Sloane Kennedy - Sanctuary Found

When his stellar military career comes to an abrupt and terrible end, thirty-two-year-old Maddox Kent returns to the town he never planned to step foot into again, hoping to mend the rift he himself caused with the brother he left behind. But coming home means facing some hard truths about himself and his actions. When he has the chance to start making amends by helping his brother with the wildlife sanctuary he runs, Maddox is thrown another curveball when a stranger appears...
For twenty-one-year-old Isaac, Pelican Bay is only supposed to be a stopping point on the trek from San Francisco to New York. With his little brother, Newt, in tow, Isaac is just looking to make things right by returning something of value to a person he wronged. But "getting lost" in the next big city proves to be a problem when the brutal Minnesota winter claims Isaac's car and strands him and Newt at the animal sanctuary. When the owners of the place offer him a job, a desperate Isaac agrees, despite the presence of a man Isaac instinctively knows could be his downfall...
Nothing about Isaac makes sense to Maddox. Not his piercings or makeup or flashy clothes. And most certainly not the snarky mouth that doesn't match the vulnerability Maddox sees in the younger man's eyes. But one thing does make sense to the hardened former soldier. Isaac is running from something, and Maddox's gut is telling him not to let Isaac and little Newt go until he can ferret out the truth.
But having Isaac around means trying to make sense of something else Maddox isn't expecting... his own body's response to the beautiful younger man. Aside from their explosive chemistry, nothing about the straitlaced soldier and the secretive misfit works.
But maybe that's exactly why it does...

Comment: This is the second installment in the Pelican Bay series, whose first book I had read last year. I liked that one enough to want to try the next but I've found some of the issues I liked less to be repeated here, which leads me to conclude it's simply the writer's style.

In this second story, the focus is on Maddox "Mad", the brother of Dallas (hero book #1) and Isaac, the young man who showed up at the animal shelter with his much younger brother at the end of the other book.

Isaac tracked down Nolan to give him back his violin and he plans on moving on with his brother, since the man their mother was with wants custody, for money issues. Isaac knows he technically kidnapped his brother, but he did it for the best of reasons, although he feels he can't stop to rest. He has done what he had to in order to feed them, but he is tired. Finding the shelter was meant to be a short stop but the guys he finds there start becoming family, especially Mad...

After a wary first meet, Mad finds himself more and more captivated by Isaac and while battling PTSD he feels a part of him can only rest if he tries his best to help Isaac and the little kid. Things aren't as easy but as time goes by they find themselves getting closer...but what will happen when the past catches up with them?

Having read the first book and now this one, what comes to mind is the fact there is a slight taste of cheesiness in the author's style. This doesn't mean the stories are only fluff or silliness, no, but I would have liked certain things to happen in a less sugary way. I'm specifically thinking about the romance, which feels too simple, just like the other one was. Perhaps I could even dare to say that the dynamics between Mad and Isaac didn't always seem convincing they were a m/m couple...or perhaps it's just me.

This is to say that the romance does have some development that feels too easy or too cheesy.... in certain moments a different writing style or scene choices might have enhanced the relationship in a better way. I liked that they found each other, of course, as I did that they trusted each other from a certain point on, but this development wasn't as smooth or as "organic" as it could.

Mad wasn't the best of characters in the first book but we learned why and he does change, which means we can root for him now. Although, to be fair, he never felt as approachable as Isaac. Still, I could accept some of his behavior due to his experiences at war and the PTSD consequences and all that. I also think he was made to seem more aloof, less easy to read on purpose, to perhaps better contrast with Isaac, who is a much more sensible and vulnerable character.

In fact, Isaac sometimes reads as being a bit too vulnerable, too open about his state of mind. With this I mean his personality because he only shares his fears and reasons to run with his brother closer to the end of the story. Nevertheless, he does seem less assured of himself for believable reasons, but the dynamics with Mad felt a little frustrating to me. I will also confess there was a specific element to their relationship I think was pointless. Everything put together made for a couple who didn't always win me over as such.

The plot is interesting, there are some hints about past issues which are interesting to see develop which allow character development and I liked seeing some interactions they all had with one another. Two secondary characters were introduced and they will be protagonists in the future...they seem intriguing enough to make me want to read their story. 

I also liked the animal references, the shelter side of things, although it is true that this part wasn't as prominent as it had been in the previous story.

All things considered, this was fine, more or less along the same lines as the first, with some elements being less interesting but compensated with others which were. Thus, this book gave me the same overall feeling as the previous one. It's readable to me, good enough, but not truly special.

Grade: 7/10