Old Flame is fantastic! Well, yes, everything author Abbi Glines writes is, but back to Old Flame: it will light you up as soon as you start reading, have you blasting through pages anxious to see what happens to Tex and Salem next, and then wow, oh no, the end. No spoilers here, you’ll have to read it yourself. But I will say Old Flame is amazing and makes your mouth water for whatever comes next.
The story begins eighteen years in the past in a small town in Florida. Rome is 19 and Salem is 15 and they are madly in love. Rome’s mother took Salem in to prevent her from being abused further in her home or going to foster care. She’s a beautiful girl, creative, loves art – and was instantly drawn to Rome like a moth to a flame. He feels the pull as well. Every interaction is sweet; he is protective, possessive but she’s young and he’ll wait. He’s working in a motorcycle repair shop; she’s looking forward to going to art school someday. But they each know in their hearts they belong together and that they will make a life for themselves. Until Rome’s mother gets cancer. When she died, that was that. Suddenly there was nothing between them. Everyone was hurting. Salem was devastated at what she took as rejection. Rome had his reasons, but he has a heart, too.
So it’s out of sight, out of mind for both of them for eighteen years. Or so we think. New lives, wildly different. Rome is now ‘Tex’ and a member of The Judgment MC. They are his family. His life is rough and tough, many women but never any one special. Salem marries and lives a sedate life among the wealthy in Boston. Her heart might not thump like it did when she was a teenager and so in love with Rome, but that was young love; Eamon is a good man and her life with him has been satisfying.
The story takes us back and forth between that sweet time in Florida and the present day. Glines has them both in Miami now and throws them together in some very interesting circumstances. Salem was widowed a year ago after Eamon’s long illness. She can’t take life in Boston anymore. It’s empty without him, her mother-in-law is a thorn in her side. Her job as a curator at a gallery in Boston was fulfilling but she needed a change and has landed in Miami for a job interview. Who would think that going to a local bar for a drink on the one-year anniversary of Eamon’s death would lead to a chance, stunning, disturbing glimpse of Rome? Well, author Glines would, that’s who, and from that glimpse she gives us a story that is non-stop action and emotion and just drags us along for the ride. After all these years, Salem’s heart still spikes and her first inclination is to run. But he sees her and approaches her. He always was direct and often blunt, but the intervening years seem to have hardened him. When she can’t think of anything to say except, “You got your tongue pierced,” his quick reply is, “You got old.” So much for falling into each other’s arms with violin music playing. She’s not really surprised he’s a member of a motorcycle club; he always loved his work in the garage and it would seem to suit him. But she’s totally flustered at seeing him at all.
Motorcycle clubs are interesting entities. They have a lot of structure and organization. We think of them as a group of big, tough, scary-looking, hairy, tattooed men with scantily-dressed women hanging all over them, riding around making noise, picking fights and causing trouble. A lot of that is true: they are tough, they do not back down from fights, and women love them. Some of them do illegal things and some do not. But even the behaviors most of us might go, “Ewww” at are subject to codes, rules and morals. And they are loyal and strict.
From the time they meet again right up to the stunning conclusion Old Flame is full of interesting people who are not always what they seem, violent encounters, an inside view of life with The Judgment, twists, turns and surprises and a peek at old memories and feelings that just might be stronger than eighteen years of lost time.
As I already stated, everything Abbi Glines writes is enthralling and addictive and interconnected in so many ways; I might just have to spend the next year catching up and making a wall chart of how everybody fits together. She has a tremendous talent for taking characters and groups – motorcycle clubs, mafia family, strong businessmen, whatever – that appear unemotional and uncaring on the surface and inserting another layer below that is tender, caring, romantic, dedicated, devoted – and often funny. Rome/Tex and Salem parted under such heart-breaking circumstances and have led such different lives that any future for them seems nearly impossible, but Glines has you wishing and hoping and cheering for a happy ending. I absolutely loved Old Flame, I was stunned and frustrated by the surprise ending (in a good way!) and look forward eagerly to the next book in this series. I received an advance copy of this book. I voluntarily leave this review; all opinions are my own.