Alexander is a writer who is having his books turned into a TV series. Sage is the actor hired to play the lead in the show. Alex had a lot of trauma in his past that he still has not gotten over, and it requires him to see a "professional" dominant to assist him with some of those issues. Sage was a nice guy who tried to be there for Alex, but also realistically had difficulty adjusting to some of the trauma and needs of Alex.

This book was not really my cup of tea. It had very dark elements that I typically do not like to read in my books (non/dub con and abuse). They guys did get a great HEA, but it was tough to read up to that. That said, this was very well written. The author did a very good job at showing Alex struggle through his trauma while allowing him to grow beyond it. She didn't gloss over the trauma and make it a quick fix, which is more realistic.

This 3 star rating from me is strictly based on the fact that it just wasn't for me. It was well written, and for those who like to read stories with tough emotional content, this would be a recommended read. The guys went through a lot, but in the end I could really believe the HEA because they worked hard for it. ( )

Who is down to read this?



You know that's right! Me!

Oh, this was such a beautiful love story! MCs Alex and Sage were just wonderful together. I loved this book, but it did have one major flaw in it, IMHO. I'll get to that after a brief synopsis.



Alex Montgomery truly was an incredibly damaged soul, physically and emotionally ruined by the sadistic leader of a supremacist cult. He really does win the "damaged" prize. I tried to think of a character in recent memory that came close to him in the angst department from my list of M/M romance books, and the closest I got was Kevin from [b:Reclaiming Love|6064286|Reclaiming Love|V.L. McElfresh|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1231020445s/6064286.jpg|6240585], Sean from [b:A Beautiful Disaster|17661158|A Beautiful Disaster|Willa Okati|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1363688659s/17661158.jpg|24651402], Lee from [b:The Island|13409189|The Island|Lisa Henry|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1327458108s/13409189.jpg|18641851] and poor, tormented Jaime from [b:Between Sinners and Saints|10835196|Between Sinners and Saints |Marie Sexton|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1303765658s/10835196.jpg|17436754]. He matched all of them and even surpassed a few. Alex has seen the devil and lived to tell the tale.

Enter all-around perfect male hero Christopher Sage. Handsome, hard working, talented actor who had a wonderful upbringing and a happy, stable family life. His parents die in a plane crash when he was 19 but instead of wallowing in misery, he reflects on the 19 glorious years he had with them and grows a fantastic familial bond with his father's best friend and Godfather, Miles, who he considers his second father. Look up "Every straight girl and gay man's perfect mate" in the dictionary and you'll see Sage's picture.

This is a romance wrapped in an intriguing mystery. Alex is an author who has written a series of books that is now a TV series Sage is starring in. Someone is taking scenes from the series and recreating them in real life, causing people to get hurt. The added suspense was a nice shot in the arm and kept me on my toes throughout the book. I literally couldn't put this down! Loved that added bonus.

OK, despite all the perfection of [b:Saving Alexander|18658060|Saving Alexander|Susan Mac Nicol|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1381366937s/18658060.jpg|26474448] there was one flaw I was not able to overlook. And I gave myself a day to think about it before I wrote my review to make sure I wanted to commit to this opinion. I even read some of the other reviews here to get a feel for what others were saying, to see if anyone else agreed with me. Well, no one did but my opinion didn't change. My problem was Sage. He was too perfect and too understanding. And I wasn't able to see his attraction to Alex early in their relationship. Alex's attraction to Sage, oh yes, I could totally see that, absolutely. But Sage's attraction to Alex? I didn't feel the spark. After they fell in love, yes, there were sparks all over the place. But initially, wasn't happening for me. I especially didn't buy the fact that Sage was a man who had been in love before and had been betrayed by infidelity and he agreed to enter into a relationship with Alex knowing that Alex was keeping Eric on the side and would continue having sex with him (for the time being). I still loved the book, but I did take a star away because of this flaw.

If you love a great M/M romance and can handle the heavy physical, emotional, psychological, verbal and sexual abuse on the protagonist, I can highly recommend [b:Saving Alexander|18658060|Saving Alexander|Susan Mac Nicol|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1381366937s/18658060.jpg|26474448]. The HEA in the last chapter makes every nasty experience read so worth every heartbreaking moment. It was delightful and I'm actually smiling as I write this. ( )

4.5 stars Full Review to come soon




"I'm so scared I'll never be able to have a proper relationship, that I'll always be on my own because no one wants damaged goods."

“You are an amazingly brave man. You have more strength than anyone I have known. If anyone can overcome their demons it’ll be you. And I promise to do anything I can to help you do that.”

“He’s driving me crazy…He’s funny, he’s pretty cute and he’s sexy as hell. I hardly ever think about anything bad when I’m with him. He makes me laugh….”

“All I see is one amazingingly strong and sexy man who just wants to make a life for himself….”


( )