Book 61, 2021

Haunted Hearts by K. Sterling

My rating: 4 of 5 stars



Taking today off work enabled me to finish reading Haunted Hearts by K Sterling. It's the first book in the "Bisbee Bachelors' Club" series of...m/m romance, I reckon. Main characters are Cace Talbot and Laurence "Lorrie" Nixon.

Lorrie left the small town of Bisbee AZ 25 years ago to pursue his career as an artist. He also left Cace behind, but he never stopped missing or loving him. Cace was devastated when Lorrie left, but he built a life for himself, marrying and having a son via surrogacy. Divorced now, and older and wiser, Cace still isn't prepared for the rush of emotions that overtake him when Lorrie returns to town, especially when Lorrie makes it clear that he wants Cace back in his life and will do anything to get them back to good. Afraid of getting his heart broken again, Cace vows to keep Lorrie at arm's length, but it's not easy when all of their childhood friends, as well as Cace's son Owen, seem thrilled at the prospect of Cace and Lorrie getting back together. Things come to a head when there are two murders in town and Lorrie finds himself under scrutiny. Cace and Lorrie must work together to solve the crimes, which brings home just how much they have to lose if they lose one another again.

This was a lovely story, which focused more on the rekindling of Cace and Lorrie's relationship than on the murders and the subsequent investigation. My heart hurt for them both, even though I was firmly on Team Cace--he's not the one who walked away from what they had, although it became clear that they both suffered while apart. The investigation was interesting in that half the town blamed one of the resident ghosts and the police didn't seem too inclined to look much further. I enjoyed the paranormal elements and the raw emotions of both Cace and Lorrie, and the sexy scenes were very sexy.

Favorite lines:
♦ "We're still together. We always will be."
♦ "I remember everything. I might have lost you but I didn't let go of a single thing."
♦ "I could try to clone frogs in my basement laboratory as well but I've got a lot on my plate at the moment."
♦ "I gave dad a chance to get rid of me so he could make good on the look he just gave you but he's trying to play it cool."
♦ "No, thank you. I certainly don't mind looking and I'd wear him out for a night or two but I like my life just the way it is. It's bros before he-hoes for life."
I loved how cheeky Owen could be, and the quote from Russ about he-hoes had me dying!

The story was far from perfect, but I loved it. Four stars.