Title: A Mended Man
Series: The Men of Halfway House #4
Author: Jaime Reese
Genre: M/M Contemporary Romance
Detective Aidan Calloway is rock-solid strong. He's a man of justice—loyal to his friends, family, and job—even if it requires bending a law…or two. He shields himself behind an abrasive, fearless facade, until a phone call one night chips his armor and throws his perfectly planned, hollow life into a tailspin.
Jessie Vega is the epitome of optimism. His carefully crafted attitude of hope and positivity protects him from a past filled with too much pain. When a ghost from a dark time resurfaces and nearly breaks him, he must tap into his inner strength or risk losing everything he's worked so hard to build.
But Jessie can't do it alone. He must fight to break through Aidan's ironclad defenses to reveal the heart of the man hiding beneath the tough surface and mend his damaged spirit. Only then can they truly heal and become strong enough to battle the demons that haunt them and threaten their chance to finally be together.
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***This book contains scenes and subject matter some readers may find distressing.***
——--
Although part of a series, this book can be read as a stand-alone.
Jessie Vega is the epitome of optimism. His carefully crafted attitude of hope and positivity protects him from a past filled with too much pain. When a ghost from a dark time resurfaces and nearly breaks him, he must tap into his inner strength or risk losing everything he's worked so hard to build.
But Jessie can't do it alone. He must fight to break through Aidan's ironclad defenses to reveal the heart of the man hiding beneath the tough surface and mend his damaged spirit. Only then can they truly heal and become strong enough to battle the demons that haunt them and threaten their chance to finally be together.
——--
***This book contains scenes and subject matter some readers may find distressing.***
——--
Although part of a series, this book can be read as a stand-alone.
I have been waiting and waiting for this book, and oh boy it really was worth waiting for. I will point out (even though it is printed in the front of the book), that this books contains scenes that other people may find distressing. This wasn’t Jaime Reese glorifying things, you needed this to understand what made Jessie and Aidan into the men they are.
Aidan – well here is one very complicated and complex man. Mind you what you see if what you get, that is how he came across to me. He doesn’t seem to trust anyone at all, unless they are family or a close friend.
Jessie – now here is a man with a hidden past, which comes back to haunt him, and it seems like it is Aidan that needs to save him, or does Jessie need to save Aidan??
In A Mended Man, you actually see Aidan start to fall apart. He is moved from his normal job onto a task force, working under someone that he doesn’t like. When he gets a call from a rookie once night, asking him to attend a scene, he is not happy but attends anyway. What he encounters there near enough brings him to his knees….. the victim is Jessie. It is now you begin to understand the feelings that Aidan has for Jessie, but also wonder why he hasn't acted on them.
When Jessie is taken to hospital, Aidan goes with him but is beginning to unravel. With everything that has happened to him so far in his life, it seems that Jessie being attacked and hospitalised seems to be the one thing to bring Aidan to breaking point. His close friends, who he trusts totally, then start appearing and you see Aidan begin to relax a little.
As Jessie recovers, he and Aidan grow closer, just being in each other’s presence seems to calm them both. However, there are a few misunderstandings, and Jessie is quite the independent person!! However, again Aidan comes to save the day for Jessie, when he finds himself him another spot of bother, when everything went wrong for Jessie when he was discharged from the hospital.
Jessie then stays with Aidan while recovering from his attack, and he begins to see glimpses of the real Aidan, the one that is usually kept hidden. He then has to work hard to keep seeing this Aidan, but I have to say you notice little changes with Aidan whenever he is with Jessie.
It is quite the struggle for Aidan to open up, but at Jessie's suggestion he seeks out help., and also Jessie seems to notice little things that will trigger Aidan into his PTSD flashbacks.. Slowly bit by bit, Aidan begins to show Jessie more of the man within him, but Aidan still believes that he is not good enough for Jessie. It is like Jessie doesn’t get a say in things, Aidan is making the decision for him. Can Jessie ever finally convince Aidan that he is staying, he is not going to go away, no matter what.
This series just keeps getting better and better, but I think this one is my favourite of them all (until the next one comes out). The storyline is one that will keep you hooked, once I started reading I could not put the book down!! I love the members of the Task Force that Aidan works with, they are a great addition to the story (and Jaime Reese I would love to see more stories from them!! Lol). We also see characters from previous books make an appearance, which I really make the series special.. It was also great to meet Cole again, and see that nothing has changed with him!!
If I could give this more than 5 stars I would, as this book I have already read it twice, and loved it even more the second time. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, even with the upsetting scenes, it was a totally gripping read. To me, it was an emotional read as you suffered with Aidan as he fought each of his inner demons, and we also saw a side of Jessie, that was for want of a better word nurturing Aidan. I really loved seeing how Aidan was again getting closer to his brother Ty, whom he turned to for advice at one point.
As I am an impatient person, I cannot wait to see if there is another books in this series, or even a book to give a round up with what has happened with all the characters since their book. I love this series, and it will always be on my read again list.
Aidan – well here is one very complicated and complex man. Mind you what you see if what you get, that is how he came across to me. He doesn’t seem to trust anyone at all, unless they are family or a close friend.
Jessie – now here is a man with a hidden past, which comes back to haunt him, and it seems like it is Aidan that needs to save him, or does Jessie need to save Aidan??
