In all of our justified focus on same-sex marriage, there are other issues that impact the LGBT community that we don't always consider with enough energy, attention, and focus. Domestic violence is one of those issues. "Reclaiming Love" focuses on a victim's attempt, not only to survive a horrific experience of domestic abuse, but to reclaim his life and move on.Three years ago, Kevin Stohler left a vicious relationship, and he is still recovering from it. He is a shell of his former vivacious self: he does not engage in many of the activities that he used to love, he has a limited social circle, and since his self-esteem is the pits, he does not believe that anyone decent could find him attractive. That is why he is absolutely stunned when the "golden god," Connor McCann, hits on him one day in a bookshop. Well-meaning friends, however, broker a coffee date, and after that, the two are off and running. Kevin's ex, however, is stalking him, and his actions threaten to ruin the budding relationship that is developing between Kevin and Connor.This book takes a really compelling look at how one victim tries to handle the fallout from an abusive relationship, and it is pretty honest in the way that it details Kevin's fears and his reactions, as well as the damage to his self-esteem. It is also pretty brutal in its assessment of the official response to same-sex domestic violence, particularly between men. Connor's willingness to accept the situation was a bit unrealistic, but only because he and Kevin had been dating for such a brief period of time when he was forced to make really hard choices regarding both his and Kevin's safety, choices that he should not have been expected to make after such a short a short acquaintance. Other than that, though, I thought it was a very strong novel. I went into this novel with very high expectations; many of my friends rated this 5 stars and I am a sucker for the hurt/comfort trope. Unfortunately, I didn't end up loving this as much as I expected.Kevin is a former dancer who is struggling to move on with his life after leaving a very abusive, sadistic ex. Connor is new in town and upon meeting Kevin a local bookstore, falls for him almost immediately. After finishing the book, I have struggled to pinpoint exactly what it is that I didn't like. I think it comes down to a couple of major issues. There was a lot of telling instead of showing. Kevin's past traumas are constantly re-hashed in detail instead of just allowing the reader to see the effects of Josh's abuse. Also, the abuse story completely dominated the relationship between Kevin and Connor. They met, Kevin ran, they went on a couple of dates, and then BAM relationship. I would have liked to see their relationship based on something a little more than talking about past traumas. I also felt like there were far too many secondary characters, the sassy female BFF, the roommate, the former Dom/counselor, the estranged mother, the concerned bookstore owner/friend, they all just sort of hovered around in concern. It was nice to see that Kevin had developed a family, but one or two these characters would have served the purpose.Overall, I enjoyed this novel enough to give it 3 stars, but it just fell short in several areas.
