Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: Safe Harbour
SERIES: Jagged Shores
AUTHOR: Thom Collins
PUBLISHER: Pride Publishing
LENGTH: 180 pages
RELEASE DATE: November 9, 2021
BLURB:
Book two in the Jagged Shores series
Two lovers seek shelter in a storm of jealousy and passion.
Matt arrives in the seaside town of Nyemouth for a much-needed vacation. As a successful lawyer, Matt has a hectic career, and with an ex-husband still pestering him for money, he is long overdue a break. A holiday home perched above the town and its breath-taking harbour seems like the perfect place to unwind. Matt can’t wait to explore the beautiful, jagged shorelines and lose himself for a couple of weeks.
Jake has made a home in Nyemouth. After growing up in the city, living on the coast is everything to him. Running a business with his sister and volunteering on the crew of the local lifeboat, he is exactly where he wants to be. But Jake’s life is far from peaceful. Though he left his domineering husband Vince a year ago, Vince refuses to consent to a divorce or loosen his controlling hold on Jake.
On Matt’s first night in town, he encounters the couple having a blazing row. When Vince turns violent, Matt intervenes and takes Jake inside to escape his angry ex. Despite what happened, Matt feels a powerful attraction to the younger man. Jake is bright, endearing and unbelievably attractive, but the young man’s life is complicated. Matt already has enough problems of his own. He came away looking for an escape, not a starry-eyed distraction. As Matt and Jake get to know each other better, the gamble on a holiday romance becomes hard for either of them to resist. They have both been unlucky in love before. Maybe this time will be different.
Vince will not be shaken off so easily. He has no intention of letting Jake go…ever. As Matt’s and Jake’s emotions deepen, they do not understand how far Vince will take things to keep his husband. As far as Vince is concerned, they made a vow to each other… “till death do us part.”
REVIEW:
Matt is a lawyer who needs a vacation. He rents a nice holiday house in Nyemouth so he can see the sights along the coast. As he’s returning to the house from getting some supplies, he comes across two men arguing. As it gets worse, he begins to video the altercation and tells the aggressor to go – but not until after he’s struck the younger man, causing him to bleed. Vince, the older man finally leaves after Matt threatens to call the police. Jake, the younger man is shaken up and Matt invites him in to care for the cut on his face. He confesses that the older man is his husband from whom he ix separated. Vince refuses to sign the divorce papers and insists that Jake is his. Matt shakes his head because he’s a divorce attorney and he’s been through a rather painful divorce himself. And his ex, Clinton, is still bothering him for money four years later!
Jake doesn’t want to set Vince off any more than he already is so he refuses to report the assault to the police, despite pleas from Matt and his sister to do so. When Matt stops by the cafe and has lunch, Vince spies them. He’s mad and wants to teach Jake a lesson. He tries to convince Jake to return to their home which Jake has no interest in doing. Mysteriously a few days later the cafe is vandalized. Hmmmm. Wonder who that could be? At this point, Jake’s sister refuses to be silent as Vince is the only really viable suspect. But he’s got an alibi. The culprit was masked, but Jake knows Vince could have paid off any number of people.
Matt continues to be interested in Jake. He knows neither of them are in the best place to start anything. Matt’s just there on holiday, Clinton is still sniffing around and Jake’s got the whole Vince thing. But he really enjoys his company. They go on a nice date – that leads to a really nice night 🙂 But Vince gets wind of it and tries again to intercede. But his attempt to come between Matt and Jake fails again. So he decides to take matters into his own hands and put a stop to it once and for all.
I wanted to like this book more than I did. I just didn’t feel the connection between the two MCs. I got that they were attracted to each other and that Matt really wanted to give Jake a lot more than he’d ever gotten from his ex who obviously didn’t appreciate him at all as a person – just viewed him as a position and frankly a hole. Their meeting under difficult circumstances as well as the continuing issues with Matt’s ex-husband were pretty angsty. I did appreciate the alternating POVs so I could gauge their motivations, reactions and feelings. I just felt like it was so fast that I struggled with what it was they were building. The literally went on like 2 dates, had a couple of conversations and then boom! The big climactic event happened. The epilogue was a lot of telling – which can be good – but it still didn’t give me a sense of their actual relationship and what it was built on. I was happy to revisit Jacob, Matt’s neighbor at the holiday house he was renting. I would have liked to see more of Dominic and Arnie from the first book, but they have the smallest of cameos here. The exes were provided all the drama in this story. Clinton, Matt’s ex that wouldn’t stay gone caused all kinds of trouble for him and Vince – well he was just an insane controlling abuser who thankfully didn’t get to carry out his plans. Overall, I just couldn’t get into this one – wasn’t invested in the protagonists and so I just didn’t care that much in the end. As usual YMMV.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Pride