Love and Salvage: Eli's Three Wishes by Mathew Ortiz

 Eli Gaither was a big, rough, mean sumabitch of a man. Solitary by choice, he only attended Gaither family events when he was made to. Still hurting from a painful divorce, he was like an angry bear licking his wounds. Most people, save for his family, avoided him until Oscar Hernandez came into his life, yelling at him and turning his world upside down.
Okay, maybe he was plain loco for hitting on the grizzly bear of a man in front of him but he couldn’t help it. The man was so freaking hot. But Oscar was not about to let this man tell him what to do and how to think. If Eli Gaither thought him a shrinking violet, he had another thing coming. Oscar was used to getting his way, so Eli was in for the ride of his life with the hot blooded Latin man. 

Eli Gaither runs the family business of salvaging valuable materials from old houses, polishing them up and selling them for a profit.  He is a divorced man in his 40’s with three basically grown children and a witch for an ex-wife.  He is also gay, well I think he labels himself as bi.  His youngest son is in high school and recently just shown up at his door.  He was caught with another boy having sex and his mother threw him out.  He had nowhere to go but his dad’s, whom he has only spoken to a few times since the divorce, which was the boy’s choice. 

Just as Eli is trying to deal with his quiet life now being tossed around by the addition of his son, he gets a call saying that Oscar is coming to see him.  Oscar is a young gay man who is comfortable with his sexuality and is an interior designer.  They met one day when Oscar went to Eli’s store to purchase some items for the company.  Being warned that Eli doesn’t like weak shy people, Oscar went in with flair.  This led to a night of sex at a hotel, where Eli left early morning and did something he will regret forever.

This story takes us on their journey, overcoming the age difference, the miles between their prospective homes, and the overriding need for passion that they have for each other.  Eli is going to have to deal with not having the quiet life of a hermit any more, he is going to have to face the love for Oscar, the roles of being an active father to a son who hated him for the divorce and the ex-wife who would rather save her reputation with the church than deal with the issues at hand.  We learn his secrets from his past life and realize looks aren’t everything. 

Oscar is dealing with his boss who he adores being ill, we never find out what is the disease but we know it takes a toll on Oscar.  Also how is he going to convince Eli age is only a number and help him overcome his fears?

While I found this book to have some editing problems, I didn’t feel it was worthy of taking a star away in the ratings.  I just found so many questions unanswered and directions that were not explained that I had a hard time really investing in the story.  The character development was good to a point, but I never felt I was able to really understand their emotions and story.  The discussion of their sex scenes was hot, but I also felt they were raw and lacked real intimacy. It felt more like two animals going at each other than showing us the love we were lead to believe.  I would recommend this book if you were into a quick read with no real investment, then you have a hit.  If you wanted something that would melt your heart and stay with you for a while, I am not sure you will find it here.