Perhaps I should rate this without comment as I am a newcomer to the Rust Belt. While I don't live in Cleveland, I visit often and have started to make friends there. I read this to get a perspective on the area through a literary lens. It did not fail in that regard. I particularly enjoyed the sections "History", "Conflict", and "Back Home".

When a book makes me bawl my eyes out - because my heart aches for the characters and because I'm so freakin' happy for them - I have to 5 star it. I greatly enjoyed Hero and this added to the story of David and Seth. In this book, Seth got to confront his demons. Poor David had to take a chance that all was going to be ok. Seth finally has someone who puts him first in David and David isn't going to let anything happen to him. It wasn't fair the position that David and Seth were put in but they battle through. I really felt we got to know Seth in this book and understand him. He gets to cleanse his soul. I still don't feel that we know David super well and I'm guessing that's in the next book.

There is a bit of violence in this book because of what Seth has to overcome. It's heart breaking that people can treat each other like described in this book - which, unfortunately - does happen in the real world.

Really enjoyed this continuing love story of David and Seth. They deserve their happily ever after.

I could not put this book down! All of the complaints I had in Hero were addressed here. I loved the representation of PTSD and that it wasn't presented as something easily fixed. I loved the slow way Seth and David worked through Seth's issues sexually and otherwise. The fight scenes at the end were very gripping and incredibly dark.

My only complaint was the final fight scene, between Seth and David. I thought drugging Seth with an unknown drug was psychologically taking an easy way out. I think it would have been far more compelling and conflicting to see Seth in captivity for longer, slowly worn down to the state where he could fight David, or felt he had to fight David. Having him drugged into not recognizing David seemed like an easy way out. Of course, that would have made an already very dark book even darker, but I think it would have made for a much more gripping conflict for me as a reader.

Overall I was very pleased by this book: I'm always happily surprised by how Jessica Freely tackles such tough issues in her fiction and presents them with care and compassion, and the sex really is top notch. I hope we see more of Seth and David sometime!