Title: Rescue Me
Author: Scarlet Blackwell
Publisher: eXtasy Books
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Buy Link: Amazon.com
Length: Novel (405 PDF pages)
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
A Guest Review by Aunt Lynn
One Sentence Review: A well-written book that left me with very mixed emotions.
THE BLURB
After a near fatal car crash leaves him scarred both physically and emotionally, Matt Harmon finds the solitude of his huge, lonely house too much to bear. Hiring nurse James Hayden to look after him seems like the best idea for Matt, whose fierce independence has been compromised by his injuries. The two men clash from the start as James struggles to help Matt rebuild his shattered body and heal his crushed soul. The bond they form is forged in fire and ice, and the wounds they inflict on one another can only be erased by Matt’s admission that he can’t live without James’s loving touch. Will Matt realize too late that James is the only one who can rescue him from himself?
THE REVIEW
Matt is severely injured in a near-fatal car crash, left with multiple broken bones, internal injuries and scars inside and out. He requires nursing care once at home, but after going through two female nurses quickly, he decides to try a man the next time around. James arrives and sparks fly. Matt is not an easy person to be around on a good day, so being laid up in a hospital bed and relying on others makes him even more abrasive. When the one-night-stand womanizer realizes that he may be attracted to his male nurse, Matt runs the other man off, beginning what is a very difficult relationship full of lust, abuse, violence and hopefully something more.
I really, really wanted to like Rescue Me, the first story I’ve read from this author and while I found it to be technically very well written, in the end I had very mixed emotions that prevented it from being a 5-star read for me. It’s an angsty GFY tale with themes of abuse and redemption, and one which I difficulty reviewing because of the conflicts I had.
While completely engrossed from the first page, I was not relaxed reading because of the rollercoaster ride we go on with these characters. Completely dysfunctional and suffering from what I am naming the Fuck and Fight Syndrome, James calls it at one point “their twisted, violent, sick little relationship.” They smexx it up, then proceed to either verbally or physically abuse each other (mostly Matt doing the abusing and James taking it), then walk away saying they never wanted to see each other again, then do see each other again somewhere, then it all happens again. Wash, rinse, repeat. For about 200 pages. After the first several chapters of this, I became weary of the whiplash and what seemed to be the same scenes repeated over and over. But, at the same time, it made me think about abusive relationships, how complicated they can be and why seemingly-reasonable and strong people stay with their abusers.
Deeply flawed, conflicted and suffering from serious anger management issues, Matt is one of the most unlikeable characters I’ve ever read. I realize that he had a difficult childhood, doesn’t understand love or what is happening to him with the unwelcome attraction to James and has body image issues from the accident, but what a bastard he is — to his friends, his employees, his lovers. He is callous, cold, mean, angry, emotionally stunted, selfish, ignorant, spoiled, insulting, hurtful and abusive, in addition to being self-loathing and homophobic. He doesn’t even smile for real until page 364. He is happy to place blame on everyone else but himself, regardless of the situation or whom he hurts in the process, and I can’t imagine why anyone would continue to want to spend time with him. He has a conflict with not just those around him, but himself as well. He feels remorseful, with loads of shame and disgust at himself after being abusive to one character or another, yet he continues to be a total prick to just about everyone he encounters. Words I can think of to describe him are venomous, toxic and cruel. Though I adore me a tortured and flawed hero and recognize there are real people out there like Matt, there were times that I was hoping James would just inject something or one of his friends would shove him down a flight of stairs to take him out of our misery.
Being as this is a romance, I was praying there was some way to have Matt redeemed by the end, though I really couldn’t figure out how that would happen (especially when he is still acting in this manner more than three-quarters through the book). The author tries for that redemption, but unfortunately what we witness seems to be a personality transplant instead. He goes from being this raging, abusive jackass to a love-sick, hand-wringing, insecure, sappy nice guy in the course of a few days. He seems to be able to easily deal with his anger issues, something which has caused him problems his whole life. The complete turnaround seemed unrealistic to me based on what we know of this man and the actions we witness for the majority of the story.
