READING: Shattered Glass by Dani Alexander

Publication date: January 31 2012
Published by: Dani Alexander
Genre: MM, Adult, Romance, Contemporary, Suspense, Funny
Rating: 

A male prostitute, a mangy cat, a murder and a maniacal mix-up that threatens his career, his impending marriage and his life. Nothing is going as planned for Austin Glass.

Austin—seems to have it all. At least on the surface. A loving fiancee. A future with the FBI and a healthy sized trust fund. He also has a grin and a wisecrack for every situation. But the smile he presents to everyone hides a painful past he’s buried too deeply to remember. And his quips mask bitterness and insecurity. Austin has himself and most of the whole world fooled. Until he meets someone who immediately sees him better than he sees himself.

As events unfold and Austin’s world unravels, he finds himself pushed into making quick life-changing decisions. But can he trust Peter or what’s happening between them when each meeting seems to be just a series of volatile reactions?

Wow, reading this book is an experience all on its own. Completely different than any other mm (or fm) I have ever read. I have to applaud the author for that, managing to write something so unique and original, which in this day and age, is basically impossible.

Shattered Glass is not your typical sweet mm romance. It is not your typical dark and violent mm romance, either. For those who like hot mm romances, this will probably not be for you, for the sole reason that it focuses more on the story and the characters, than the relationship part. Don't expect super hot and sexy scenes, but it's not lacking in spice. Also, don't expect one of these over glamourised relationships either, where MCs sex scenes play out like wet dreams. We're talking embarrassing stuff being said, very awkward moments, and I really appreciated it that the author kept it real and didn't cower from it. What I actually found sexy was how wonderfully embarrassed Austin was about almost everything he did, but because of his total devotion to Peter he was willing to embrace the shame and the awkwardness and try things completely out of his comfort zone, even though they made him cringe inwardly. For a spoiled brat, Austin was the epitome of selflessness. 

Austin and Peter are hard men to like and root for. Austin is a rich, entitled smartass, with a sensitive streak a mile long, and Peter is manipulative and untrustworthy, but also very loving. I have to hand it to the author for making these two not only work, but making the reader want them to work so desperately, even though they weren't even convinced they should be together. This is still a HEA (of course), but it had enough bumps in the road to make you think it might actually not be, and that was very interesting.
The one problem I did have with this book was how much convoluted the story was. All the stuff with illegal immigrants and drugs and who is who and who did what to whom, was all very unclear and I felt like I had no context most of the time. I think the author's plans for the story line were very ambitious and the execution was not great.

Overall, kudos for writing something so unconventional and particular. I thoroughly enjoyed it and I would totally recommend it (already have :)