Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  Salvation

SERIES:  Darkest Skies #3

AUTHOR:  Garrett Leigh

PUBLISHER:  Fox Love Press

LENGTH: 2482 Kb

RELEASE DATE:  September 2, 2021

BLURB:

Reformed gang boss Dante Pope is out after a four-year stretch in prison. But freedom has found him faster than he’s ready for. His only brother hates him, and with nothing but PTSD and a newfound fascination with plants for company, the outside world is a terrifying place.

A prisoner rehabilitation scheme lands him at a stately home that might as well be the moon. Working for gorgeous gardener Sid is a welcome distraction—his shoulders are broad, his rugged jaw unshaven, and his long, tanned legs? Wow.

But Sid has problems of his own. A life-changing disease has left him limited in ways he can’t bear and accepting help, even from a stranger, makes him want to curl up and die. If Dante would let him. Newsflash: he won’t, and he’s not a stranger for long. With his dark smile and sinister ink, Dante Pope is the most beautiful man Sid has ever seen. Life is hard, but falling for each other is easy. Sunshine and shadows.

Old ghosts can haunt Dante all they like. Loving Sid is the only salvation he’ll ever need.

Salvation is a sweetly angsty standalone MM romance novel in the Darkest Skies series. Expect: second chances, forced proximity, friends-to-lovers, and buckets of hurt/comfort themed loveliness. Content warnings for childhood trauma, violence, and chronic illness.

REVIEW:

There’s nothing chill about being lonely as fuck. It’s horrible, and being around you makes me feel like I’m living again.”

Salvation is simply outstanding!

Garrett Leigh’s Darkest Skies series has been a standout, and this is my favorite. It’s a fantastic hurt/comfort novel – in my opinion, Ms. Leigh’s forte – between two broken men, one physically and the other mentally. The strength of this romance is the characters. Individually, Sid and Dante are complex, highly likable men; as a couple, they are truly special in the love and support they share. On the surface, they are nothing alike, but deep down, they are both vulnerable and lonely, both starved for companionship, friendship, and touch.

Sid is a lovely character, sweet but mired in sadness. He works as a gardener and lives in a bungalow at a manor in Manchester, England. Two years ago, he was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis which causes debilitating pain, blurry vision, physical instability, brain fog, and even worse symptoms during relapses. He needs an assistant to lessen his load, so his boss agrees to hire an ex-inmate through a prison release program.

If you’ve been following the series, you’ll remember Dante as Luis’ brother and the antagonist in Redemption. He’s a former gang boss – he was a really bad man – who has just been released after serving four years of a seven-year prison sentence. He suffers from PTSD-induced flashbacks and panic attacks. He sees himself as having two personalities: happy and sappy with Sid, but still a bad person without him. After years of suffering in prison, he doesn’t know how to be a normal person, and after being involved in drug gangs since the age of sixteen, he can’t convince himself he’s a different person now. Sid, however, never wavers in his conviction that Dante is a “complex, beautiful soul”. He continually champions Dante, working to convince him that he’s a better man than he thinks he is and that he can’t allow his past, regardless of how awful it was, to dictate who he is going forward.

The men are attracted to each other upon first meeting. The sexual tension is tinged with a deep sadness because Sid feels he doesn’t have the right to entangle Dante in an unreliable sexual relationship. But they do proceed and their lovemaking is sometimes urgent, other times gentle, and always touching. I’m relieved the narrative wasn’t too wordy or flowery; Ms. Leigh kept the intimacy real and natural. Their dynamic is charming. They’re perceptive about each other, on the same wavelength, and they communicate with enjoyable banter.

Sid found the only man who doesn’t just tolerate his disease but actually seems to have found purpose in caring for Sid. Dante sees the beautiful man – inside and out – before he sees the MS. He sees all the positive attributes that make Sid the man he is and props him up with steadfast nurturance. He forces him to see himself as a whole man and a worthy partner. For his part, Sid saves Dante, for without Sid’s support and indestructible belief in him, Dante wouldn’t have been able to move beyond his self-hatred and find happiness.

I’m always appreciative when I learn something important from an author. In this case, she shared the reality of an awful, degenerative disease. I know several people with MS but never knew the ins and outs, the horrible reality of how the illness can ravage the body.

Although Salvation can comfortably be read as a standalone, if you’ve read the series, this book brings gratifying closure to the Pope brothers’ story arc. This book occurs three and a half years after Redemption and one year after Deliverance.

I hope you enjoy this book as much as I have. Sid and Dante are one of my favorite couples of Ms. Leigh’s creation; just perfect for each other.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon