Full Circle

... and this is how you do it ...After my last read I needed to wash the sour taste from my mouth. I remembered I had this, had listened to the AB, but forgot to post, and decided to go back and make sure that my prior enjoyment was still warranted. It was. The AB by [a:Holden Madagame 18819342 Holden Madagame https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png] is ... okay, however [a:Kaje Harper 4769304 Kaje Harper https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1307630439p2/4769304.jpg]'s depiction of two broken men, how they heal each other, and where their lives end up is almost masterful in the telling. This isn't a romance, with a HEA or even a HFN, for the MCs, but it is a love story, with loss, and triumph of spirit along the way. And there is happiness for them, just not in the traditional romance way. The story is short but it packs an emotional punch that many 700 page tomes should envy. Toller and Jamie meet at a point in their lives where they're both on a, perhaps irreparable, downward spiral, but somehow manage to rescue each each other instead. There isn't a false note or deus ex machina thrown in to solve anything. The characters fight for every step they gain and past traumas aren't brushed under the rug or solved by wishful thinking or Magic D. I loved it. These characters were alive to me and will definitely linger.