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ARC REVIEW: Redemption by Garrett Leigh
Redemption – Garrett Leigh
Reformed gangster Luis falls hard for his boss. When friendship turns to love, it’s up to Paolo to convince him second chances are worth the pain.
Luis Pope is back on the street after a six year stretch in prison, but life on the outside seems just out of reach, especially when the whole neighbourhood knows his face for all the wrong reasons.
Paolo’s temper makes it hard to keep staff, and he knows Luis’s rep all too well. But his nonno believes in redemption, and Luis isn’t the tough guy Paolo remembers. Prison has left its mark, inside and out, and all the kindness in the world can’t fix the three inch scar on Luis’s skull.
And it can’t keep ghosts locked up. Luis’s the best worker Paolo’s ever had, and Luis’s happier than he’s ever been. But his old life doesn’t want to stay in the past. Trouble comes to call, and when it makes him an offer he can’t refuse, keeping Paolo safe hurts the most.
Redemption is an angsty, standalone MM romance novel, with second chances, found family, friends-to-lovers, and buckets of hurt/comfort themed loveliness.
Right from the time I read the blurb, I immediately had a good feeling about this.
There were FEELS indeed!
I was rooting for Luis from the start. He knew he made mistakes. He paid his dues and just wanted a fresh start. He just needed somebody to take a chance on an ex-con who doesn’t even have a coat for the winter.
Paolo wouldn’t have given him that chance. Even if he badly needed help at the cafe he’s running single-handedly. Even if he had a crush on the Luis Pope since they were schoolmates. He heard all about the notorious Pope brothers. But his nonno convinced him to give Luis a job. If Paolo doesn’t give him a chance, who would?
At first, Luis was relegated to busing tables and washing dishes. As the story progressed, he revealed other useful skills that made him invaluable. I loved how he smoothly stepped up and stepped in the role of cook when Paolo needed to care for his nonna.
The two men slowly learned to trust each other. I loved how their friendship developed. Paolo is a hot-blooded Italian you can’t argue with. He is annoyed about everything. He curses and grumbles a lot. Conveniently, Luis has a damaged ear so he doesn’t hear most of it. What he hears, he can sass back in his cool, quiet Luis manner.
The story did a good job portraying their relationship. It wasn’t perfect. Luis frequently withheld information to protect Paolo from his gangster brother. Paolo has a quick temper. But you can see how these two flawed men brought out the good in each other.
However, Luis thinks he’s not good enough. He can’t even get away from his manipulative brother who wants him back as a mule. He would do everything to keep Paolo safe, including going back to the life he already left behind. But he’s not giving up without a fight, not if he can help it.
Luis is wracked by anxiety. He also has an ear injury that was a result of being whacked with a pipe while in prison. This wasn’t the main focus but this held real consequences for him and was put to good use in the story. The injury was crucial in that seemingly made-in-passing, split-second decision that could have put him back in the box. This particular scene stuck with me for some reason. It was so minor I didn’t realize its significance until I was done reading.
This is an angsty read and hurt-comfort at its best. The character portraits were raw and real. I’m a lazy reader and sometimes when you get dramatic stories, the sentences feel heavy which makes reading a chore. Here the writing had that certain quality of delivering emotional punches yet still easy to read. There’s a sense of foreboding that keeps you turning the pages. Which is why I nearly finished this in one sitting.
Redemption is another top-notched Garrett Leigh creation. A moving story about second chances and do overs. Where choices had to be made even if you had no choice. And a simple bacon sandwich could mean the world.
P.S.
Thank you to Signal Boost Promotions for sending me an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Garrett Leigh is an auto-buy author for most MM readers. Read reviews of her books here and find out why.
Rating:
5 Stars – absolutely perfectSoundtrack: Only Just Begun
Artist: The Moth & The Flame
Album: Ruthless -
RELEASE BLITZ: The Longer You’ll Stay by Logan Grey (Excerpt)
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RELEASE BLITZ: Unpredictable Fate by Jessamyn Kingley (Excerpt)
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BLOG TOUR: Far Away by Bryan T. Clark (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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COVER REVEAL: Unpredictable Fate by Jessamyn Kingley
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Legally Wed by Rick R. Reed (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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PRE-RELEASE BLITZ: Home Again by W.S. Long (Excerpt)
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NEW RELEASE BLITZ: Late Night Poetry by Nell Iris (Excerpt & Giveaway)
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The Auspicious Troubles of Love: The Auspicious Troubles of Chance – Charlie Cochet
Chance Irving is a young man with a gift for getting into trouble-not surprising, as trouble is all he’s ever known. After losing everything he held dear one fateful night, he decides to leave New York and his past behind, and joins the French Foreign Legion. But even in Algiers, Chance can’t seem to shake his old ways, and he ends up being transferred to a unit made up of misfits and rabble-rousers like him-a unit he finds just in time to be captured and thrown into a cell with his new commandant, Jacky Valentine.
