Release Day Review: Galen's Redemption by Parker WIlliams #Review #Giveaway

Title: Galen's Redemption
Series: Links in the Chain #2
Author: Parker Williams
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Publication Date: April 16, 2019
Length: 250 pages

Reviewed by Sammy

Synopsis

A Links In the Chain Story

A rich man is about to set foot into an unknown world, while a Good Samaritan fears he’ll have to close the charity he’s spent his life building. Poised to lose it all, they might find what they need most in each other.

Son of a wealthy importer, Galen Merriweather lives to broker deals, and he’s damn good at it. But it’s getting harder to ignore the kind of man his father is—a man who would pay Galen’s brother’s lover to leave… a man who’d demand Galen retrieve a quarter-million-dollar check from a struggling homeless shelter.

Robert Kotke knows the money is too good to be true, but it’s a godsend that could help so many people. Still, he hands it over when Galen shows up. But he isn’t done with Galen yet, and he’s going to challenge everything Galen ever believed.

Galen will face an impossible decision: the redemption he’s come to realize he wants, or the life he’d always dreamed of.

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Review

Galen has spent his life pursuing his father’s approval. He has become a person that deep down revolts him nearly as much as his father’s behavior. But after years of having his brother being held up as the ideal and perfect son despite his being gay, Galen is not prepared for the day his father crosses a line he cannot stomach and his threat of resignation is met with nasty glee by the father he cannot please. Now with all he owns tied up by his father’s lawyers and his estranged brother rightfully hating him for the things he has done in the past, Galen finds himself unable to get a job and constantly tormented by the last deed he did at his father’s request—retrieve a check that could have meant the world to one man and the faltering homeless shelter he runs. But how does one make amends for so much wrongdoing? Galen sets out to discover the answer and, in doing so, opens up the closet he had been tied to and finds that he is not only a good man but one that can be loved if he will only give himself a chance.

Galen’s Redemption by Parker Williams is a very tender and sweet finding of self novel. I say finding of self primarily because that is what Galen actually does—he finds the man inside himself who has been begging to be free from the nastiness his father has immersed him in over the years. Dealing with a viciously callous parent is never easy but doing so while hiding your true self and always having to be better than the sibling who somehow managed to break free is a huge job. My heart just bled for Galen, who wore his guilt and anger like a second skin. When he felt someone--namely Robert, the owner of the shelter, really see him for who he was it frightened Galen even though it was something he yearned for secretly.

To be seen—to have someone recognize there was goodness inside him made Galen feel even more worthless while also giving him hope—and that terrified him. It’s  easier to live with the notion that you are worthless so that the pain of someone you’ve come to love figuring it out and leaving you doesn’t have the ability to tear you apart. The problem is Galen is really a good guy, he’s just never been shown he can be compassionate in business and still succeed. Instead he has been raised by callous and cruel parents who use others like disposable chattel—is it any wonder Galen has anger issues?

This novel has some incredibly tender and moving moments, such as when Robert’s family embraces Galen and shows him what family really can be like. The time spent in the shelter with the various clients also rings with such sincerity that it will make you want to go and volunteer in one as soon as possible. There were times when things felt a little unrealistic in terms of how quickly and easily many seemingly insurmountable problems got solved like the shelter’s nearly going under financially and the rather swift way Galen’s father got his due. However, that can’t take away from the fact that if you are looking for a romance that is hopeful and sweet then Galen’s Redemption will be the one to read.

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Random Review: The Spirit Key by Parker Williams #Review #Giveaway

Author: Parker Williams
Title: The Spirit Key
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Publication Date: January 15, 2019
Length: 210 Pages


Reviewed by Sammy


Synopsis

Lock and Key: Book One 
 When he was eight years old, Scott Fogel died. Paramedics revived him, but he came back changed. Ghosts and spirits tormented Scott for over a decade until, thinking he was going mad, he did the only thing he could. He ran—leaving behind his best friend, Tim Jennesee. Scott’s had five normal, ghost-free years in Chicago, when the spirit of Tim’s mother comes to him and begs him to go home because Tim’s in trouble and needs him. He isn’t prepared for what he finds when he goes home—a taller and sexier Tim, but a Tim who hasn’t forgiven Scott for abandoning him… a Tim whose body is no longer his own. The ghost of a serial murderer has attached itself to Tim, and it’s whispering dark and evil things. It wants Tim to kill, and it’s becoming harder for Tim to resist. To free the man who has always meant so much to him, Scott must unravel the mystery of the destiny he shares with Tim.

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Review

At the age of eight, Scott died. When he survived the drowning, he was dubbed a miracle but in reality a nightmare had just begun to weave itself around the young boy whose only relief was the love of his best friend, Tim. As one horrific encounter with the supernatural after another happened Scott withdrew further and further into himself, turning to drugs in order to survive. But it simply wasn’t enough. So, he ran, from Tim, from his brother and mother, from all he knew. When he fled to Chicago, things got better and for five peaceful years the ghostly apparitions that seemed to always want Scott to help them disappeared, until the day one came that he could not ignore. Tim was in danger and he had to return home to help him. Not only was Tim his best friend but also his first and only love and now, despite what going home would mean for Scott’s own sanity, he needed to reconnect with the man who was his heart and soul.

Parker Williams begins a new series with the release of The Spirit Key. Dabbling in the paranormal the novel explores the idea that some can be a conduit for those lost in the afterworld. I will say that the pieces of this story that dealt with Scott seeing the dead were quite well done. There were some hair-raising moments when I was glad the lights were on and I wasn’t reading in the dark as is my habit with my well lit kindle. I felt the more macabre aspects in terms of the shock of seeing ghosts was actually the best element in this novel. However, I struggled with several other components that felt abruptly introduced with a lack of any transitional material to smooth their way.

In particular I really couldn’t come to terms with the amount of anger Tim had when Scott returned. I understood that the author was laying the scene for a future revelation in regards to Tim and why he seemed so easily led into a furious state but it still didn’t quite justify how he treated Scott. Then when that anger was coupled with a sexually dominant streak that Tim wore easily and the more submissive Scott responded to things got a bit strange. It was hard to distinguish if Tim was just being naturally dominant with little clue as to how to actually treat a submissive or if it was the ragged bursts of anger that led him to do things such as yank Scott’s hair to make him listen. More importantly it was the angry, bullying tone that slipped over that Dom/sub line that often threw me off—causing their interactions to seem forced—as if the author decided there should be an angry, sexy moment there and forced it into the scene. And that is my main criticism of this novel—so much of it felt out of sync—forced in order to bolster a future plot revelation.

If the story line had been more even—bits and pieces revealed gradually rather than spat out after sporadic moments of drama and intrigue then I could have understood those scenes where Tim’s character felt so wrong. To be frank, if the plot had been more cohesive then it would have made the emotionally violent interactions more plausible. Instead I often had to force myself to move on—to understand that almost every encounter Tim and Scott had with each other was going to end with either Tim being mean spirited and skirting the edge of being an abusive partner rather than someone who professed to be in love or Scott getting angry at Tim. Scott seemed to vacillate between being a strong and clear minded individual and a dishrag. I got that Tim’s domineering side made the sex so much better for Scott but there were times when he also just seemed to give in and take whatever Tim decided to dish out due to the guilt he carried over leaving and hurting him. Then the two would do their I’m sorry bit and the scene would play out over and over again. After several times this just got old and I felt that we had covered this ground and then some.

There were some very good sections to this story. I feel that once the author decides to explore and allow for his characters to discuss what kind of relationship they want to have in the bedroom and set some ground rules for each other, this series will find a really smart groove to travel on. Until then I worry that future stories may be as uneven as this one was. I know that author Parker Williams can write a good story, however, The Spirit Key just needed a bit more editing and plot development to smooth out it’s edges and make it a solid hit.

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Random Review: Lincoln's Park by Parker Williams #Review #Giveaway

Author: Parker Williams
Title: Lincoln's Park
Series: Links In The Chains #1
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Cover Artist: Reese Dante
Publication Date: October 16, 2018
Length: 244 pages

Reviewed by Racheal


Synopsis

A Links In the Chain Story

Lincoln Merriweather was born an entitled brat with a silver spoon lodged so deep, it might never have come out. At the BDSM club or in business, Lincoln was a storm, blowing in and disrupting the lives of everyone he touched, until the day he met a man who peeled away the tarnished layers to expose a decent person.

Lincoln found—then lost—love.

Since then, he’s tried to atone for his past, including walking away from his family’s wealth. He opened a diner, hiring people to work for him that he would have spit on before his epiphany. He’s found peace, which he’s about to lose to a hazel-eyed man.

Noel Simmons wound up on the street when his parents discovered he was gay. His path leads him to Lincoln’s diner, where he asks for a job. He’s thrilled when Lincoln agrees to hire him, but finds his new boss perplexing. Can anyone be this kind and decent?

What starts out as business becomes something more. Noel discovers he needs Lincoln in order to feel safe. Lincoln needs Noel to complete him. But when Lincoln’s past gets in the way of his present, will the two have a future?

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Review

First I have to say that I am rather disappointed with myself for never reading a book from this amazing author! Parker William's is definitely a new author to me that I will make sure to read more of.

The story starts off with his main character Lincoln. A hard working owner of a restaurant. At first glance some people would probably never know the wealth that Lincoln was once accustomed to. I think for many, it's hard to believe that a person who once had so much wealth would give that up. But as the saying goes "sometimes the grass isn't always greener on the other side." 

Noel then enters his life. Comes into the restaurant, looking unsure at first as he asked if he is hiring and then quickly admits that he is a hard worker and would do anything at all. It's easy to see by how the author describes Noel that he has had a hard life but he is also willing to do what it takes to be able to get on his feet. With just that one meeting Lincoln sees something in Noel and he suddenly feels the need to help him but also protect him.

What I absolutely loved about this book was that there was no rush between these two characters. I liked seeing the slow build up between them. 

This was a fantastic read and cannot wait to see what the author has in store next.

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