Shattered by Cassandre Dayne

Summary:

Movie star Hunter Reynolds knew a thing or two about the ladies but he didn’t crave them. Instead, he enjoyed the company of men and while he adored Taylor, his live in lover and best friend, they weren’t in love and Hunter refused to be seen in public with him. After all, Hunter's fans believed he was straight. When he was brutally attacked, he was uncertain he would ever work in Hollywood again and his doctors weren’t sure they could repair the damage. Angry and bitter, Hunter pushed everyone out of his life including Taylor. Sadly, Hunter was merely the latest victim in a series of horrific crimes targeting gay entertainers.

Macgyver Donovich was a reporter for the LA Times who’d written stories on each one of the victims and was anxious to talk with Hunter. From the moment he met the rough-hewn man who exuded sexuality along with chocking self loathing, MacGyver was fascinated. Determined to get to the bottom of the attacks, Mac wrote a series of edgy columns in an attempt to egg on the perpetrator.

Entering into a pact to fight back, both Mac and Hunter realized it was only a matter of time before the assailant struck again. As they grew closer by their respective haunted pasts, a series of new threats were issued and both men were forced to confront their demons. As the race to find the attacker continued, Mac and Hunter finally discovered what they’d been missing in life--love. But was it simply too late?

Reviewer: RedDragonfly
I really wanted to love this book but I just couldn't get into the relationship between Mac and Hunter. I didn't feel any romantic connection between them until the very end and that wasn't much either. To me, this book was more a suspense mystery. That aspect of the book I really enjoyed and it kept me guessing until the very end of the book.

What I really didn't like about the book was Hunter aka Morgan Reynolds (he had his name changed due to his father, who was a senator). Hunter was one big old mess, from being in the closet, to not really knowing himself. He had self-esteem issues because his face was shattered, which had been his ticket as an actor (he was known as a pretty boy). He also had huge daddy issues, due to his father letting him get raped and him being an all around jerk. We don't really see Hunter grow any stronger until the very end; when he has to face his demons and help save Mac from his stalker. Also, once his face was fixed back to normal, he seemed to have healed and even asked Mac to marry him. I really didn't like that part, it felt like once he was pretty again he was fixed, which I don't really think is a good message. But I guess his change did start before that, when he stood up for himself and saved Mac, but that was only a few pages before he had his face fixed, so you don't really feel it.

There were also many spelling mistakes in this book. For example just some of them - form was for, then was the, not sure if it was just because it was a review copy or if it was just not edited correctly, but they were on every few pages.

Besides the mystery of this book, I also really liked Mac. When the book was from his point of view, I felt more drawn into the story and I enjoyed his voice. He was always a very positive person and really wanted to help Hunter. I also liked that Mac was always the strong one for Hunter (even if he had his own issues) until the very end when Hunter saved his life. I felt like that helped make them more equals. I also liked that at the very end Hunter decided to start going by Morgan again, and how Mac said you could see Hunter disappear and Morgan surface.

Even with all the flaws I would still recommend this story, it was nice and parts were enjoyable, it just wasn't amazing like I was hoping for. I'm giving Shattered 3.5 stars.

Publisher: Rebel Ink Press
Review Courtesy Of: ManicReaders