Rating: 5 Stars

Publisher: Self-Published 

Genre: Romance 

Tags: Pansexual & Bisexual MCs, Some Stalking, Hurt/Comfort, Emotion 

Length: 353 Pages

Reviewer: Kazza

Purchase At: amazon

Blurb:

The first time I laid eyes on him my heart skipped a beat.

My obsession began the way all obsessions do…with a spark. A small, seemingly insignificant flicker that quickly took root.

He was pure, liquid light. A sunshine boy with a heart of gold.

He turned my world up-side-down. I couldn’t sleep. I couldn’t eat. I couldn’t let him out of my sight.

Ever wondered what happens when red flags and green flags collide? If so, you’re about to find out.

Heart is an obsessive, swoony, stalker-y MM romance featuring the biggest green flag in existence, and a broken boy you can’t help falling in love with.

Review: 

“Lennon,” he says quietly and not unkindly, “I looked death in the face and lived.”

First time reading Jesse H Reign. I picked this book up because of the idea of some stalking – I love fictional stalking. And sure, while it’s something Lennon certainly does, it’s with… confused, complex intent. To say more than about what I mean is to spoil the book.   

The Characters: One of them is Mary Calmes perfect – if you know, you know. That would be Connor, or The Spark as Lennon initially refers to him. At first I thought I might be frustrated by Connor’s everything-ness but he’s so genuine I bought in. Also, he’s the recipient of a heart transplant, wasn’t expected to live, so he sees the world anew. He takes each day as it comes and is grateful for it all. I liked his personal choice after surviving a life-altering experience. Every morning he knows when the sun will be rising and every morning he watches it, without fail. The author made it very easy to like Connor. 

Then there’s Lennon. He was a skater boy – come on, Avril Lavigne – with his best friend Havi but now he’s full-time stalking following Connor. He even gets a job he doesn’t want or need in student services housing. It’s just to have a reason to be on campus often, such is his dedication to his Connor obsession. On one occasion Connor leaves a roommate wanted flier on a campus board and Lennon grabs the details but waits for weeks, internally chaotic, before finally ringing the number.

The first picture I saw of him, the one that started all this shit, had his house number and street name in the background.
5831 Rivington Lane.
It’s like he wanted me to find him.
Call Connor.
Like he wants me to call him.

He figures someone else will have taken the room, safer that way, but he’ll get to talk to Connor and his fixated self can’t let that opportunity go by. Surprise, the room is still for rent and Connor asks Lennon to come over, check it out, have a chat. None of this is new in terms of a storyline. New roommate is the tool used to get the guys together under the one roof. Even more significant, in a way that Lennon finds hard to accept for reasons I won’t go into, Connor tells Lennon at their ‘maybe we’ll be housemates’ tête-à-tête that Lennon is the most beautiful man he’s ever seen. I was like, okay then. It’s on, baby. Let’s see where this trajectory goes. I loved Lennon. I’m partial to a bit of complexity.  

No matter how this started, Lennon is still in Connor’s home under lies of omission circumstances. He definitely doesn’t want Connor privy to his messy side. But Lennon increasingly gets drawn in and in and in by Connor and his safety. His easy manner. How gentle but sure he is. I’m not saying Lennon doesn’t push back. He does for a while. Connor being so nice creates a mental and emotional schism within Lennon – the more Connor is kind the more Lennon feels like he’s the antithesis of that. Connor, however, is on the patience train with Lennon.

I don’t know where I stand with Lennon yet, but I do know there’s no way I’m going to be someone who makes him uncomfortable. No way at all. I’ll wait as long as he needs to figure it out. I don’t care what it costs me, but I won’t be the one to chase him. I won’t put pressure on him. I’ll be his friend, if that’s all he wants.

If Connor suggests something or ropes Lennon into something, it’s pretty much always for Lennon’s benefit, not Connor’s. He works organically at absorbing Lennon into his friend inner sanctum, meaning getting to know Tank and Georgie, who fuss over Connor because they love him and they know exactly what he went through. He also makes Lennon go thrift shopping with him because A) Connor loves it and believes in it, it’s in his blood, and B) Lennon has nothing for his room. Stalker, remember?

The pair get closer. It takes a while before they are physically in a place where Lennon wants Connor in a way that is nothing about obsession but more about falling for him. Though the secret is still there. Connor stands by what he said, that Lennon is gorgeous, so it’s no hardship to get into a physical, or more, relationship with him. The physical takes more than half of the story to get to. 

The above is the bones of the story except it really isn’t all of the story. Lennon texts Havi and there is never any response. If something good or bad happens, he wants to be able to tell him. Lennon mentions Havi to Connor which means he has to give him something when Connor asks more. He tells Connor that he and Havi had a big fight and they haven’t spoken since. A partial truth. It’s pretty easy to work out what’s happened to Havi but not the full story. It eats Lennon alive. It stifles his happiness. It walls him off. Eventually it all comes to a head. It’s where the majority of my tag of “emotional” comes from. There is still more. I may be dense but I did not see a twist coming. Loved that.

I fell right into this book. I inhaled the first 60% in less than a day. It then went into purple prose territory but I can be a sucker for the right purple prose. It also had a lot of sex once Lennon let his guard down. I’m not a big fan of tons of sex these days. That would be my only quibble. The author has a dramatic flare to her words. I’m good with that. Lynn Kelling, Cameron Dane, they were amazing at the drama and I love their books. Heart gave me romance, it gave me emotion, I love to feel and this book gave me that. It also gave me characters I could get behind. Because Heart delivers good storytelling, it deserves 5 Stars!