Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Saving Sean

SERIES:  Seattle Stories

AUTHOR:  Con Riley

PUBLISHER:  Figment Ink

LENGTH:  270 pages

RELEASE DATE:  January 3, 2020

BLURB:

No more running from love…

Nearly a year after being rejected for another man, Seattle paramedic Peter Morse is still pining, so when the one that got away asks him for a favor, he agrees. His mission: track down Sean Reid, the runaway brother of a mutual friend. Peter isn’t thrilled about it—until he finds Sean injured by the side of the road.

Everything about Sean stirs Peter’s protective instincts—saving people is what he lives for—but he never anticipated falling for someone so hell-bent on running from him. On top of his physical wounds, Sean struggles with grief and guilt, and the mess his estranged father left when he died threatens to overwhelm him.

Saving Sean means Peter must let go of his pride and turn to friends and family. Asking for help is a bitter pill for Peter to swallow, but if he can’t, how can he expect Sean to accept his help—and his love—in turn?

2nd Edition

REVIEW:

Note:  This is the second in a series, and while it can be read as a stand alone, there are a lot of reference and many spoilers in this book for Book 1. Recommended to be read in order.

Peter Morse is an EMT who has spent the last months traveling up an down the west coast training First Responders.  His training has gone well, but he’s missing home.  The last thing he wants to do is get derailed on his way to Seattle where he wants to hole up and relax for a while.  Then Theo, the man he is still carrying a torch for, calls him for a favor.  While he wants to say no, he still has a hard time turning Theo down.  The favor is gong to take him out of his way heading home, but he does it anyway.  The favor is to find Sean, the brother of Theo’s assistant Maggie, as he has been out of contact with her and they need to settle her father’s estate.

Maggie is in a bad spot.  Her husband has lost his job and things are getting tight again at Theo and Maggie’s company as well.  They are behind on bills and worried about losing their house.  She’s under tremendous pressure and the stress is beginning to show.  Theo is worried and when Peter sees her, he understands why Theo is worried.  But he also understands that she is very worried about her brother who she hasn’t seen in years.  Her brother abruptly left home at 17 and left her with their father and his downward spiral.

What Peter finds, when he finds Sean, is an injured man who doesn’t want medical treatment.  Peter insists and he stays to make sure Sean isn’t in immediate danger.  But he’s still worried.  Sean seems to be obsessed with reviewing the mountains of papers his father has collected over the years.  Plus not only is he getting pressure from Maggie to settle things, the developers of a nearby golf course want his land to finalize their plans.  Sean is determined to try to do right by his father, despite the way his father treated him and Maggie.  He feels tremendous guilt over his past with his father and his sister.  He’s also a runner.  When things get to hard and he can’t seem to communicate with Peter, he runs.  And he’s fast 😉

As the situation with Sean’s cabin and property gets worse, he gets more bad news and blames Peter.  He distrusts Peter and wants to send him away.  Peter contemplates both his past and his future.  One by-product of this reflection is a change in his relationship with his own father.  Honestly this is one of my favorite parts of the story.  Peter is such an empathetic person in his job and he’s repeatedly shown this in his friendship with Theo, but he’s always been very hard on himself in many ways.  This whole situation seems to lead him to realize that most people are doing the best that they can. With that realization, he knows what he has to do and he gets others involved as well – knowing he and Sean can’t do it on their own.

Peter is really good at getting help and Sean finally comes to the realization that he won’t be able to do this alone. I loved that the helpers were favorites from book 1 of this series too!  I loved seeing Evan and Joel and Aiden and of course Maggie, Theo and Morgan again.  Everyone features prominently in helping Sean deal with his past and try to come up with a solution he can live with.  Sean does trust that Peter really is trying to help him and begins to really trust that this might be real.

I so enjoyed this book.  I really liked Peter in the first book and I was glad to see that he got his own story in this one.  The author does a great job of laying out the long term effects of these father/son relationships.  It was great to watch Peter come to that realization with his own father and begin to show compassion to both himself and his father for what they went through.  He really wants to be there for Sean to help him heal as well. Since his father is gone and Sean didn’t get any closure with him, another avenue has to be found for him to be able to feel like he’s done his best for his dad and be able to let go of the past.  The way the spiraling mental illness of Sean and Maggie’s father was described and the lasting effects I think were also compassionately described.  Maggie and Sean were both impacted – in different ways – by their fathers obsessions.  I loved seeing Peter happy in his life and with his friendships.  I am eagerly anticipating the next book and Aiden’s story.  Recommended particularly for lovers of hurt/comfort, addressing grief and moving forward stories.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Amazon