Half Hearts by Sherri Desbois

Losing her family at a young age, and then broken promises from the man she’d loved all her life, Charlie McCarty rarely allows anyone to get close to her. Resolved to live her life without love and determined to become a top-notch Vet, she begins her residency in Redfield. Fate, however, has a way of stepping in to change even the most obstinate set plans and forces Charlie to face her past, push the boundaries of her control and her heart to the brink of destruction. It started out as a celebration, a chance for Charlie to let her hair down and just let go of her firm control for just one evening, but meeting a sexy as hell cowboy—and his familiar best friend—ambush everything. With relentless determination, both cowboys set out to show her that she is everything they want to complete their lives. Charlie begins to dream, once again, for the future she thought lost to her years ago. When a terrifying figure from the past steps into their fragile romance, is their love enough to overcome the horror about to be unleashed or will it leave them with hearts broken in half?

Zuyen and I started this blog because, duh, we love books. We were on the same page from the very beginning: we wanted to write about the books we love, not the ones we don't. We didn't want to start a blog so we could review anything and everything we read including good, bad, and ugly... but to bring to light the books we adored so that others could adore them right along with us.

The absolute last thing I want to do is say anything negative. Not about a book or an author. It makes me feel icky and I start to cringe and twitch and generally feel bad about myself. I mean, who am I to criticize anyone? Especially an author. But let's be honest. Books are totally subject to interpretation. What one might love, another might hate. Everyone has different perceptions.

With that being said, I might sometimes say things that maybe aren't very nice but I don't want that to take away from the fact that I'm (likely) telling you about a book I LOVED. (I think I have a guilt complex. Blame it on my divorce.)

That brings us to Half Hearts by Sherri Desbois. Which I so enjoyed. I read the synopsis and thought "meh" but then I scrolled through a couple reviews and the words "emotional" and "turmoil" and "angst-ridden" and "heartbreak" kept popping out at me and I am nothing if not a sucker for good, emotional books. This one had me twitching all over the place. And it was lovely.

So, what was the problem? (I mean obviously there was one, otherwise what was my reason for rambling on and on above?) The editing was atrocious. ("Y-O-U apostrophe R-E is YOU ARE; Y-O-U-R is YOUR." Name that TV show.) And, well, I was left with a couple of unanswered questions. (Cringe.) And the heroine used what I considered total non-issues as a reason to waffle back and worth. (Twitch.) (I really do hate to criticize.)

But this was Ms. Desbois' first novel. And a lovely first novel at that. It has wonderful characters, smokin' hot chemistry, and lots of emotional angst (my favorite). And you know what else? I loved the romance between Kegan and Trevor. (Two dudes. Gasp!) I'm not a fan of homo-erotica (which is why I'm struggling with my current book) and if you aren't either, don't despair! There wasn't any man-on-man action (except for a moment or two), but there was deep affection and an unfolding love between the two men that was really sweet. (It didn't even weird me out that much when their denim-covered cocks bumped against each other and they liked it.)

Oh, did I mention that this love story includes three? Yep, three people. Falling in love together. Doing the nasty together. Living happily ever after together. Three. (More the merrier and all that.)

Do you think polyamorous relationships can actually work? It makes me curious. Not to try it, mind you... just to know if people are ever successful.

Read the book. You'll like it. (I hope.)