He Completes Me by @CardenoC #LGBT #Review

Dana reviews He Completes Me (Home Series book 2) by Cardeno C. (Published by The Romance Authors, 2nd edition, February 7,2015, 363 pages)

For the Home Series Giveaway click here.

 

Blurb: 

Not even his mother’s funeral can convince self-proclaimed party boy Zach Johnson to tone down his snark or think about settling down. He is who he is, and he refuses to change for anyone. When straight-laced, compassionate Aaron Paulson claims he’s falling for him, Zach is certain Aaron sees him as another project, one more lost soul for the idealistic Aaron to save. But Zach doesn’t need to be fixed and he refuses to be with someone who sees him as broken.

Patience is one of Aaron’s many virtues. He has waited years for a man who can share his heart and complete his life and he insists Zach is the one. Pride, fear, and old hurts wither in the wake of Aaron’s adoring loyalty, and as Zach reevaluates his perceptions of love and family, he finds himself tempted to believe in the impossible: a happily-ever-after.

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My Review: He Completes Me is alot different than the first book of the Home Series. The narration is third person this time and offers only the perspective of Zach. Zach is living in LA but returns home for his mother’s funeral. Being estranged from his family for some time, he goes out of his way to be stand-offish and flamboyant. We do learn later, the reason for his attitude, and it’s a lot easier to understand him.

The first time I read this book I liked it but it wasn’t my favorite of the series. Zach was so angry and afraid of letting anyone in, he becomes almost reckless in his behavior to push his brother and his brother’s best friend Aaron away. But after reading it a second time I became more impressed at the changes Zach made throughout the book.

Aaron is about the sweetest guy there is. He is the complete opposite of Zach. He is close to his family and his friends are like family to him. He’d do anything for the people he loves, even to the point where he is being taken advantage of. Of course, he doesn’t mind and the people who have taken him for granted weren’t trying to take advantage. Through Zach, he reluctantly takes some of his time back from others and lets himself be taken care of.

Though the two live in different states, it doesn’t take long for Zach to realize that he has nothing in LA holding him there. His friendships are mostly superficial and though he loves his job, it’s not as important as taking a chance on letting the first person he ever let get close go. It’s a sweet story in the series I enjoyed how the two men, though very different complimented each other so well. In this story we get to see Clark from book 1, and the couple featured in book 3 made an appearance as Aaron’s family.

The bonus chapter of how the legalization of gay marriage by the supreme court impacted Aaron and Zach was sweet. Even though Zach had changed a lot, I wasn’t sure if he was on board with that level of commitment. He had never been concerned with marriage equality in the past, so imagine my surprise when he set things in motion before the ruling was handed down. Imagine Aaron’s surprise.

This story was a great addition to this sweet, comforting series.