2 out of 4 stars
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Lovers Anna and Rafe are linked by the hell of their individual pasts, and nothing could tear them apart. Together they fight to sever the toxic bonds between themselves and their former abusers, corrupt military CO Eric Dayton and his allies, the evil Preston family. Trouble is, these powerful monsters are hell-bent on orchestrating terrible things in the lives of their victims, and they won’t give up their toys so easily.
An unthinkable revelation shatters Rafe and Anna’s all-or-nothing relationship. Heartbroken Anna must find enough strength to confront her demons alone, because the Preston family isn't finished with her yet. When Rafe and Anna are thrown back together, it's in a desperate struggle to break free of their torturers once and for all.
Heartaches 2, second book in the Bad Boy Vibes series by H. M. Irwing, is certainly entertaining, thanks to its breakneck pacing and twisty plot. The characters’ inner struggles are intriguing and honest, making the most of Irwing’s third-person limited omniscient style. Though I didn't read the previous book in the series, and the writing is a tad flowery for my taste, I was able to follow along and have fun; I was fully immersed in the drama when a crafty “To be continued…” left me wanting more. Cliffhanger ending? Yes please.
Both Rafe and Anna are sexual abuse survivors, and Irwing shows great insight into the self-blame, fear, confusion and anger associated with such trauma. Rafe rages against any suggestion of being at someone’s mercy, Anna grapples with defining her own role in the assaults for which she was targeted, and they both work to repair the mental and emotional damage of having loved their abusers. I was impressed by Irwing’s sensitive handling of the subject, especially with relation to male rape.
There are, however, problems with the book.
Heartaches 2 revolves around Anna and Rafe's passionate connection … portrayed in terms of textbook co-dependence. While this isn't surprising given the horror of their histories, the relationship is admired and envied by all who see them together. Actually, both partners suffer intense jealousy at the barest whiff of romantic rivalry and are obsessive in clinging to each other. Rafe in particular shows such possessive tendencies that, although he is the main man-candy of the book – and his A+ bod is described at length – I found him off-putting. The result is a be-all, end-all intimacy too unhealthy to be on a pedestal.
Less troubling (just enough to make me say “Ew” out loud), are the icky, near-constant descriptions of eyes. Pretty green and pretty brown eyes are transmogrified into “forest-green attention” and “duplicate orbs of melting chocolate”. In one scene Anna’s “shards of emerald” undergo a lengthy colour switch, with “a muddy hue” edging in “past the crystal green to awash it in ebony. A murky jade stared back … only a moment later”. The book is stuffed with overwrought passages like these. I’m all for creative descriptions, but let’s call an eye an eye, shall we?
Unfortunately, Heartaches 2 contains a huge amount of errors, ranging from homophone replacements and apostrophe abuse to skipped, misspelled or spliced words. The occasional sentence doesn’t make sense because of liberties taken with structure, verb disagreements and ambiguous pluralizing.
I award Heartaches 2 only 2 out of 4 stars. In spite of slipshod editing and other issues I'll keep an eye out for the next book. It’s an unusual choice for nit-picky me, but I want to see how the drama plays out. I found myself captivated by the plight of the star-crossed lovers. The plot zigs and zags like there's no tomorrow, and the tackling of sensitive issues is perceptive – minus one notable failure. I hope the next book takes a few more passes beneath an editor's nose, and I'd like to see Anna and Rafe’s relationship evolve into something healthy.
Fewer eye metaphors would also be appreciated.
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Heartaches 2
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