Review: Brokenhearted by Cate Ashwood

Reviewed by Whuppsy
Brokenhearted (Hope Cove #1) by Cate Ashwood
Dreamspinner Press
Novel: 210pgs
4 Pants Off

Blurb:
Hope Cove: Book One

Oliver Parrish has been alone in the world since he was born. So when Sheriff Owen “Mack” Macklin shows up on his doorstep to deliver the news that Oliver’s sister has died, he’s beyond surprised. Still, Oliver returns with Mack to Hope Cove, Maine, hoping to get to know the sister he never knew he had. As he tries to snap these new elements into his solitary life, he’s not sure how they might fit.

His life is shaken up further as he falls in love with the irresistible town of Hope Cove, and with Mack, its equally irresistible sheriff. But when he receives devastating news about his sister's cause of death, Oliver doesn't know whether to stay and fight for love and a good life, or cut his losses and run.

Review
Oliver Parrish has been alone his entire life. He’s living alone and works as a sous-chef in Seattle. He has wants to own his own restaurant and is working to learning everything that he can to accomplish this dream of his. He wants to move ahead, however, as he’s not gone to culinary school and hasn’t the degree behind him he can’t get an executive chef position. But he’s still hopeful that something good can come of this.

As he’s walking home one night from work, he sees a guy on his doorstep. As he gets closer, a sleeping man wake up and says his name. This begins the events that will change his life. From what he thought his life would entail to what his life will be.

Sheriff Owen “Mack” Macklin comes to explain to Oliver that he had a sister named, Maggie. That recently she’s passed away and since he’s her only surviving relative, he gets everything. Maggie owned her own bakery and her apartment. What Mack also tells Oliver is that Maggie was his very best friend.

That Mack and Maggie had been best friends since childhood. He offers Oliver a one-way ticket to Hope Cove, Maine to see what Maggie’s life was like and who she was. Oliver takes the night to think it over and calls Mack and agrees to go back with him. Thus the adventure begins. Oliver had never been on a plane before, he’s lived his entire life in Seattle and this is wonderfully new to him. Once arriving in Hope Cove, Mack offers Oliver to stay with him. Oliver accepts.

Now that Oliver is in Hope Cove, he goes to Maggie’s bakery and upstairs to her apartment and gets some of her journals to read. He hopes, as well as Mack hopes that by reading Maggie’s journals, he can get a sense of who Maggie was. He meets Hadyn, who was talking with Maggie about a business partnership. Hadyn owns the video rental shop next door, who also becomes friends with Oliver.

Not only does Oliver start to fall in love with Hope Cove, he and Mack start falling in love with each other. Slowly but surely, the two men get closer and closer. This is a new thing for Mack, falling for a man. Oliver has been gay his entire life, so this wasn’t new to him. But what was new to him was falling into a relationship. The guys start to get closer and closer and then….They find out why Maggie died. To make matters worse, it might be hereditary. The news floors Oliver. Oliver runs back home to Seattle and tries to get his life back that he had before leaving for Hope Cove.

I will say that I really liked this story. There was Love, Hope, Angst and Happily Ever After. The pace of the story flowed along and I was never bored. I didn’t feel the need to slap any of the characters for being silly and not talking things out. There were of course miscommunication issues, but they actually talked about them and managed to work them out. The characters rang true to what their back-story implied they would be. This book was a great read and it didn’t take long at all. I enjoyed the falling for my boys and only wanting the very best for them and you will too.

I’ve read that this is going to be a series and I’m really looking forward to reading the next book in the series. Cate seems to love writing about romance and falling in love and having actual plotlines going, which works for me in a BIG WAY!! Read this book and fall in Love with Mack and Oliver.

4 Pants Off