Reviewed by Sadonna

TITLE:  Reunion

SERIES:  The Oleander Chronicle

AUTHOR:  Lynn Van Dorn

NARRATOR:  Michael Ferraiuolo

PUBLISHER:  self-published

LENGTH:  11 hours and 42 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  February 14, 2021

BLURB:

A man betrayed

The day Brett Payne turned 18, he attended a party that left him disillusioned, his trust shattered, and feeling betrayed by Tony Russo, his first love.

Nearly 15 years later, Brett returns to his hometown of Oleander, Florida, to help his mother, who’s in the hospital. When chance brings Brett and Tony back together, it turns out that while sex isn’t off the table (or the floor, or the shower, or the countertops), Brett isn’t sure he can truly trust the man who broke his heart.

A man rejected

Fifteen years after he was abandoned by Brett, Tony’s dreams for the future were smashed, one by one, until he’s forced to return to Oleander. Barely scraping by as a handyman, he’s hired, reluctantly, by Brett to make improvements at his mother’s house. Being near his first love awakens old feelings that Tony thought were buried forever, and he is irresistibly drawn to the stranger the years have turned Brett into.

A second chance at love 

Together, Tony and Brett’s passion sets fire to both their lives and plans for the future. Past hurts are unburied, secrets are uncovered, and their lives will never be the same. For the first time in years, Tony feels he might have a future worth looking forward to, but only if Brett is willing to once again risk his heart.

Reunion is an extremely steamy stand-alone romance with HEA featuring two grown men who desperately need to find their way home, geographically misplaced waterfowl, and a town where just about anything might happen and often does.

REVIEW:

Brett and Tony were secret boyfriends for most of high school and they’ve got plans to get out of town and go to college together and finally be out and together.  But then disaster strikes and  this becomes a story of first love gone horrible wrong and a night that changes the trajectory of both Brett and Tony’s lives.  Decisions and assumptions made by two teenagers had far reaching consequence for both of them.  And they don’t see or speak to each other again.

But life does go on regardless and both have survived that early traumatic turn at the end of high school.  Brett’s become a doctor, but he has difficulty connecting with anyone in his private life.  He still has trust issues and he’s not found anyone yet that has helped him over that.  Tony is merely existing – a hand to mouth existence as a result of defeat after defeat and then profound loss that has left him alone at 33 without a home, a plan or much in his life beyond eeking out a meager living as a handyman back in his tiny little nowhere home town to which he has returned.

Shockingly (or should I say “schemingly”) Tony and Brett meet again after 15 years when Brett returns to town to look after his mother who has had a fall and surgery.  Her house is a wreck and Brett need someone to fix a bunch of things.  The nosy neighbor, Joanie, just happens to have the name of the best local guy for the job.  She calls Anthony and he agrees to come to the house later.  Brett is quite surprised to learn that Anthony is none other than Tony, his high school boyfriend that he’s not spoken to nor forgiven in 15 years.  But Tony’s there to do a job and so he does.  But neither of them has ever forgotten the other.

As Tony helps Brett with the myriad things that need fixing, they “talk” and also kind of accidentally/angrily have sex.  Which leads to a whole host of other issues.  Tony literally has not had sex in years.  Brett has just been dumped by his boyfriend when he won’t cancel his plans to care for his mother.  They are both a little bit out of control.  And then of course there are the many unspoken questions and issues about what happened 15 years before.  There are also things to deal with concerning what’s happened in the intervening years and how that has affected them – particularly Tony who was in a long term relationship and has suffered a grievous loss.  Brett brings him back to life in many ways, but he’s not sure he can survive another loss and he has nothing to offer Brett anyway.

Brett’s time in Oleander is supposed to be finite – as long as his mother needs him – but it seems that might be a bit longer than he originally thought.  After discovering the state of her house, he’s not sure she should be on her own even after her hip heals.  Then there is the little issue of the nosocomial infection she picks up in the hospital 🙂   He’s also been implored to help out at the local medical practice as one of the doctors (his old doctor in fact) is in hospital as well and they are desperate for someone to step in.  Reluctantly Brett agrees and it’s an eye opening experience.  But he and Tony have the opportunity to spend more time together and Brett remembers all the things that he’s missed about Tony.

Tony is just as enthusiastic about his reconnection with Brett – although it’s also tinged with worry that his heart will get broken yet again.  They share a lot of what’s happened in their lives since that fateful day of Brett’s 18th birthday – not a lot of it good from Tony’s side.  Brett begins to see the toll and the wounds that Tony’s past has cost him.  He hadn’t been aware of a lot of what Tony was going through when they were kids.  Tony didn’t want to share for a number of reasons and he carried a heavy load – much of which directly impacted the end of their relationship.  In addition Brett is surprised to learn the details of Tony’s long term relationship and what impact that has left on him as well.  There are some recriminations and guilty feelings on Brett’s part when he learns the full truth.

When push comes to shove, Tony doesn’t think that his love will be enough for Brett.  They just continue to struggle with communication and assumptions.  Luckily they get some pretty big pushes from other folks who have their best interests at heart.  When push comes to shove, they have to learn to listen and trust in each other.

This book really takes on a lot of issues.  My hat is off to the author for handling the many challenges faced by the two main characters so well.   Tony’s dysfunctional family and the things he didn’t share with Brett directly impact their teenage relationship.  Brett’s self-esteem issues and constant bullying have left him assuming the worst about everyone – including his secret boyfriend.  This book really examines the scars that are left from all the trauma these guys went through.  And most of them are not visible, despite the pretty violent bashing Brett took.  Lack of trust in not only other people but trust in their own hearts and instincts have stunted both of these men.

One of the most interesting aspects of this book was the examination of domestic abuse that doesn’t include physical violence.  What becomes clear as the story moves forward is that psychological control and abuse can be just as damaging to the abuse victim.  The inability to make decisions, the feelings of worthlessness, the fear of waiting for the other shoe to drop, the lack of agency and control, can lead to debilitating self-doubt and serious bouts of self-loathing and questioning of self-worth.  This part of the story to me was the most heartbreaking.  Despite the truth that love may be a part of the relationship, this kind of power imbalance leads to serious detrimental consequences.  Beautifully and achingly written.

Luckily there are a lot of other wonderful side characters and some entertaining side plots to add some levity to what is overall a serious story.  Hopefully some of these folks will continue into the next books in the series.  Joanie, the busybody who runs the town is a fabulous character and I loved watching her wield her power for good 😀  Tony’s family, including his sister and stepdad along with some other high school friends provide support and humor as Tony and Brett try to get out of their own way.  Brett’s mother is something else 😉  The townsfolks and the local celebrity pair also add some nice color to the story, although there are also some sad moments too.  I sure we get to see Maxi again!  I would name him Moxie!!

While this is a long book, there are a lot of scenes, both present and past, that are necessary to the laying of groundwork for this second chances love story.  As usual, Michael Ferraiuolo does a brilliant job narrating this complex story.  There are a lot of voices and even some animals 😉 and he handles them all beautifully.  I highly recommend this audiobook and am anxiously waiting to see who will be in the next story in this series.  Bravo!

RATING: 

BUY LINKS:

Amazon

Audible