4.5 * review from Nicole @Emerald book reviews
A title was never more deserving for this beautiful and complicated love story. It’s been so long since I read a M/M romance that I forgot how much I truly enjoy them. The complexities faced by both men, even in today’s society, the fear and uncertainty that lies ahead, the ramifications and upset that being in love can cause, simply because of who they are, not what they are. The true essence of this book is about acceptance, not from other people, but knowing who you are deep down, coming face to face with the truth, and loving yourself before you can extend that love and devotion to someone else.
As always Maria Macdonald manages to capture the very real, pure and undiluted passion that brews between Caden and Casper from the get go but it’s the struggle and the very realistic and beautiful depiction of how one man has come to find peace and a breathtaking confidence within himself, while the other is seemingly floundering in a sea of chaos and confusion.
‘“Feelings are supposed to be pure. They’re wild, primitive, raw, and should remain that way. Existing in a natural state, that’s the only way to really love. Casper, that’s the only way to really live.”’
There are some supremely terrifying incidents in this book, not in a blood-bath, serial killer kind of way, but in a devastating realisation kind of way, that men who love one another, or women who love one another are denied a chance at a less complicated life. That they face slightly more challenges and prejudices than a heterosexual couple. It’s heartbreaking but at the end of it all, past all the trials and tribulations, Maria brings us to a wonderful and swoon-worthy climax. Nothing worth having is ever easy right?
This book is startling in its realism, in its ardour, in its agony and in its ultimate commitment. Maria is such a beautiful writer, her words move the scenes along so seamlessly, engaging, capturing, enthralling and the dialogue flows so spectacularly from one hero to the next, that you wish you could speak so eloquently to those you love.
If you want a stunning love story that melts your heart and has your emotions engaged way past The End, then definitely go pick up a copy of Conflicted today.