In A Mended Man, you actually see Aidan start to fall apart. He is moved from his normal job onto a task force, working under someone that he doesn’t like. When he gets a call from a rookie once night, asking him to attend a scene, he is not happy but attends anyway. What he encounters there near enough brings him to his knees….. the victim is Jessie. It is now you begin to understand the feelings that Aidan has for Jessie, but also wonder why he hasn't acted on them.
When Jessie is taken to hospital, Aidan goes with him but is beginning to unravel. With everything that has happened to him so far in his life, it seems that Jessie being attacked and hospitalised seems to be the one thing to bring Aidan to breaking point. His close friends, who he trusts totally, then start appearing and you see Aidan begin to relax a little.
As Jessie recovers, he and Aidan grow closer, just being in each other’s presence seems to calm them both. However, there are a few misunderstandings, and Jessie is quite the independent person!! However, again Aidan comes to save the day for Jessie, when he finds himself him another spot of bother, when everything went wrong for Jessie when he was discharged from the hospital.
Jessie then stays with Aidan while recovering from his attack, and he begins to see glimpses of the real Aidan, the one that is usually kept hidden. He then has to work hard to keep seeing this Aidan, but I have to say you notice little changes with Aidan whenever he is with Jessie.
It is quite the struggle for Aidan to open up, but at Jessie's suggestion he seeks out help., and also Jessie seems to notice little things that will trigger Aidan into his PTSD flashbacks.. Slowly bit by bit, Aidan begins to show Jessie more of the man within him, but Aidan still believes that he is not good enough for Jessie. It is like Jessie doesn’t get a say in things, Aidan is making the decision for him. Can Jessie ever finally convince Aidan that he is staying, he is not going to go away, no matter what.
This series just keeps getting better and better, but I think this one is my favourite of them all (until the next one comes out). The storyline is one that will keep you hooked, once I started reading I could not put the book down!! I love the members of the Task Force that Aidan works with, they are a great addition to the story (and Jaime Reese I would love to see more stories from them!! Lol). We also see characters from previous books make an appearance, which I really make the series special.. It was also great to meet Cole again, and see that nothing has changed with him!!
If I could give this more than 5 stars I would, as this book I have already read it twice, and loved it even more the second time. I cannot recommend this book highly enough, even with the upsetting scenes, it was a totally gripping read. To me, it was an emotional read as you suffered with Aidan as he fought each of his inner demons, and we also saw a side of Jessie, that was for want of a better word nurturing Aidan. I really loved seeing how Aidan was again getting closer to his brother Ty, whom he turned to for advice at one point.
As I am an impatient person, I cannot wait to see if there is another books in this series, or even a book to give a round up with what has happened with all the characters since their book. I love this series, and it will always be on my read again list.
"A beautiful story of love making you whole again!" - Bike Book Reviews
"Heartbreakingly beautiful" - Amazon Customer Review
"As always the wait was worth it and Jaime delivers yet another stunning but very different book." - Sinfully Gay Romance Book Reviews
"So…where are we going?" Jessie asked, returning the items to the pantry and the refrigerator. He hadn't expected Aidan to arrive home early, and he definitely hadn't expected him to announce a dinner excursion, especially not after spending so much time on the couch lately, having far too much fun to want to escape the house.
"Wherever you want to go is fine. You're always cooking and you stay in the house unless you've got an appointment, so I figured a break would be nice. To get out, do something…different. As long as I can pick a steak, I'm fine with any place you want to go."
"You choose the spot. Surprise me," Jessie said.
"Okay."
"So where are we going?"
"Uh, I thought you said to surprise you?"
Jessie bit his lip, trying to disguise the humor at seeing Aidan squirm. He figured Aidan was probably getting a little edgy lately, always giving in and letting Jessie get his way each time. "I need to know what to wear."
"A suit. Definitely a suit. A dark one. Either the blue one or the charcoal."
"So it's a date?" Jessie asked, trying to contain the flutter in his chest. He cherished their time hanging out on the couch or back porch but going out in public together? Definitely one heck of a milestone.
"Uh, okay," Aidan said with a pinched expression.
"It's not a date?"
Aidan rubbed the back of his neck. "If you want to do something else too, we can."
"We don't have to do anything else. Dinner's fine."
"Okay. So it's not a date?" Aidan said, scratching his stubble.
Jessie hid a grin at Aidan's confusion. "How about you tell me. Do you want it to be a date?"
"I want to take you out to dinner. I want you to wear a suit, because you look hot as hell in them. If that makes it a date, then cool. It's a date. But if I have to do something else to make it a date, like a movie or…fuck if I know…a walk on the beach or something. Let me know and we'll do that too."
Jessie wrapped his arms around Aidan's neck. "Where did you get that from?"
"Google."
"I think you better leave the research to me." Jessie chuckled.
"As long as you wear your suit." Aidan snaked his arms around Jessie's waist and leaned in for a quick kiss.
Jessie nuzzled Aidan's neck. "And you need to keep your stubble. It's hot."
"You like soft balls and hard stubble. I think you're confused regarding what you want."
"I know exactly what I want. I want all of you, soft and hard and everything in between."
Jaime Reese is the alter ego of an artist who loves the creative process of writing, just not about herself. Fiction is far more interesting. She has a weakness for broken, misunderstood heroes and feels everyone deserves a chance at love and life. An avid fan of a happy ending, she believes those endings acquired with a little difficulty are more cherished.
The Men of Halfway House A Better Man A Hunted Man A Restored Man A Mended Man …More to come…
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