POINT OF CONTACT by MELANIE HANSEN

 ‘You have no idea you’re about to have the worst day of your life.’

Sometimes you read a book that reduces you to absolute tears to the point you’re unable to carry on and have to put your kindle aside for a while. Point of Contact is this kind of story. It was stunningly beautiful, heart-breaking, highly emotional, inspirational and hopeful. It was a story of love and overcoming tragedy and grief. A story of friendship and passion. Beauty and love can be found in the darkest of night. As has been said; only in complete darkness can you see the light of the stars.

“…grief is a journey, except there’s no point A to B. It’s a fucking twisty-turny, up-and-down, forward-and-back piece of shit. It’s one good day…hell, maybe it’s only a few good hours…in the midst of a shit-ton of bad ones. But you don’t give up, and you keep going.”

A love story emerging from the shattered debris of war. A connection, a shared grief and a journey of healing. We experience the before then the after. Our hearts raced our hands felt clammy and our breathing became erratic as we absorbed ever word and its vivid imagery.

‘Having a true friend like Riley, a friend he could be himself with, that he could be out to with no fear of judgement-well, it was freeing in a way Jesse had never experienced till now.. Anticipation tingled through him at what the future held. They just had to get through the next few months first.’

The tragedy of war and the effects that lasts a lifetime makes this a hard read at times, however, it’s incredibly relevant and so very important to acknowledge and understand. The poignancy of what came after out of the rubbles was truly wonderful. Riley, Jesse and Trevor – be still our hearts which wept, broke, rejoiced and melted through this story that stole our book loving souls. We loved everything about these wonderful characters. Their journey intricately woven with such poignancy.

“I told you, I don’t even recognise myself, anymore, and it’s because there are chunks of my heart that are missing and I’m not sure will ever grow back. But Jess –  …All I can tell you is that everything that’s left is one hundred percent yours. This broken mess – this needy, mixed-up shell of who I used to be – is utterly committed to you. I’m yours if you want me, and if you don’t, I get it, because God knows you can do better.”

Melanie Hansen wrote a flawless love story that captured human struggles, the ugliness of war and the beauty of friendships, love and humanity. Every single character played a poignant role in a story that was balanced, perfectly spaced and wonderfully developed. Point of Contact is a book every reader who loves mm romance should experience.

‘It was amazing how one man’s life –and death- had changed the course of so many other’, leaving people as adrift as pieces of flotsam on an angry sea. So much loss, so much pain, all because a bullet had missed one target and found its mark on another…’