Aaron, the first book in J.P. Barnaby’s Survivor Stories and it is so completely different from all the other romances I read. The romances I read tend to lean towards the heavily sexed. That’s not Aaron’s tale. Aaron has survived a horrific attack. He came out of it a different boy. At sixteen he had his whole world changed when something precious was violently taken from him. Though two years has passed his existence is a day to day trial. To say he has problems would be an understatement. He also has a will to live and fight that he does not even see in himself.The first day of college is exciting for most people. For Spencer and Aaron it is something completely different that soon turns into something so much more. Spencer who is used to people seeing him as something he is not doesn’t view Aaron the way Aaron believes others see him. A class project forces them to work together also puts them in a position to find a friendship that both desperately needs. The story that unfolds from there is both heartbreaking yet cheer inducing. The pages are overflowing with hurt, hate, anger, fear, and shame. At the same time the love, compassion, understanding, pride, and healing takes over and makes the reader want so much for Aaron and Spencer. Surely if anyone deserves a modicum of happiness and a chance to live life to the fullest it is these two young men who have found something in the other that they never expected to have in this lifetime. Barnaby has given readers a sweet romance that Aaron and Spencer more than deserve. This book brought out so many emotions for me. It was an often painful read, in that what Aaron survived was just so awful it's hard to even think about. I often have trouble reading books or watching movies where any kind of sexual assault happens. It can be just too intense. Surviving such an unimaginably violent attack as Aaron did really shreds the human spirit. To have everything you are ripped away.. As resilient as we are, we can be broken and what Aaron experienced definitely left him broken. So broken, he doesn't think there is even the smallest chance he will ever be normal again. In the two years since the attack, he hasn't learned how to cope. He hasn't learned to live again. He barely exists. My heart hurts for him.Spencer knows what it is like to feel isolated, though, thank FSM, not for the same reasons or even similar ones. Spencer was born deaf and hearing people haven't always treated him very nicely, to say the least. Even with bullying, etc, he does pretty well, though he is lonely. He and Aaron connect; the first real connection Aaron has had since the attack and it's also the first real connection Spencer has ever had.Aaron and Spencer meet and become friends in a programming class because they were paired for a project. Working through problem solving, and building their project, they become friends, and slowly more. It's such a beautiful thing to witness. It's going to be a long long road for Aaron, but there is hope and that, I think is the message of this book. Hope.
What do You think about Aaron (2012)?
Emotional and compelling. This story explores angst in a real and gut-wrenching way.
—marsh
J.P.'s characters will haunt you. This is a MUST READ!!!
—FrancoLoco
