3.5 stars rounded upJesse Martin is a police officer in the small town of El Jardin, NM. The small town is as close to "home" as he's ever gotten. Jesse does what he can to fit in ... including hiding the fact that he's gay. That all changes when a new neighbor moves in across the street. Caden Tomas moved to El Jardin to escape the memories of a vicious attack that left him shattered and broken. He struggles daily with the resulting agoraphobia and has little hope for recovery. Then, Jesse walks into his life ... thanks to Caden's yappy poodle, Loopy, who repeatedly escapes from his yard. The introduction leads to a tenuous friendship that blossoms into something much more. Together, Jesse and Caden must face their personal demons and fight for the place they've come to call home.I liked this book. I liked both Jesse and Caden. Neither was perfect; each had their challenges. The sex - although hot and steamy ... yum! - was a bit much. It sometimes got in the way of the story. There was, thankfully, an underlying plot that I enjoyed. I also enjoyed the extended cast of characters (e.g., Caden's sister (Kezabeth), her husband (Remy ... tsss! that is one smokin' hot dude), and Caden's surly agent).Bottom line: the romantic plight of two very likeable but broken people who find home in each other. Jesse first notices Caden because of his "ritual" of getting the mail. He's intrigued but Caden appears unapproachable so he settles for watching from his yard until he gets a chance to learn more about him. At the same time Caden watches Jesse and wishes things were different and he was less afraid. For Jesse, the opportunity to approach Caden comes in the form of Loopy, Caden's escape artist poodle. Soon Jesse starts helping Caden out and they become friends. From there they go on to becoming lovers. Meanwhile Caden also works on getting better with the help of on-line therapy sessions. However, since they live in a small town where everybody minds everybody's business, they have some obstacles to cross before they get their happy ending. But they do get there, and the majority of the people in town turn out to be more accepting than Jesse thought they would be.I liked Caden and Jesse's characters and thought they were a good fit. Also the appearances of Caden's sister and her husband, and also his nieces made a nice addition to the story. The only thing that bothered me was that it took so long to find out what happened to Caden. This way I was constantly distracted from the story by trying to guess what made Caden so withdrawn and afraid. While I think it wouldn't have made sense for Caden to confide in Jesse sooner, I didn't like being kept in the dark along with Jesse.
What do You think about Something Shattered (2010)?
Jesse and caden meet fall in love , and with all that comes with challenges it comes with .
—priperlupkescro
I can't wait to delve into this one :) YIPPIE!!
—hungryforgames
