Schumaker designs computer games, working from his home. Every day he walks his dog in the woods nearby, never suspecting that someone who is completely smitten is watching.

The watcher is Alex Shaw, and he too works from home, designing logic and crossword puzzles. Alex’s options are limited: he’s too shy to approach Luke and his wheelchair won’t let him follow into the woods. His solution? Secret messages for Luke in the crosswords he writes for the local paper.

When Luke decodes them, romance begins, but then they face greater puzzles, like Alex’s interfering sister and what commitment to a man in a wheelchair really takes. And, most puzzling of all, how do you know if love is real?

REVIEW: 

Luke Shumaker has moved back to his home state of Pennsylvania.  After some time spent in San Francisco, he’s able to work from home for his job as a computer game designer.  He loves the seasons and he’s got his dog and he’s pretty happy.  Then he gets a paper – that he didn’t deliver – at his door.  When no one else claims the paper, he decides to enjoy himself and do the crossword.  But oddly, the crossword seems to be a message to him.  And it happens again. He’s intrigued.  He tries to figure out who his admirer might be, but he’s at a loss.

After reaching out to the paper to see who is sending him the paper and try to get in touch with the puzzle maker, but he’s refused and offered an alternative method for contacting he responsible party.  Again after trying to discover who the culprit is, he’s given another puzzle to solve that leads to Alex.  He is surprised that it is the guy in the wheelchair that live in his apartment complex.  But he’s definitely intrigued.  And attracted.  They have a great first meeting, but Alex isn’t sure it is going to go anywhere.  But then Luke asks him on a real date.  And it goes GREAT.  Luke is worried about a few things though as he’s never been with anyone who has a disability and he’s a bit nervous.

Things progress pretty well though and Luke shares a little bit about his past relationships.  He’s also nervous about Luke’s ability to deal with the realities of his disability.  He has let himself fall into situations where he ends up hurt and doesn’t feel good about himself at all.  Luke convinces him to take it as it comes though.  They do travel together and seem to have a really good time.  Luke also meets Alex’s overprotective sister and some of his friends.

But then life interferes and Luke has a lot going on at work where he doesn’t have much time and he kind of ignores Alex.  He also has some family stuff to deal with and they end up spending less and less time together.  Finally Luke has to go to San Francisco to work on his project with the team to get a new game out before Christmas and he leaves Alex with neither being very happy about their situation.  Once in San Francisco, he realizes he’s been using excuses to avoid the real issue of what it is he wants from Alex and what he wants in life.  Thankfully he’s got friends and help from some unexpected places to help him put things in perspective so that he hopefully won’t lose the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

I first read this book years ago when the first edition was published.  I liked it, but my chief takeaway was that I wanted more word count to convey the true gravity of the relationship between these two men.  I’m so happy to say that Eli Easton completely achieved that with this new expanded edition.  I thought the kind of second thoughts and doubts that Luke had were probably more realistic than any quick “enlightenment” that could have happened.  The change to Luke’s backstory very much helped in our understanding of Luke’s reluctance to commit to anyone.  I also appreciated how he sought help to deal with his issues instead of trying to just carry on.  Luke is a much more mature version in this version and I like that so much more.  Amy, Alex’s sister is also his protector, but she ultimately wants what’s best for him and she plays her part well.  I also really loved the expanded ending of this story – much more realistic and not a quick and easy resolution and yea, everybody’s happy.  Definitely recommend this updated version!

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon