Solitude & Sea Glass

Title: Solitude & Sea Glass
Author: T.D. McKinney & Terry Wylis
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

A Guest Review by Aunt Lynn

THE BLURB

Since his discovery as a child star by a big Hollywood studio, Holland Faust has known he has no value beyond his pretty face. When a crazed fan with a knife ended his acting career, he withdrew to a secluded island off the coast of Maine. There he remains locked away, his solitary existence lightened only by his dog, his garden, and the rare sea glass washed up on shore, communicating only with his two estate keepers and his agent. Without his legendary face, what does he have to offer anyone? Especially someone as vital and beautiful as Ruby Keagan. The young man mistakenly hired as his personal assistant for the summer is the last thing Holland’s fragile self-image needs.

Ruby never really thought about his teenage crush on Holland Faust. The poster on his wall had become nothing more than a memory until Ruby took a summer internship for the Faust Charitable Foundation. Hol far exceeds those youthful daydreams; a sensitive, caring man who deserves so much more than his lonely existence.

Now, if Ruby can just get Hol to realize he doesn’t need to hide any longer…

THE REVIEW

Solitude & Sea Glass is the second book by author T.D. McKinney that I’ve read and reviewed (Paxton’s Winter is reviewed here) — though this is the first one I’ve read by this pairing — and a book about which I had mixed feelings. I had really wanted to like this book as I loves me a tale with a physically and emotionally damaged hero, but in the end, I thought it didn’t meet its potential for a number of reasons.

Holland is a former child actor and Hollywood star — or was until a fan took it all away from him by slashing his face with a knife fifteen years before. Now a recluse living on a small island off the Maine coast, he spends his time walking the shore with his dog, collecting sea glass and trying not to focus on what was. When he opens the door to greet his new summer intern, he is shocked to find a beautiful young man instead of a person of the female persuasion as he expected, especially since he was told “her” name was Ruby. What was Hol’s agent thinking when she hired him as she has explicit instructions to only hire women? No matter how qualified Ruby was, he could not stay; Hol would never be able to control himself around such beauty, posing a threat to his carefully-maintained closet. Convincing Hol to give him two days to demonstrate that he is the best assistant he will ever have, Ruby does just that, making Hol give in and say yes to him staying — and to everything else Ruby offers. When Ruby attempts to show Hol that he can go back into the world with confidence, Hol’s long-ingrained and delicate self-esteem issues create challenges for both of them.

This story started out fine for me; in fact, I liked the first three chapters quite a bit, as well as the last four chapters and the epilogue. The middle section, however, just got bogged down with an overabundance of purple prose, melodrama and angst, bringing the rating down with it.  More on that in a bit.

I thought Holland and Ruby had good chemistry, had a lot in common despite their disparities, and I bought their relationship. I felt Ruby, who I liked better of the two protags, was good for Holland, and that he was charming and real. I thought his upbringing in Appalachia’s hill-country lent charm to his character, which came through in his easy smile, open, laid-back nature and chosen profession. I also liked how he handled Hol’s seeming inability to move past his issues: “You don’t believe the Oscar was for real. You don’t believe I’m for real. There’s nothing I can do about that, Hol. No one can. Except you.”

The smexxin, when it does occur, is spare and barely defined. After just completing Bobby Michaels’ Jock Dorm series, it was almost a shock to switch gears to a story where the sex was not only limited in amount devoted per page, but to not read graphic descriptions of body parts and explicit language. *g*

Now for the niggles:

I think my biggest issue is with Holland, who I really tried to like, but whose self-esteem and self-worth issues crossed over to self-pity to me, and whose loneliness felt self-inflicted. He doesn’t believe Ruby can truly love him because of his scars, no matter what Ruby says; he doesn’t think the world could accept him because of his scars; he thinks the Oscar he received was awarded only out of pity for his attack. The woe-is-me attitude over his life and what happened to him created angst like I haven’t read in a while, and it wore on me.

A long, indrawn breath shivered through the emptiness of the room as the lyrics to “Angel” played out the contents of his heart. So alone. [John] Barrowman gave voice to all Hol’s pain and needs. His useless dreams laid out bare and bleeding on his white carpet. So much nothingness, with no angel to carry him away from his darkness and the cold endlessness. There was and would always be only silence and wreckage.

As so many nights before, the crushing weight of the years of solitude pressed tears from Holland’s eyes, bowed his head, and drove hope from his soul. He let silent sobs shake his body. He’d become adept at assuring no one heard him weep for what he could never have.

I didn’t feel bad for him, as some readers may and will; I wanted to slap him and send him to therapy. To make matters worse for me, there comes a point when Hol realizes that everything he thought wasn’t, and he changes his opinion about Ruby’s motives for loving and wanting him. Without giving spoilers, I can say that the about face left me feeling like this man will never be happy no matter what life presents to him. It all got old for me very quickly.

Hol is also, in my opinion, inconsistent in how he acts around his orientation. He is so closeted, so concerned about anyone finding out, he cannot even bring himself to be truthful to his long-time house staff, a married couple who are like family to him, nor his long-time agent, with whom he is closest and considers his only friend. He is even concerned about spying paparazzi in boats with telephoto lenses, yet he not only opens himself up to a man — a stranger, really — who he has known for only three days, he carries on with that man outside in view of anyone who might be snooping.

While I don’t mind some flowery copy, the copious purple prose present through much of the story was a bit much for me:

Every muscle snapped tight, the universe centering on Hol’s mouth and Ruby’s need. A cry accompanied the eruption of pure passion into his lover’s mouth, body surging as wave after wave crashed through Ruby, rocking him until he sank back onto the pillowed mattress, boneless and deliciously spent.

That declaration broke the last threads of his control, and Hol threw his head back as the world splintered into a million shards of sensation, strong surf crashing over him, wringing life into him again. He cried out Ruby’s name, trusting those strong arms to catch him as he sank over his lover, spent and panting.

The universe narrowed down to Holland’s love and the pounding of surf on a rocky shore. Ruby’s body surged in tune with those breakers, breath shivering in and out, his lover’s name recited as a plea. His fingertips pressed to Hol’s scalp, holding close, as a final swell broke, sending Ruby spiraling out of control.

Lastly, though I thought the first instances cute and clever, I found the numerous references to the theme of jewels completely overdone and frankly annoying after a while. In thinking of or talking to Ruby, Hol uses words in this theme so many times that I lost count: jewel, precious, rare, ruby. For instance:

Ruby was a jewel far beyond price…precious, glittering jewel.

“My Ruby most rare.”

“Such a jewel.”

“…my beautiful, precious jewel”

Truly a jewel beyond price.

OVERALL

Despite a promising premise and some aspects that I liked, Solitude & Sea Glass fell short of a satisfying read for me. Other readers may feel differently.