Damaged Goods by Ainslie Paton (Sidelined #2)
Released: August 1, 2016
Contemporary Romance
Self Published
Reviewed by Mandi
I had highs and lows with this story. Overall I liked it – however there are some “buts” coming.
Owen broke his back in a car accident, and his recovery and pain are not going well. Reliant on pain medication, he pretends he has it all under control. Owen, the CEO of a company with his good friends, thinks he is ready to resume his job, but his back has other ideas. The pain is too much, and his friends know he is popping pills way too much. To say that Owen is grumpy, is an understatement. (I do love a grumpy hero.) Cara works for this company in customer service. She was on her way to becoming an amazing gymnast when she also broke her back. Trying to give Owen some advice and support since they share the same injury, Owen does not want to hear a word of it. He is basically a big jerk. His friends stage an intervention and Owen finds himself in rehab, which is right where he needs to be.
When Owen comes back clean, and with a more manageable pain level, he apologizes to Cara, but also starts to realize he has feelings for her. They start hanging out and things start to turn romantic. There is only one problem – Owen has had erectile dysfunction since he broke his back. He can’t get any erection at all. He feels like less of a man and he is afraid to admit this to Cara, who wants to have dirty, dirty sex with him.
He does eventually tell her, and as they fall deeper in love, Cara accepts that he can’t have actual intercourse, but they do plenty of other things that keep their love life interesting. But Owen still worries about how this will play out long-term, and worries about his chances of having kids.
I really enjoyed Cara – she is forward, and gets excited about her lust towards Owen. She is cute, and full of energy and can take his grumpiness and give it right back to him. She felt genuine and warm. I liked Owen too. I felt like his pain was presented well and his addiction issues are not magically healed in this book. He has to come to terms with the fact that both the pain and the addition are going to be a life long struggle…and he is slow to accept it but he works on it. He fails sometimes, and I like that his entire situation is presented with flaws.
Their friends are supportive and a nice addition to the story. But here come the buts…
First, the way this author writes makes it a little difficult for me to get immersed in the story. I try to not comment on writing styles much, but I have to mention it because it took away from my enjoyment a bit. It’s hard to explain why…too wordy? Or maybe the way the characters spoke – it was hard to follow in a sense. I found myself having to reread passages – making it so I couldn’t get lost in the story.
My other “but” I’m going to put under a spoiler tag. It has to do with Owen and his erectile Dysfunction:
I liked this…except for my “buts” *wink.
Grade: B-
Kindle (also on KU)
I saw a lot of talk on Twitter about this book, but my book OCD means I have to read previous books in a series first. (I know this is not always necessary, & it would be cheaper if I didn’t do it, but I can’t help myself.) I read book 1, and it was ok at first, but it started to really drag for me. I had to force myself to finish it. It really needed a firmer editorial hand. After that, I am not sure I want to try this one. The blurb appeals to me, but I think I have lost my enthusiasm for it.
A firm editorial hand is a good way to put it.
This one starts strong but loses some steam, like book one. I like her subject matter and her characters….but it does get too wordy for me after a while.