The Heart of Smoke by K Webster

Title: The Heart of Smoke
Author: K Webster
Series: Shameful Secrets, book three
Release Date: January 29, 2024

From USA Today Bestselling Author K Webster comes a new dark age-gap, enemies-to-lovers MM captive romance!

ABOUT THE BOOK:

He’s a mysterious recluse with an unhealthy obsession with his therapist.
He doesn’t want help… He just wants him.

Love is for those who deserve it. I certainly don’t. The person I loved most in this world died in my arms decades ago and I am to blame. I’ll forever be tormented by what-ifs where I was Mom’s hero instead of this repulsive, mask-wearing beast I’ve ultimately become.

All that’s left of my heart is black smoke—suffocating and toxic. I’m nothing but a shadow of a man, locked in my dark fortress of a home, away from people and hidden in my carefully walled-up world.

My family is all I have to live for. Somehow, they look past the fact I survived when Mom didn’t. Like it’s not my fault. It’s also why I’ll protect them with every single fiber of my being.

Even from him.
Tate Prince has been paid by my father to infiltrate our family. Invited not just into our homes, but into our past, our heartaches, and even our minds. Dad thinks this young man—a therapist with a captivating grin—is the key to repairing all the damage we’ve sustained over the years.

But I know better.
I can see through Tate’s friendly disposition and easygoing nature.
In his eyes are dark secrets that haunt him like ghosts from another life. He’s not as perfect as he seems. Underneath his mask of smiles are ugly truths I’m desperate to uncover.

And I will uncover them.
If that means keeping him under lock and key where I can watch his every move, I will.
It’s not captivity if he’s being paid, right?

However, when I start unraveling his life, I learn there’s a lot more to Tate than meets the eye. The more I discover, the more obsessed I become. My heart, the dusty, charred, still-smoking useless organ sparks to life making me come to a startling realization. I want him.

I’m not the only one who feels this way, though. Tate’s biggest secret is he already has a monster in his life. A terrible, spiteful monster—one who’ll stop at nothing to get what he wants.

But I’m uglier, nastier, and a hell of a lot more vicious. I may have failed to save my mother, but I will not fail this time.
Tate is mine.

***This is a complete mm standalone novel with a happily ever after.***

Available now from your favorite retailer!
↪ https://books2read.com/u/b5YxQ7

The Heart of Smoke by K. Webster
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Jude wears a mask to hide his looks and his pain. Tate is a therapist dealing with his own issues, haunted by a vengeful ex, barely functioning, yet he’s supposed to help Jude back from the brink. (to his cat funky…) “we’re going to be rich. Mark my words. All we have to do is tame the beast and draw out his demons so we can slay them.” Such an optimistic outlook, too bad for him. (Jude’s thoughts…) ”Therapist Tate doesn’t look like a therapist at all. He looks like a little boy playing grown-up games.” “We’re going to war, you and I, little boy.” Jude’s dad has hired Tate to be therapist to the whole family. The family dynamic is a gigantic soap opera and Tate has stepped into Neverland. He might just have traded one monster for another. Jude has scars, “Lots of people have them on the outside. Most of us have them on the inside.”

There was a lot of pain in this story and at times it was painful to read but it was definitely never dull. I’m not sure how the author created entertainment out of so much dysfunction but she certainly did.

I haven’t read the other books in the series and at times that might of been helpful but there was enough background given that I wasn’t lost. The book had a large cast of likable characters including an adorable cat. Tate’s ex was despicably evil and even he was well written.

If I had a complaint about the story it would be that Tate managed to solve most of the family issues rather easily.

I like this author and this was another winner.

Review Copy requested and reviewed on behalf of OMGReads.

View all my reviews

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CHECK OUT THE SERIES TODAY!

The Teacher of Nothing: https://books2read.com/u/bp1jEz
The Tangle of Awful: https://books2read.com/u/3y9gvV
The Heart of Smoke: https://books2read.com/u/b5YxQ7

K Webster is a USA Today Bestselling author. Her titles have claimed many bestseller tags in numerous categories, are translated in multiple languages, and have been adapted into audiobooks. She lives in “Tornado Alley” with her husband, two children, and her baby dog named Blue. When she’s not writing, she’s reading, drinking copious amounts of coffee, and researching aliens.