RATING 4 out of 5 stars
A photographer with post-traumatic stress disorder falls for a comics artist on a wild New Zealand beach, but can he find true love when he feels so wounded by life?
Everything changed when the bomb exploded. Forty-five-year old, Alex Cox worked as an international photographer until a deadly explosion left him with post-traumatic stress disorder. Emotionally wounded, and desperate for a sense of safety, he’s run all the way to wild and remote Kahawai Bay, New Zealand.
Under the worst possible circumstances, Alex meets Joe, a shy young comics artist. Joe lets Alex into his playful, gentle world of comics, and soon Alex is falling for him, hard. Alex longs for more. Joe is reticent. But is it shyness? Or does Joe not want a much older lover with ‘issues’? Or is something else keeping them apart?
This is a tender and uplifting story about creativity, adversity, true love, and comics.
Mended With Gold is the first book I read by Lee Welch and I have to say it was a lovely surprise. I soon connected with the story and the characters, maybe because the author hit one of my weakness with these kind of souls like Alex and Joe. I love scarred characters, their pain makes them more real, troubled like we all are. I adore couples with an age difference and in some ways here it was evident Alex was more experienced than the younger Joe, but since life had not been easy on both of them, I later found them well matched and truly enjoyed the time I get to learn about their love.
Considering this is just a novella, I think the author developed quite well the characters and the plot, I found the setting particular and beautiful, that said to me Mended With Gold ended with a HFN and I would love to meet Alex and Joe again in a new book, and see them how they gained their HEA. I feel to recommend this story and I will definitely look for other works by the author.
The cover art by Melody Pond is lovely, clean and fitting. I like it.
Sales Links: MLR Books | Amazon
BOOK DETAILS
Kindle Edition, 94 pages
Published November 17th 2017 by MLR Press
ASIN B077365FMD
Edition Language English
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 