For James, I had to question why he put up with the abuse Matt continually and generously delivered considering he seemed to be a strong, self-aware character in the beginning. His initial attraction (outside of what we are told are Matt’s very good looks) seems a bit dubious since Matt is a total jerk to him from just about the minute they meet, and because we only get a limited POV from James later in the book, I felt like I just didn’t understand. I had hoped that after he left Matt’s employ, he would have put his foot down since his leaving was a strong point, but that didn’t happen. Used and rejected time and again, I simply didn’t get his obsession with Matt.
A few other things:
Warning: there is a scene of dub-con, so for those of you who are sensitive to that, you’ll see it coming and can skip it.
Though set in the LA area, it is very obvious that this was written by a Brit. British words, phrases and spelling appear often. Things like cannula (which we Americans would just term an IV), “lose the plot” (I could guess the meaning, but looked it up to be sure), flannel for washcloth, etc, liberally lace the story. The author has Matt going through customs for a domestic flight, which didn’t seem right to me. As we’ve talked about on this site before, if a story is set in a certain country or culture, many readers expect that region’s terminology, spellings, mannerisms and so on to be present regardless of the author’s nationality.
I thought the epilogue was unnecessary and added little to the story.
Finally, as I’ve found with the several books I’ve read from this publisher, there are multiple, small editing and formatting errors.
OVERALL
While Rescue Me left me with very mixed feelings, I thought it was well-written and that fans of the author will probably love it. I would definitely pick up another book by her.
Thanks for the review. Lynn. Normally I like GFY and also flawed heroes, but from what you write I think I’ll stay away from this. Sounds like too much.
Also, I can corroborate to the not too thorough editing; I noticed the same in books by this publisher.
Hi Feliz. Though there may be some in between — like me — I think this will either be a lover or hate book, and many fans of the author LOVE this book (and love to hate Matt). If it sounds like it isn’t for you, then I would pass.
Lynn
Great review.
Reading your review it seems that this book was written by a completely different Scarlet Blackwell than the one whose books I have enjoyed. I just reviewed another book by this author yesterday which was wonderful, although it was about food and was a fun book, two elements I love. I can’t envision the same author writing this book.
Even though I’m a fan I definitely would not read this book because it has many elements that would upset me, so I think I’ll pass.
Thanks Wave. Yeah, this is definitely not a fun and light book. It’s not upsetting as some other books I’ve read recently, and it is very well-written, but the theme of abuse (mostly verbal and emotional, with some physical thrown in) will upset some readers.
After I was all done with this review yesterday, I went out to see what others were saying and there a fans who LOVE this book to the point of adamantly defending it against those who had problems with Matt. I expect that I may get some of those here as well, we’ll see. Me, I liked it and didn’t, and in the end rated it on the overall positives than the negatives.
But like I said, I am more than willing to try other books by her, starting with the Table for Two series that you’re reviewing, which seem right up my culinary and fun alley. 🙂
I think you were very generous with your review. There were several elements that would have just ruined it for me. Thanks for saving me the time and trouble.
Hi Marilyn. This book is definitely not for everyone.
My rating had a lot to do with the writing aspect as I think she has talent, technically speaking. My problems with the characters and plot were weighed against that and in the end I gave it what you see. Other readers, as I am sure will crop here, will either think I was too generous or to harsh. 🙂
Great review, Lynn. I couldn’t agree more wih your assessment of this book especially the whole F-n-F Syndrome. The whole back and forth became very tiring for me as a reader that I just wanted it over before I was half way finished.
Hey Aisha. There were times I wanted to throw the ebook at the wall, and times when I cringed (especially the kitchen scene). And yeah, the F-n-F got very tiresome after a while.
Lynn, you hit every single point that bothered me when I read this book.
I generally like Blackwell’s writing and violence doesn’t overly disturb me, but this relationship was just abusive and nasty.
