Series: Coming Home
Volume: 2/?Publisher: Rainbow Tree Publishing
Genre/s: Small-Town M/M Romance
Length: 18 000
Read in: English
Review copy format: epub
Rate:✮✮✮✮✬✰
After living in the UK for five years, Leo returns to his native Australia for holiday. However, being home doesn't mean he only has the opportunity to meet his loved ones after all those years, as he's also forced to face his past. Years ago, he made several mistakes because of which he's now afraid to face his old love, Zak. However, that's something he can't avoid, and as it turns out, old love never dies.
"Amalgamated" is the second volume of "Coming Home" series consisting of sweet short stories by Becca Seymour. An interesting thing about this installment is undoubtedly the fact that as the story unfolds, the events from the past that have influenced and shaped the present are slowly revealed. And that's why we can say that reading this story we learn two stories about our protagonists at the same time – the one that happened five years ago and the one that is taking place right before our eyes. Thanks to all this, "Amalgamated" is even more addictive. What's more, we could also say that the reader gets to know each of the characters in a double way, because they see Leo and Zak as they are now and what kind of people they were five years ago. And it undoubtedly makes us all the more interested in the story.
I think that a very interesting theme that appears in "Amalgamated" and that really makes the reader impressed is the subject of wasted time. Five long years passed between the significant events of the past and the present they influenced. During that time, the two main characters were fully aware of the fact that their lives could have been different. Their situation resembles that of the second chance romances, but I think that in this case the passage of time is more important, because Leo and Zak didn't really have "the first chance", to start with. Thus, five years spent away from each other, on the one hand, changed something in them and made them wiser, but on the other hand, those where loveless five years of wasted opportunities.
Looking at "Amalgamated" as a whole, we can undoubtedly say that it is a really nice story that draws us in and makes us smile. Despite the drama of the past we learn about, the present is shown in lovely, bright colors. Thus, we read "Amalgamated" with pleasure, and also incredibly fast as it is just a short story. Although I would say that in this case we are dealing with a really short short story, it is so absorbing that once we start reading it, we can't stop until we get to the long-awaited "happily ever after".
To sum up, "Amalgamated" is an interesting short story which tells us the story of two really charming characters. Reading "Amalgamated" we can relax and forget about the hardships of everyday life. That's why I believe you should read it and check for yourself.
Headcanon: Leo and Zak can't part for more than a day.
Fanfiction idea: Leo takes Zak to the UK when he goes there to take care of all his affairs. He wants to show the man the country he has lived in for the past five years.
AU idea: Hogwarts!AU
Here's some more about:
After five years of living in the UK, it’s time for Leo to return home to his dad’s stud farm in outback Australia. He has no idea what to expect when he arrives. He didn’t exactly leave with balloons and banners.
Nope. His farewell involved destruction and his own heart split in two.
He knows seeing the man who’s always held his heart, Zak, is going to be awkward. The older farm manager made his feelings pretty damn clear when Leo hightailed it out of there.
Leo quickly figures out life is going to get complicated and a whole heap more exciting as his trip home becomes so much more.
Amalgamated is a fun and steamy M/M short story in Becca Seymour’s Coming Home series. Stand-alone romances complete with heat, wit, and happily ever afters.
Book Title: Amalgamated
Author: Becca Seymour
Cover Artist: Soxsational Cover Art
Trope/s: Friends to lovers, May to December,
Themes: Forgiveness
Heat Rating: 3 flames
Release Date: September 28, 2019
It is a standalone story.
Escape with Leo and Zak in outback Australia as they discover it sometimes takes time, distance, and interfering family to amalgamate.
Blurb
Blurb
Nope. His farewell involved destruction and his own heart split in two.
He knows seeing the man who’s always held his heart, Zak, is going to be awkward. The older farm manager made his feelings pretty damn clear when Leo hightailed it out of there.
Leo quickly figures out life is going to get complicated and a whole heap more exciting as his trip home becomes so much more.
Amalgamated is a fun and steamy M/M short story in Becca Seymour’s Coming Home series. Stand-alone romances complete with heat, wit, and happily ever afters.
Excerpt
“Promise you won’t be mad.”
Groaning, I shook my head. Any request starting that way was going to result in me being pissed off. “What did you do?”
This time her glance my way had me tensing. Concern flickered in her eyes. When she focused on the road ahead, she blew out her cheeks, her lips pursed. “We’re heading to mine.”
“Okay?” I dragged out the word. I’d figured that out since we weren’t heading towards Dad and Michelle’s.
“Dad kinda got excited about you coming home.”
My stomach dipped. I just knew where she was heading with this. Slamming my eyes shut, I waited for her next words.
They came out in a rush. “Sohekindainvitedaheapofpeopleover. But…” She gasped for breath. “…it’s not technically a party, as there aren’t banners or balloons.”
My eyes sprang open, and I stared at her wide-eyed.
She glanced at me, a mix of horror and amusement on her face. “You owe me big for talking him out of that.”
“Yet you couldn’t have talked him into a small family meal?”
She shrugged. “I did try, but, Leo.” She paused, emotion swirling in her eyes, and I swallowed. This was just one of the reasons I’d stayed away. Guilt still clawed at me whenever I gave it life. “Dad was so excited you were coming home. You know he still doesn’t understand why you left. If it had just been heading to the city, that would have been a struggle, but you travelled to the other side of the world.”
My gut clenched. I still felt shit for leaving my dad, but I had my own life to live, and taking over my dad’s stud farm wasn’t what I wanted. Plus there was the major screw-up with how I destroyed any semblance of a friendship with Zak.
“There’s more.”
I flashed Jen a resigned look.
“Dad obviously invited Zak.”
My heart seized, and my gut churned. This could not be happening. While I’d anticipated seeing him, I wasn’t prepared for it to be the first night I got home. In hindsight, this was ridiculously naïve of me, considering his place was only a hundred metres or so away from the main house on the property.
“I know, I know, but best to get the whole awkwardness out of the way, right?” She reached out and gave my hand a small squeeze. After I’d run out on Zak the night I’d left, it had taken just a handful of calls from Jen for her to recognize something was wrong and for me to spill my guts. We remained close, even with the distance of the past five years, and without her in my corner, life certainly would have been trickier.
“Yeah, I suppose.” There was something to be said for ripping the Band-Aid off, but my gut clenched in anticipation.
About the Author
Becca Seymour lives and breathes all things book related. Usually with at least three books being read and two WiPs being written at the same time, life is merrily hectic. She tends to do nothing by halves so happily seeks the craziness and busyness life offers.
Living on her small property in Queensland with her human family as well as her animal family of cows, chooks, and dogs, Becca appreciates the beauty of the world around her and is a believer that love truly is love.
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