All he’d ever wanted was to go home.
Ryan Davis has lived in hell for the last fifteen years. Kidnapped at age eight, then beaten, broken, and forced into silence, Rye managed to exist, to survive. When a chance phone call gives him an opportunity to escape, he takes it. But escape doesn’t mean safety, and freedom doesn’t mean happiness. And even if he can manage to find home, the pieces of what used to be may never fit back together.
Jacob Wright has adapted. In fact, Jake would probably say he loves his life—living in a beautiful home on a secluded beach on the Northern California coast. It wasn’t the life he’d planned. But accidents happen. And an accident was what stole his livelihood and limited his mobility six years ago. He’s happy now, if not still living carefully, avoiding things that used to make him happier.
When Rye shows up on Jake’s beach, lost, fearful, and on the verge of death, Jake has to become a caretaker for a man who can’t seem to speak, and Rye has to put his trust in a stranger to survive. An unexpected and tenuous friendship grows, forming a deep bond full of possibilities that neither of them had imagined.
But even as they start to recognize what’s in their hearts, the past seems intent on reminding them both how truly broken they are . . .
Pieces of Home is a slow burn, hurt/comfort MM romance that focuses on the growth of a deep friendship and how two broken men find each other, help each other, and heal each other. It’s a story of strangers to friends to lovers, featuring a small town setting, forced proximity, PTSD/cPTSD trauma and healing, demi rep, and a hard-fought happily-ever-after.
Content kidnapping (of a minor); verbal and physical abuse (off page but referenced), including that of a minor; cPTSD; PTSD; trauma-induced selective mutism; trauma-induced dissociative amnesia; life-threatening injury (off page but referenced) resulting in chronic pain (shown on page); death of a side character (off page); death of a parent (in the past, referenced); references to drinking and smoking. See inside preview for additional content warnings.
THE FACTS
📕 traumatic issues in both character’s pasts
📘sweet, caring, hurt/comfort
📙 slow-burn, much more about the caring
MY REVIEW
When Ryan Davis was a child, he was kidnapped. The next 15 years of his life were hell. Then in the blink of an eye, there’s s moment and Rye takes it. He escapes. Fortunately for Rye, he ends up on the private beach in front of the house of Jacob Wright.
Jacob has no idea what he’s discovered when he finds a nearly dead man on his beach. What he does know is that he’s going to do whatever he can to save him. In fact, he puts his own health at risk by carrying Rye up 52 stairs even though he has a bad leg from an accident in his past.
During a storm that has cut them off from help, Jake does what he can to help Rye But, Rye is a wounded young man with a past that he can’t even begin to describe.
The bulk of this emotional novel is the evolution of Rye. Please read the content warnings for this book as there are a lot of events from Rye’s past that might be disturbing to some readers. I will say that Becca Neil handles Rye’s challenges with sensitivity and kindness. There are no unnecessary details, and much of what happened to Rye is conveyed through character reactions and lingering psychological damage.
What’s charming in this book is the way that two people can find each other and learn from one another. There is a sweetness about the friendship that develops between Rye and Jake because caring for one another is the goal.
This is a slow burn m/m romance. If hurt/comfort is your thing, then there is an ample amount in this story! Both main characters find ways to care for one another and it’s quite a soft, fuzzy story to wrap your brain up in.
THE LINKS
🖊 Author
I received a copy of “Pieces of Home” from the author in exchange for an unbiased review.
Kinzie Things 