Review by LMV9 -- Heartaches 2 by H.M. Irwing

[LMV9]

[Following is a volunteer review of "Heartaches 2" by H.M. Irwing.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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I rate Heartaches 2 by H M Irwing 2 out of 4 stars

Rafe and Anna are two broken souls that bonded together to become a force to be reckoned with -Rafe as the trainer and Anna, the trainee at the military training base in Melbourne. They both have ‘demons’ from their past that overshadowed their intense love for one another. Rafe, a victim of rape at the hand of his commanding office in Syria suffers from bouts of nightmares, mostly of rage against his perpetrator. Meanwhile Anna his passionate lover, also a rape victim has her own demons to exorcise albeit the turmoil of facing yet again the possibility of losing her true love.

Together with the support of a few ‘buddies’ from the military training centre, they meet head-on the main villains (Eric Dayton and the Preston men) before they (villains) could destroy the only fabric of happiness these two lovers could ever experience. It is admirable how Rafe and Anna despite the roller coaster ride of physical, mental, emotional abuse and reliving their painful past could finally see some semblance of their lives. Having endured the traumatic passage of time and being riddled with guilt and shame, it’s a wonder how Rafe and Anna could even cope and yet, their love for each other drove them to be machines of strength for each other. The ensuing ‘happily ever after’ romance between these two vulnerable yet strong couple will tug at your heartstring. I found myself rooting for Rafe and Anna to have their peace of mind, to be blissfully in love without their past interfering in their future. A past that threatens to rip them apart through no fault of theirs.

Irwing has touched on some real issues prevalent in our society since time immemorial that is finally gaining momentum with the #hashtag me too movement worldwide. I gave this book a two out of 4 stars as I find the overly descriptive adjectives to be tiresome and the excessive use of ‘f’ words not suitable for a romance genre. In my opinion, Irwing could have brought ‘it’ home with less usage of sexual overtones and, building more on the comradeship at the training base instead of the overly complicated relationship between the Prestons’ to Anna, Rafe and Eric. Towards the end, I just lost interest in the plot and couldn’t see myself ‘immersing into’ the story anymore.

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Heartaches 2
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