Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Digging Deeper
SERIES: Interlocking Fragments #2
AUTHOR: Michele Notaro & Sammi Cee
PUBLISHER: self-published
LENGTH: 228 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 21, 2019
BLURB:
Hendrix~
One minute, I’m on patrol with my partner. The next, I’m waking up after being in a coma for weeks and my whole world has changed. On the bright side, my twin brother tells me he’s moving home after being gone for almost ten years, and I couldn’t be happier. Plus, I woke up. That’s definitely a positive. On the other hand, they don’t know if I’ll ever walk again, my brother’s dating my best friend, and I’m starting to obsess about my brother’s best friend … yeah, like that’s not a disaster waiting to happen. How’s my brother going to feel if I admit I’m bisexual after all these years? After watching him struggle alone?
And am I really thinking about Gavin, the man I’ve resented for keeping my brother away all these years? But I can’t take my eyes off of him, especially when his brown eyes seem so sad and haunted.
Gavin~
Following my best friend to Baltimore was an easy decision since he’s the only family I have, and finding a physical therapist job was a bonus. But now I’m afraid of being a burden to him and his new boyfriend, so I’ve been keeping to myself. The loneliness is seeping back in, and the person that’s been helping is the last one I’d expect. Hendrix has always hated me, but the more I help him recover, the more of him shines through, and I begin seeing him in a different light. He’s always been my best friend’s grumpy, twin brother, but now he’s the straight guy I can’t stop thinking about, the one I can’t stop checking out, and the one I can’t have. Not that I even want anyone after everything—my baggage is too heavy for even me to deal with, let alone someone else… but that doesn’t stop me from daydreaming about him.
With Hendrix harboring family secrets, and Gavin’s painful past still bleeding like an open wound, can these two men find a way to help each other dig deeper? Or will they hide from their truths and forsake the potential staring them right in the face?
Digging Deeper is the second book in the Interlocking Fragments series, but is a standalone novel. Each book in the series will feature a different couple, but the couples will show up throughout the whole series. This is a contemporary romance intended for 18+.
REVIEW:
GAHHHHHHH!! These two are KILLING me with this series. Holy crap I’m in book hangover mode right now. Shew. This one draws emotions from you and it doesn’t stop throughout the whole book. It hurts so bad but it’s a good hurt, because the book is just that good.
Hendrix is reliving his life, day after day in nightmares. Since waking up from his coma, after being shot in the line of duty, each nightmare is riddled with different things that is haunting him. But what’s worse, is that he’s given himself a ‘death’ sentence. He’s convinced himself to give up instead of trying to get better. But even though no one is giving up on him, it’s killing them all to see what he’s going through daily. From his best friend and cop partner, Jameson, to his brother and Jameson’s life partner, Holden. Even newer friend, Aiden, is concerned. But it isn’t until, Holden’s best friend, Gavin, comes along that things start to change. Gavin not only believes Hendrix can walk again, but he’s determined to do all he can to push Hendrix in ways he never dreamed of. As it works, they grow closer. All of them. But secrets and the past have a way of being dragged back into the present and the all now have to deal with what has been haunting them all for so long. And in order for Hendrix and Gavin to have anything more, they really have to lay it all on the line or move on.
You know, being a victim of a crime is hard on everybody. Especially when you have a close knit unit, like these guys do. Hendrix may have been the one actually shot, but they are all feeling the pain. The grief, the pain, the whys and what ifs. The guilt if one survives and the other may not. The guilt of being fully functional and the other not. It’s all a downhill spiral. But in times of things like this happening, as hard as it may be, communication and complete honesty is what’s important. Even if it’s hard to hear. Even if it makes you angry as can be and you just want to beat someone or something. All of these men needed to talk things out. In one form or another. Hendrix finally had to accept that he’d given up and needed a smack of reality in the face. And Gavin was more than happy to give it to him. Not that he’s sadistic or anything, but because Hendrix needed someone not to coddle him and force him to see that his life wasn’t over. He just had to try.
But it was more than that. All these guys with the secrets….it was insane. And as you read their stories, you understand why they have them and why they are hard to let go. Because it makes you vulnerable in ways you don’t want to be. It was heartbreaking to see what all they had to go through. I’m telling you, you will need tissues. But one thing I love more than anything about this book. Even though it’s an angsty story and one to break your heart, it’s also a story of hope, love, forgiveness and family. In the true sense. It’s a story of never giving up. Of keeping on when you just want to throw in the towel. And at the end of the day, that’s the most important lessons of them all.
This series and this story, if you haven’t read them, you’re missing out on some amazing words. And I am glad I’ve gotten to be a part of this world.
RATING: 
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