Review: Pick Up the Pieces by Tinnean

Reviewed by Whuppsy
Pick up the Pieces (The Light In Your Eye #1) by Tinnean
Dreamspinner Press
Novel: 324pgs
4.5 Pants Off

Blurb:
Fifteen-year-old Theo Bascopolis longs for the man of his dreams. But his dreams are dashed when his conservative Greek father discovers Theo is gay and throws him out. Hopeless, he falls in with Fast Franky, a pimp who seduces Theo with the nickname “Sweetcheeks,” but abuses him and wants Theo to hustle. A bloody fight with Franky forces Sweetcheeks to run. Winding up in Washington, DC, he meets a group of rent boys who take care of each other. While he may not have the man of his dreams, Theo finally has a home and family of his own making. 

When the boys take in mysterious tenant Mark Vincent, he seems a solid protector, until one of Sweetcheeks’s boys suffers a savage beating in his name. Vincent visits the boy in the hospital and introduces his equally enigmatic trainee, William Matheson. The instant attraction blindsides Sweetcheeks. In spite of knowing love isn’t for rent boys, Sweetcheeks hopes Matheson sees beyond the body he’s offered to so many. But Matheson has secrets of his own, and both will have to tear down their walls to find enduring love.

Review
I have to say how excited I was to read this book!! I love the Spy vs. Spook series!! I loved Vincent and Quinn and how they interacted. I loved that the author added in the high priced rent boys as side characters. I loved seeing the boys find their own HEA’s. So, I was really excited to read about Sweetcheeks and Matheson’s relationship from their own views.

So, we start off at the very beginning. Sweetcheeks gets thrown out of his home at the tender age of 15 for being gay. Now, he’s from this small town in Florida and he’s so very lost. He meets up with this guy who promises to love and take care of him. He ends up being a rent boy for this guy who then sells him to a pimp who hooks the boys on drugs. He runs away and hits Washington, DC and ends up with these guys who are in the same business, but they look after each other. They become a family and help support each other.

You see how Sweetcheeks life gets better, even with being a rent boy, he’s got this family that he loves and supports each other. He doesn’t expect to find love being what he is, but he knows that it can happen. He and the boys start this really great enterprise and become more self-sufficient. Sweetcheeks is gets his education and uses it to help himself and his boys in the business. One night, one of the guys in the house gets hurt really badly and Sweetcheeks calls Vincent for help. Vincent shows up at the hospital with Matheson in tow. Sweetcheeks likes him on sight. Little does he know, that his future just walked in the door.

William Matheson works with Vincent and he’s very good at his job. The non-descript hair and clothes. He’s not sure that he’s gay. But he feels something for Sweets also. He’s more than what he lets on to Sweets. For if you’ve read the Spy v. Spook series you know that doing dangerous wet work for the government is what Vincent and Wills does. But he tells Sweets that he’s a computer trouble-shooter. He falls for Sweets knowing what he does/did for a living. It was sweet watching Wills fall for Sweets.

Now, I will say that it was so freaking adorable watching Sweets fall more in love with Wills. To see how even with his past, he’s not lost this sweet, loving guy who wants to be loved and love in return. Now, it’s hard to see how Sweets hard to reconcile his past and when he learns that his family would love to see him, it was heartbreaking to watching their reunion. I loved how Wills gets to him each and every time they got together. How inviting Sweets home to meet his family shows Sweets just how important he is to Wills.

There was a bit of sex in this story. Not what you’d think about a book regarding Rent Boys. It was just a bit and not explicit. I liked that about this story. It was so character driven that the sex was just a natural part of the story and it never overwhelmed.

I will say that I really enjoyed reading this book and it stated that the second part is coming out soon. I can’t wait. I want to see how Wills tells Sweets what he really does and how that affects their relationship. I enjoyed reading this book and truly can’t believe that I have to wait for the next part. It was at turns hard to read about such a young boy being hurt and brutalized and yet to see the man that he becomes, it was just amazing.

This is definitely a book worth reading and you’ll definitely reread this book. Sweet and loving and yet at times, it was truly heartbreaking. LOVED IT!!

4.5 Pants Off