FORGIVENESS RUNS DEEP (Wingstead 2) by Caleb Marks-a review

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ABOUT THE BOOK: Release Date December 30, 2022

Spiralling so far down after my wife’s death has messed up the best thing that’s ever happened to me. Will this hot-looking guy ever forgive me?

Elijah
Grief can make a mess of things, and that’s saying it mildly.

My wife lived a devout life. I thought opposites attract and that going to church and being everything I am not would be enough. I pretended and lied about who I am.

I had never loved her wholly, I couldn’t, but she had her secrets as well.

Out of the blue, an overconfident man showed up. He showed me how to be my authentic self.

Lane
I never struggled to be me, I’m proud of who I am. What I struggle with is to find someone who loves me, someone who will create a life with me.

After my reason for coming to Wingstead went bust, I needed money fast. I could see the bar I stopped in was short-staffed. Perhaps I could make some fast cash until I figure out my next move … and move on.

What I didn’t expect was to find the handsome bartender and owner who needed me. He’s a hot mess. But is he worth risking my mortal life over?

••••••

REVIEW:  FORGIVENESS RUNS DEEP is the second instalment in Caleb Marks’ contemporary adult WINGSTEAD MM series focusing on a community of LGBTQ members in Wingstead Wyoming. This is twenty-six year old Lane Montgomery Young, and bar owner Elijah Moore’s story line. FORGIVENESS RUNS DEEP can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous storyline is revealed where necessary.

NOTE: FORGIVENESS RUNS DEEP focuses on same-sex relationship and alcohol abuse.

Told from dual first person perspectives (Elijah and Lane) FORGIVENESS RUNS DEEP follows twenty-six year old Lane Montgomery as he searches for the man who owes him money. Arriving in Wingstead Wyoming, Lane will discover said man is dead but the moody and often drunk bar owner Elijah Moore knows more than he is willing to tell. When Elijah disappears for hours at a time, Lane makes himself at home, working the bar until the owner returns. Lane suspects Elijah is struggling with his sexual identity but the death of his best friend, and his wife, have made Elijah a man he no longer recognizes. What ensues is the building but acrimonious relationship between Elijah and Lane, and the potential fall-out as Elijah continues to struggle with who he is, and his attraction to a man he knows little about.

Lane Montgomery Young is a flamboyant , twenty-six year old, gay man who finds himself attracted to a man who had yet to come to terms with who he is, and what he wants. Elijah lost his best friend, lost his wife, and may lose his bar but Elijah refuses to admit his attraction to Lane, a young man who is willing to stand by the man who is destroying his heart. The $ex scenes are intimate and passionate but mostly implied-there are no explicit or graphic sexual scenarios.

The secondary and supporting characters include Toby and Mac (Letting Him In 1), Landon, Malcolm and Finn, as well as the introduction of Elijah’s former in-laws, and several ‘queer’ members of the LGBTQ community. Malcolm and Landon’s story is next.

FORGIVENESS RUNS DEEP is a story of love and loss, rejection, denial and acceptance, forgiveness, acceptance and love. The premise is heart breaking; the romance is captivating; the characters are colorful but broken and struggling.

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Reviewed by Sandy