Book Reviews

Book Blurb

Five years ago, an accident fractured Gabe Cooper’s family. Believing it was broken beyond repair, Gabe and his best friend Jamie Carlson left Minnesota behind for San Diego sunshine and college. Now another crisis brings Gabe home to help his ailing father, and he finally has to face the guilt that kept him away for so long. 

Scott Stark also returns to Minnesota, with his young niece and nephew in tow, shouldering new family responsibilities. While Gabe comes to grips with his past, Scott struggles to accept his present role as a substitute parent, caring for two children, each with different needs. As Gabe and Scott get to know each other, reclaiming family life almost seems possible. Only two things stand in the way of love: Gabe’s unresolved relationship with Jamie, and Scott’s plan to leave Minnesota as soon as he can. Both men will have to accept past mistakes if they want to salvage a future together, and time is running out.

First edition published by Dreamspinner Press, September 2013.

Book Review

Over the years I've wondered what I would do if I suddenly became the guardian for any of my siblings' children. I've never really wanted kids, mainly because I knew I was too selfish to give up any of the things that are important to me, and being a good parent means making sacrifices for the good of the child. So, before even opening this book, just after reading the description, I knew my heart would go out to Scott and the road his life was now traveling.

Gabe came home to Minnesota six weeks ago to help his dad, Coop, and sister out after his dad had a really bad heart attack. His family has been strained for the last five years since the accident that his twin sister, Ariel, was involved in, and that Gabe and his best friend Jamie played a part in. Ariel doesn't blame Gabe but his father does and Gabe certainly does. Now Gabe is just trying to make it all work when he'd rather be home in San Diego with Jamie, although Jamie doesn't seem to have any empathy for Gabe's situation and certainly doesn't seem to be missing him. Of course, my personal opinion of Jamie wasn't very high as he struck me as self-centered and manipulative, having used Gabe since they met in the second grade. During a massive rain and windstorm, a man clutching a young boy stumbles into their family business looking for a young girl that is lost. At first Gabe and his dad don't know what to make of this situation and think the man has kidnapped these kids. When the ruckus dies down, they meet Scott, their new neighbor in the creepy old, broken-down house around the corner, and Scott's niece and nephew.

Scott has come home to Minnesota, the place of his family's shame, to care for his niece and nephew as he is their legal guardian. The whole situation has been thrust on Scott and his world is upside down since his sister was arrested. Caring for Josh, seven, is extra hard because he is autistic, and Emma, six, is just a little girl. Scott doesn't like kids and pretty much hasn't got a clue what he's doing with a niece and nephew he only met a few weeks ago. Frankly, he's overwhelmed, and when all three of them come down with nasty colds, Scott is at the end of his rope. He doesn't know how to ask for help, mostly because in his experience, no one helps others without an ulterior motive. Sad, huh?

As the days and weeks go by, friendship slowly turns to more between Gabe and Scott. Jamie packs up Gabe's room and mails him his belongings without even telling Gabe. Yeah, he is a class-A jerk. Gabe is really great with Emma and Josh, and, in fact, learning to work with Josh and his autism becomes something Gabe's whole family helps with. Because as Coop always says, you help family and friends, and Coop taught both of his children how to be responsible and to help care for others. It also helped Gabe, Coop, and Ariel finally regain the closeness they used to have before Ariel's accident. Scott finally bends enough to share with Gabe the horrible dysfunction that is Scott's family. Turns out his sister's husband scammed a lot of people out of their money and then ran, leaving his sister to be arrested since she was the business partner. Scott's dad kicked him out at eighteen when Scott came out and he's had to make do by himself all these years. His dad even kept Scott and his sister apart, and their parents refused to acknowledge Josh because he was "deficient". Now Gabe is just worried about what will happen when Scott takes the kids home to Miami.

I liked this story very much. There were a few places where I felt it was a little disjointed, but in the end it all came together nicely. The love story between Scott and Gabe was very sweet, but in my opinion, it was not the focus of the book. I felt the book was way more about family, the kind you're born to, and the kind you make. It reminded me of how very important those relationships are and that, in the end, they're the only thing that really matters.

 

 

 

 

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Additional Information

Format	ebook
Length	Novel, 269 pages
Heat Level
Publication Date	04-December-2018
Price	$0.99 ebook
Buy Link	https://www.amazon.com/Salvage-Stories-Book-1-ebook/dp/B07L4V2JJ4