Saturday 28 September 2013

Review ~ Stripped Bare by Susan Mac Nicol @SusanMacNicol7

Reviewed by Donna ~ 5 Stars

“I thought I’d never be able to find another person I could love again. And then along comes this one, all mouth and no manners.”

I am loving my current foray into the world of M/M and this is one of those books that reminds me why! This book has it all, romance, humour, hot smexy times, passion, drama, suspense, and a totally captivating plot. It is not just a M/M romance book, the plot will keep you hooked, I could not put this book down! You will also go through every emotion possible, yes it was a tear jerker at times, you can’t help but fall in love with the characters and you cannot help but will them along the road that they are travelling. This book also covers some very “real” topics, homophobia being one of the most crucial and this leads to some very distressing scenes, but they are handled with care and really heighten the “realism” of this book.

Matty/Matthew is totally and utterly adorable, I fell in love with him right from the get go. He is not exactly in the best of places emotionally, even though it has been a few years he is still getting over the loss of his husband, he has not been able to have a relationship since, he still wears his wedding ring and their flat is still a bit of a shrine. He hates his job, he is a lawyer and works for the man that his father introduced him to. After his father passed away the job became his. The guy (Walter Debussy) is a total and utter prick, doesn’t help he is homophobic either, but Matty has been best friends with his son David for years and years and because of the ties with his father feels obliged to carry on his father’s work.

One night after David is brutally attacked and beaten, Walter is at the hospital and calls Matty in for some damage limitation exercise, it is whilst at the hospital that Matty meets Shane. Shane had been with David earlier that night, Shane was an escort. David had taken a call from his father and had visibly self destructed right before his eyes, feeling out of sorts he decided to go and check on his friend and found out about David’s attack. When Matty and Shane meet, sparks fly for Shane, he is overcome by his feelings and even Matty feels “something” but is not sure what he is dealing with. He has been so cut off emotionally he is extremely reserved and wary. Will Matty’s life ever be the same again?

“You drive me crazy. You’re bloody cheeky, you’re a maverick, and you never bloody listen to anyone. You do what you think is best, all the time…”

Shane, I LOVED this guy, he was awesome!! He is funny, he is cocky, wears his heart on his sleeve, is extremely foul mouthed but is an incredible computer hacker to boot. He also has his secrets and history, which do eventually come out, but he is just a totally amazing guy. You couldn’t help but fall in love with him. His one liners had me laughing hysterically and just his outlook on life and love was totally infectious.

“And this doesn’t help. I’ve had blue balls for days and I can’t even jerk off. My hand is too sore and my bad arm gets tired. Matty, when a man can’t jack off, it’s a bloody bad state of affairs.”

David’s attack is the catalyst for a string of events that soon push Matty and Shane together in more ways than one. It was an extremely emotional journey for both them. Matty had to learn to let go of the past and begin to live in the now and look forward to the future. Shane screws it up constantly, but his heart was always in the right place. Walter DeBussy creates no end of problems for all of them and the fight against Walter has some incredibly devastating results. But will this be the making or the ending of them?

“Christ, Matty, trust you to go all one-upmanship on me. I just tell you I love you, but you, you have to make a bloody poem out of it. A truly beautiful poem but still – “

In summary, I totally loved it. The writing style just pulled you in and I didn’t want it to finish. I could have read about them forever! I was dreading getting to the end because I just didn’t want to leave them behind. This is one of those books where the characters have left an everlasting impression in both my brain and heart. It will be one of those books that I can read again and again. My Goodreads status update was

99.0%

"Awwwwwwww I didn't want this one to end!!!"

Brilliant book, totally loved it and would highly recommend it.

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