Tired of the London rat race and the heartbreak that comes with it,
photographer Jas Manning returns to Porthkennack, the Cornish seaside
town where he spent every childhood summer on his father’s farm.
Resigned to year-round rain, wind, and homemade jam, he’s sorely
unprepared for the impact that artsy carpenter Kim Penrose has on his
heart.
Kim’s free-loving reputation precedes him, and he’s as generous with his inked-up body as he is with his time. The sex is hot, the easy friendship even better, and Jas’s time with him building his family’s new farmhouse canteen is everything Jas was missing in his empty city life.
But Kim’s carefree existence isn’t as simple as it appears. He’s worked hard to vanquish his demons and build his dreams, but the devil on his shoulder is ruthless, and when it comes to call, their happy bubble bursts like it was never there at all. The canteen opening looms, but Kim is gone in more ways than one, and it’s down to Jas to shore up Kim’s soul and convince him that he deserves his place in Jas’s heart.
Welcome to Porthkennack, a charming Cornish seaside town with a long and sometimes sinister history. Legend says King Arthur's Black Knight built the fort on the headland here, and it’s a certainty that the town was founded on the proceeds of smuggling, piracy on the high seas, and the deliberate wrecking of cargo ships on the rocky shore. Nowadays it draws in the tourists with sunshine and surfing, but locals know that the ghosts of its Gothic past are never far below the surface.
This collaborative story world is brought to you by five award-winning, best-selling British LGBTQ romance authors: Alex Beecroft, Joanna Chambers, Charlie Cochrane, Garrett Leigh, and JL Merrow. Follow Porthkennack and its inhabitants through the centuries and through the full rainbow spectrum with historical and contemporary stand-alone titles.
Check out Porthkennack! http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/universe/porthkennack
Kim’s free-loving reputation precedes him, and he’s as generous with his inked-up body as he is with his time. The sex is hot, the easy friendship even better, and Jas’s time with him building his family’s new farmhouse canteen is everything Jas was missing in his empty city life.
But Kim’s carefree existence isn’t as simple as it appears. He’s worked hard to vanquish his demons and build his dreams, but the devil on his shoulder is ruthless, and when it comes to call, their happy bubble bursts like it was never there at all. The canteen opening looms, but Kim is gone in more ways than one, and it’s down to Jas to shore up Kim’s soul and convince him that he deserves his place in Jas’s heart.
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About Porthkennack
Welcome to Porthkennack, a charming Cornish seaside town with a long and sometimes sinister history. Legend says King Arthur's Black Knight built the fort on the headland here, and it’s a certainty that the town was founded on the proceeds of smuggling, piracy on the high seas, and the deliberate wrecking of cargo ships on the rocky shore. Nowadays it draws in the tourists with sunshine and surfing, but locals know that the ghosts of its Gothic past are never far below the surface.
This collaborative story world is brought to you by five award-winning, best-selling British LGBTQ romance authors: Alex Beecroft, Joanna Chambers, Charlie Cochrane, Garrett Leigh, and JL Merrow. Follow Porthkennack and its inhabitants through the centuries and through the full rainbow spectrum with historical and contemporary stand-alone titles.
Check out Porthkennack! http://www.riptidepublishing.com/titles/universe/porthkennack
What I thought about Junkyard Heart
Jas returns to Porthkennack after a devastating breakup that leaves him hesitant to get involved again. When he meets Kim at an outdoor fair, he's intrigued but wary. He's definitely attracted to Kim, but not quite ready for anything in the way of a relationship.
Kim feels the attraction too, and when they hookup at a concert where Jas is taking photos, it's the beginning of a tense friendship / relationship/ ???. Neither Jas or Kim is quite sure. One thing is for certain, and that's Kim has some past difficulties with addiction, and he's also got something going with Lena, the red-haired singer and tattoo artist where Kim also works.
I thought this was a very emotional, albeit quiet tale of two men finding each other and figuring out just what that means. Jas is concerned after finding out about Lena, because of the heartbreak caused by his former lover. And Kim has problems with alcoholism and depression that make him not the easiest person to connect with. I loved all that about this story. Jas and Kim are complex humans searching for something/someone to stave off the loneliness they feel.
This is my second Porthkennack book and I loved it! There's a lot of charm in this little seaside community, and that also translates to the dialect of the characters which makes reading this seem like a mini-vacation to the Cornish seaside town. This is what draws me back to this series. These characters carry their scars unapologetically, and I love that about them too.
I should give a warning that there's quite a bit of talk about depression and addiction in this tale, and that may be triggering for some readers. I know I felt it deeply and I'm sure it will hit home for other readers.
I loved Jas and Kim's story. It didn't have a huge amount of conflict because most of that was very internal. This was a quick read, and only took a couple of days to finish. Overall, I'd recommend this if you are interested in reading an M/M romance about learning to live with past mistakes and finding a way to embrace the promise of a happy future.
An ARC was provided for review.
About Garrett Leigh
Garrett
Leigh is an award-winning British writer and book designer, currently
working for Dreamspinner Press, Loose Id, Riptide Publishing, and Fox
Love Press.
Garrett's
debut novel, Slide, won Best Bisexual Debut at the 2014 Rainbow Book
Awards, and her polyamorous novel, Misfits was a finalist in the 2016
LAMBDA awards.
When
not writing, Garrett can generally be found procrastinating on Twitter,
cooking up a storm, or sitting on her behind doing as little as
possible, all the while shouting at her menagerie of children and
animals and attempting to tame her unruly and wonderful FOX.
Garrett
is also an award winning cover artist, taking the silver medal at the
Benjamin Franklin Book Awards in 2016. She designs for various
publishing houses and independent authors at blackjazzdesign.com, and co-owns the specialist stock site moonstockphotography.com with renowned LGBTQA+ photographer Dan Burgess.
Social media:
Website: http://garrettleigh.com
Cover art enquiries: blackjazzdesign@gmail.com
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