A Review: “Hidden Scars” by Andi Jaxon
I am officially in my male/male romance era and it all started with “Hidden Scars.”
RATING: Infinity/5 Stars
Rissa’s Ranking Entry Foyer. This book swept me off my feet and is easily going to be one of my favorite reads of all time. I don’t even think I’m being dramatic this time.
“Hidden Scars” is a story about love, trauma, and growth. This was my first m/m only romance; I can confidently say that I’m going to become a connoisseur of the genre. This was absolutely mind blowing and kept me hooked from the first page. From the romance to the plot, it’s one I’ll never forget.
Since finishing this book I simply cannot stop thinking about Jeremy and Preston. Their characters felt so real and I could feel their every emotion both separately and together. Their dynamic is everything I could ask for in an enemies-to-lovers book. The pining, tension, and angst between Jeremey and Preston was perfectly paired with forced proximity and dynamite sex scenes. You can feel how much these two are meant to be together.
Preston is my actual baby. He tries and tries, but his trauma is so deeply rooted in his subconscious that he physically has to work throughout the novel to even begin to understand how deserving he is of being loved. And Jeremy, my sweet little baby, was the perfect person to compliment Preston’s journey through careful patience and understanding. I truly felt, with every fiber of my being, the stress of these characters— I wanted it to work out! I was on my toes the entire time, even though I knew it was a HEA (happily-ever-after), that’s how badly I wanted to see them heal.
“Hidden Scars” hit every element of dark romance that I eat up. There was toxicity, “touch him and you die,” aggressive sexy time, and seriously unflinching scenes that made me tear up. The amount of times I cried while reading this book isn’t even funny. Check the trigger warnings before reading, though, because there are some pretty graphic abuse scenes, and, while essential to the story, they might not be for some readers.