As Marilyn remarked, you were quite generous. I would certainly have rated it lower.
Good morning GR. I found the book had just mean overtones, until chapter twenty-eight, that is, when it all turned around.
Regarding the rating, I went back and forth between what you see and something lower, and in the end, I decided that it was worth the 4 based on the writing. I mean, the book isn’t terrible, as others I have read over the last several years, but if the writing had been less sophisticated than it is, it would have definitely received a much lower rating.
I had the same issues with this book as you did. I’ve read a few books by this author and have found the angst in all of them a bit OTT. Strange, because normally I’m an angst lover.
Hi nichem. Yeah, this was an angst-fest for sure. That element competed with the verbal, emotional and physical violence to make it a difficult read. Like I said, I am more than willing to try other books by her, starting with the Table for Two series that Wave is reviewing.
I might try the Table for Two series based on Wave’s recs. Based on the issues you had with this book, I’d recommend staying away from Into the Light, though. I had even more problems with that book than I did Rescue Me.
Nichem
If you check the comments on the Second Helpings review you’ll notice that everyone who commented absolutely loves this series, so I think you’re safe. 🙂 It’s a very short series.
After I read the sample I waffled back and forth between buying this book or not. So, after reading your review I can safely say Yay for not buying it. Yeah, this is not for me. Thanks again.
Hi luci, and my pleasure. It’s not for everyone, though there are those who love it as well.
I really like Scarlet Blackwell’s writing style and I thoroughly enjoyed Just Desserts and Second Helpings, but I could not finish this one. I made it through 3/4 of the story and realized that there was no way (in my eyes) to redeem Matt by the end of the story.
If Matt had made an effort throughout the book to deal with his hateful behavior toward everyone, I would have been totally on board, indeed, I would have been fascinated to see him work to transform himself. But his behavior doesn’t change, and his endless cruelty, abuse and homophobia made me say “enough” and walk away.
I get how others might enjoy this book, but for me it just didn’t work.
I was really hoping for that redemption, but it didn’t happen. And yes, he is such a turnoff.
Kel, your comment exactly nails it for me (except that I haven’t read Just Desserts or Second Helpings). I finally just gave up because I couldn’t imagine any way Matt could possibly redeem himself in what remained of the book.
Lynn, I think your review was spot on as always, but you were far more generous with the rating than I would have been!
After just finishing this book, I too think you were really generous in your rating. I just couldn’t find anything likeable about Matt. He not only treated James rotten, but he was nasty to his friends. Just a complete bully. And James made me want to yell at him grow a pair, dump him and find somebody worthy of you. Just yuk.
Hi Patty. I went back and forth over how I wanted to rate it, and in the end the writing itself raised it for me despite my numerous issues. And Matt was horrible for sure.
I don’t think I had much hair on my head at the time I finished this book. I wanted to beat them both.
Yup, beatings were definitely in order, Alina. 🙂
Well the idea of a flawed protag sounds good, combined with the less than perfect setting. But maybe this is overdoing it a bit for romance 😉 It does sound interesting, but it’s probably the kind of book you have to be in a mood for.
Thanks for the indepth review! 🙂
I’m really glad you named the FandF phenomena Lynn 🙂
Seriously, I love angst but not when it comes from this source. I understand it, but it just isn’t for me.
Thanks for a wonderful review, it sounded like a difficult one to write.
🙂
The angst on those 200+ pages was definitely alot, especially what it was around. Not good.
I absolutely loved this book. From the first page, I got this “Beauty and the Beast”- feeling (my favorite fairy tale). So all the abuse, violence and hate kind of worked for me. It just felt like a modern, version of this old story. For me it was a story about a man who learned to love himself through helplessly loving another person (I hope that makes sense).
Hi Christina and thanks for commenting. There are definitely folks who love this book, and I was hoping that one would come and defend it. 🙂 That’s one of the things I love about us readers, how one book works for some and not others.