No one in Jeremy
Collins's life ever stays. His parents, sister, and wife are all dead.
Now he has taken Cole Alston into his home to help him recover from
years of abuse at the hands of his ex. Jeremy hopes Cole, who he loves,
will stick around, but after eight years of Cole not being allowed to
make his own choices, Jeremy doesn't think he has the right to ask. As
Jeremy keeps his concerns and desires to himself, his best friend
Bethann calls on him for a huge favor--claim he's the father of her baby
so she isn't ostracized in their small town for sleeping with a married
man. However doing so would be tantamount to denying his relationship
with Cole. Rumors fly before Jeremy can explain to Cole that he said no,
and suddenly the whole town is in his business. Rather than reassure
Cole, Jeremy's explanations have the opposite effect. Something is going
on in Cole's mind that Jeremy doesn't know about, and in order to get
Cole to talk, Jeremy will need to confront his own deepest fear.
I
had not read the first book in the journey of Cole and Jeremy so I was kind of
lost at the beginning. It felt like I was missing a lot of the
plot. When talking to a friend about this review she said she had the
first book and I had to read it so I borrowed it. Let me tell you after
finishing the first book, I was so in love with Cole and Jeremy that it shed a
whole new light on Understanding Jeremy. Please make sure you read
Unearthing Cole first so you will also understand the meaning of this
book.
Cole
is still getting over the abuse from his ex-boyfriend Martin. It is clear
Cole has PTSD and agonizes with nightmares and flashbacks from that
abuse. He also carries around the trauma of living with hording parents
in a house that was unsafe and unfit. Now looking at a second chance at
happiness he lives with Jeremy but must keep his relationship secret because
the small town won’t accept them.
Jeremy
isn’t without his insecurities and fears from past pain but he is dedicated to
being there for Cole and helping him recover. Never being angry at Cole
for the flashbacks and nightmares, Jeremy always takes Cole and his progress
into consideration when making plans for the two of them. Jeremy suffered
a great loss and his sister in law Bethann was a guiding force for him in his
recovery but now she needs something in return. What she asks of Jeremy
will risk their bond and friendship that they have made and attack what little
trust he has in people as a whole. This request could also shatter what he is
trying to build with Cole. Jeremy is frighten every day that Cole
will be added to the long list of people who have abandoned him and now with
this new betrayal, he will have to work hard and keeping his fear of Cole at
bay.
The
author did a wonderful job at giving us Cole and Jeremy’s story while focusing
on the real emotions that build a relationship. Yes there is m/m sex in
the book but what touched me was the raw fear and emotions that each had for
the other and how they came together to heal the wounds of their partner.
With little to no support they hid their feelings from the community and in
turn from each other for a long time. The moment they could be honest
about how they felt was a freeing moment for me as a reader. It pained me
to watch them hide their love and desires, their dreams and their pain.
I
am so glad that I had the chance to read this book and learn of the first
book. Please keep an eye out in the future for my review for Unearthing
Cole. This story will touch your heart and tug at your emotions with the
characters and what they have had to endure to find their happiness. I
even loved that the author was able to give me secondary characters that left
me wanting to smack them because they hurt Jeremy and Cole. Make sure you
get your copy of this series.
This is the sequel to Unearthing Cole
and the second book in the Discovering Me Series. I loved this book and thought it was
wonderful to see the relationship through Jeremy’s eyes. Throughout the first
book Cole seems like the more “broken” character when in fact they both have a
lot of healing to do. In this book we
get to watch the relationship between Cole and Jeremy blossom and each of them
begin to take control of their lives again.
Jeremy has dealt with an extreme amount
of loss in his years and while he loves Cole it is really hard for him to
believe that he will stick around for the long haul especially when it seems
things can’t go their way. This was a
beautiful continuation to a wonderful story. I cannot wait to read the next
book in this series.
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