Rating: 5
Steam: 2
PoV: dual, 3rd person
Series: Porth Ewan Bay #1
Genre: contemporary romance, MM
Main tropes: friends to lovers, hurt / comfort, second chance
“What else did you know?”
Brix leaned closer, their bodies already wedged together by the crowded bar. “That one way or another, you’d be in my life forever.”
I should have known better, it’s Garrett Leigh after all, but I was not prepared for how hard this one would hit me. It was an emotional and beautiful read, and it’s definitely a story that will stay with me for a long, long time.
I found so much to love in this story: their chance meeting and second chance, the hurt / comfort, learning more about their shared past, the connection to the Rebel Kings… There were also many moments where I just wanted to hug the characters and hide them away somewhere safe. There was a lot of pain in their story – but also a lot of healing and love.
It was a slow, slow burn romance, but it was perfect for these characters. Calum was quite bruised and battered when Brix found him at the beginning of the story, and Brix had his own baggage as well. The abuse Calum suffered through his ex was heartbreaking, and he felt so lost and broken down that it really hurt to read his PoV at times. The hurt / comfort was fantastic though, and it was beautiful to see them reconnect and take care of each other. I loved to see Calum slowly break down Brix’s walls and getting him to open up – they were so good for each other, and it made my heart all happy to see them together.
House of Cards was a fantastic read, I love the way Garrett Leigh writes her stories and she had me hooked from the first chapter with this one. It was a heavy read, but a beautiful one at the same time, and definitely worth the pain and heartbreak. A great start to a new series, and I’m really curious to see who else in Porth Ewan that will get their story told!
“I want you. I’ve always wanted you. How can you not know that?”
Book links:
Amazon | Goodreads | BookBub | StoryGraph
The Secret Librarian 