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The Shape Of A Heart (2009)

by Kimberly Gardner(Favorite Author)

3.38 of 5 Votes: 5

languge

English

genre

Romance

publisher

Aspen Mountain Press

review 1: 2.5It started out well enough, but then it seemed to end abruptly and try to just tie everything up with a pretty bow. But there were too many loose threads dangling for my liking. Such as, why did Zach have such an extreme reaction when Keith opened his front door? I thought we were going to learn something significant, like maybe how Jay died. But there was no followup on that, so it just seems like a weird over-reaction. And how did Jay die, anyway? Y'know, minor details like that....
review 2: I picked this book up Aspen Mountain Press because I'm interested in books which deal with a grieving character. I think that it's quite a difficult plot device to pull off as there are many factors - such as length of time since the previous lover died; how consumed ... morethe character is by grief; and how quickly the previous lover is forgotten - which can affect how successful the author is at making the transition from past lover to new lover smooth and believable. The most successful one I've read so far was the heartbreaking story by Erastes in the "I Do" anthology.At the beginning of the story we are introduced to Zach, who is still grieving over the death of his long term partner, Jay, who died two years previously. Since then he's continued to run the book and coffee shop business that he set up with Jay, with the help of Jay's sister, Rhonna. Since Jay's death, Zach has let the coffee shop (which was originally set up by Jay) run down but Rhonna insists that they need to re-establish that part of the business and employs Keith to do that. Zach is immediately attracted to Keith, but feels like he is betraying his memory of Jay by acting on the attraction. It doesn't take long for Zach to give into temptation, despite trying to avoid and then attempt to sack Keith so that he can go back to his dull, lonely life. Keith has his own problems. He is constantly on the run trying to escape a past lover who is trying to get back with him.I felt that both characters were well realised and believable. The scenes where Zach reflected on his time with Jay had just the right tone of sadness and nostalgia and yet, when the time came to act on his attraction with Keith, I didn't ever feel that the past relationship was soured or intruded too much into his growing feelings for Keith. I liked how Zach slowly came to the understanding that he needed to have a new lover but that it would not spoil or taint the memories or love that he felt for Jay. Most of the focus on the second half of the novella was on Keith and his fear that his former lover had found him again. Stalker stories can often be a bit silly or unbelievable, but with this book, Keith's fear was very realistically portrayed through his reactions and especially when he discovers that Bryan (his ex-lover) had been in his apartment. Bryan's behaviour is genuinely creepy and I liked the way we never get to see him so all our emotions are focused solely on Keith and how he reacts.This was a well written, fast paced read with empathetic characters in a believable setting. I do have a couple of niggles about the book: Firstly, we are never told how Jay died. This may not have been particularly important had Zach not blamed himself for Jay's death, but because he does, I was expecting to find out why he blamed himself and the circumstances around Jay's death. We are given some hints in the way that Zach becomes overprotective when he thinks that Keith is not being cautious enough with his home security but I would have liked a scene where Zach tells Keith about Jay and how he died. Secondly, the novella ended quite abruptly followed by an epilogue a year later and it jarred a little with the previously flowing storyline. It's quite odd that I had this complaint about the last book I bought from Aspen Mountain Press. The rest of the book though was a sympathetic look at a man slowly emerging from grief and joining with another man who is learning to face his fears rather than run away. This book gets a grade of 'Very Good' from me and I shall keep a look out for this 'new to me' author in the future. less

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