I have to tell you that this story made me
angry, not because of the way it was written but the subject made me angry.
With all great books, this one invoked powerful feelings for me. What made me
angry was the reminder that we have brave men, gay and straight fighting for
our country but the gay men do not get the respect that they deserve. If he is
found to be gay, he gets discharged with a dishonorable. That is if he isn’t
killed in ‘combat’. They don’t have medical coverage to help with the remnants
of war. All vets are dealing with that now. Whew, ok on with the review. Just
remember a great book causes a multitude of emotion.
I have to start off mentioning Eli. That man is a
saint, he tries to help everyone. I know he’s not a new character in the Love
Means series but I’m mentioning him on the fact he was instrumental of getting
Cory and Brick together. Besides he compared himself to Cory on how he became a
part of the family.
The mind is a powerful thing but sometimes it keeps
us from knowing what’s real or not. Cory has been out of the service for about
2 years. However, when he breaks into the kitchen of Geoff and Eli’s farm, he
still thinks the enemy is around and he’s in enemy territory. He’s caught. I
will let you read the book to find out how, it’s kind of funny. Instead of
pressing charges, Geoff and Eli try to help him. They call on a friend who has
been through this to try to get through to Cory.
Brick has been where Cory is, he too has a
dishonorable discharge for being gay. In one instant the life he knew was
ripped away from him. Then when he’s home tragic hits him again. He still has the nightmares occasionally and
the flashbacks but he tried to deal with his problems from war and being alone,
from the bottom of a bottle. Eli and Geoff helped him out of it and helped him
save his farm. So Brick comes to meet Cory as paying a debt back to Eli.
Brick and Cory worked well together. Sometimes it
does take someone who’s been there to understand. I liked how Brick didn’t push
Cory too hard and just let him come to terms in his own time. Brick did remind
him periodically that he was no longer in the war. That he was home and safe.
That is until his brain unraveled something that he saw that put him in danger.
But we all know he survives this too. This is an Andrew Grey book, he wouldn’t
give us anything but a happy ending. Besides once a Marine, always a Marine.
This is one of my favorite Love Means books. I
always love how Andrew Grey brings people together who have been broken in some
way or misguided to help them find love and within that love they find peace,
understanding and healing.