A highly respected commandant with a soft spot for hard luck cases, Jacky is the kind of guy who would go to war for you, and the three equally troubled youths from his unit he’s more or less adopted feel the same way about him. Suddenly Chance starts to think that his life doesn’t have to be as desolate and barren as the wastelands around him.
But even after their escape, with the promise of a future with Jacky to buoy his spirits, or maybe because of it, Chance can’t stop making mistakes. He disobeys orders, lashes out at the boys in Jacky’s care, and blazes a trail of self-destruction across the desert-until someone makes him realize he’s hurting more than just himself.
I wish I had this in audiobook, so I could hear New York, London and Georgia.
Chance, a native New Yorker, is a brash, in-your-face former stage performer who enlisted in the French Foreign Legion in the hopes of becoming something other than what he is right now, which is to say, a mess. He likes to run his mouth a little too much which gets him into trouble but which also makes him a great narrator of his story. He gets beaten up once in a while but yeah, he deserves it and he knows he does. But Chance being Chance, he will do it again anyway. Until Jacky.
Who is this man continuously accompanied by chaos and some form of deep-rooted lunacy?
Jacky, last name: Valentine, superhero name: Commandant Valiant, takes lost causes under his wing and turns them into real men. He likes giving Chance cringe-worthy pet names (buttercup, hummingbird, snuggle-pup) and while Chance always tries to push his buttons, Jacky sees through his asshole behavior (snuggle-pup wants some attention, is what it is). Jacky is the unit commander and the father/older brother figure to the young ones. He is well-respected, kind, fair and sees the good in everybody.
Johnnie, Bobby and Alexander are a bunch of adorable brats the world had spit out and Jacky has taken under his care. They didn’t get along with Chance at first but Jacky has seen something in Chance and because of that, they warily and begrudgingly try to be OK with Chance too. Because Chance is an idiot, he tries to piss them all off but nobody is falling for his hard-boil pretenses. The brats are smarter and tougher than they look.
Together, they are the “fairy infantry”.
“Just what I need, getting stuck in a unit with a screwy commandant, a kitten with anger issues, a mute, and Professor Freckles. I wonder if this is how P.T. Barnum got started.”
Together, they are one of the most engaging found families I have come across with. Chance, looking deep within himself, transforms from aggressive, never-do-well to a competent soldier who learned to follow orders and take responsibilities. Jacky was always there, believing that Chance could be a much better person. I like them both as characters and love their chemistry together. Their romance flowed naturally with the story. It took a while for Chance to face his feelings towards Jacky but when he finally did, it was beautiful. Bobbie and Alexander had to deal with their own feelings for each other and poor Johnnie had to deal with the doctor. The introduction of Dr. Henry Young was a big plus and I can’t wait to read Johnnie’s book.
This is one of the most enjoyable war-themed historical books I have read. There’s enough fluff and poignant moments to keep jaded readers, like me, happy. You might not want to look too much into the historical details but it well-written, low on angst and despite the desert setting, the atmosphere is bright and sunny enough to be pleasantly warm without smothering the reader with grit. I enjoyed the banter, the humor and, as a non-native English speaker, the 1930′s slang and colloquialism. The ending was a fairy-tale of sorts, which might not be everyone’s cup of tea, but for me, I’m just happy they’re happy.
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away
Soundtrack: Second Chances
Artist: Imagine Dragons
Album: Smoke + Mirrors(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14770495-the-auspicious-troubles-of-chance)
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[spotify id=”spotify%3Atrack%3A6FQcdl2PzmsoXRF3F1flZ5&view=coverart” width=”540″ height=”620″ /]Soundtrack to The Auspicious Troubles of Love: The Auspicious Troubles of Chance by Charlie Cochet
