Out of Hiding

\"Feeling as minute as one single star in an infinite night sky had helped me feel lost, the thing I'd always wanted most. Being lost....I smiled as I delighted in the sound of those two sweet words. Being lost, completely buried in the chaos of life, had long been my truest goal. Because when I was 'lost' out there on the ocean, I'd fit in. And I'd fit in because I almost disappeared.\"
It has been a very long time since I connected so strongly, right off the bat, with a character written by an author who is totally new to me. 'Out of Hiding' is my very first Mia Kerick…I guess you could say I was a Mia Kerick virgin up until now. There was something about her writing, and about Philippe in particular, that just reached out and grabbed me in the most astonishingly visceral manner. I almost felt as if I'd been punched in the gut, and for someone who reads as much as I do, it was a very pleasurable change of pace.
Philippe is introverted, shy, vulnerable, scared, simple in his tastes, loyal, a free-spirited hippie, loving, smart, and completely adrift in his life with absolutely no idea who he is or what he wants. A shoulder injury has sidelined Philippe's job as a commercial fisherman, and it is that, along with love for his brother and his niece, Sophie, that has him chaperoning her around New York City for a summer. His brother cannot do it because of his business, so he is footing all the costs so that Sophie can get the most out of her summer of dance before applying to one of the dance schools. It is here that Philippe meets Dario, Sophie's private dance tutor, and Philippe is intrigued by the very focused and determined man. Philippe figures Dario thinks of him as a dirty hippie with no plans to go anywhere in his life, and as far as Philippe is concerned, he'd be right.
It's a surprise to Philippe when Dario indicates the attraction goes both ways. The summer progresses and much to Philippe's consternation, Dario understands him without words, and seems to accept the real Philippe. Dario doesn't let Philippe get away with not being 100 percent honest when it comes to his feelings and his thoughts. It's hard for Philippe to talk about these things because so much revolves around the death of his mother when he was in the fifth grade. Dario doesn't always let Philippe hide and he tries to bring Philippe out of his shell, a little at a time, while at the same time Dario is making a place inside the shell for himself.
\"It doesn't hurt to be invisible, Dario. But it hurts me to be stared at…and it hurts the most to be left alone, even if it is exactly what a certain part of me wants. So if you're really looking at me, as in, closely, and you don't like what you see, then I get both things I try so hard to avoid. I get exposed… and maybe deserted.\"
\"Maybe you should look at it this way, if you never take a risk by putting yourself out there, you'll keep on getting what you've always gotten. But if you do take a chance on something, or on someone-like me, for example-that is when amazing things can happen.\"
Some people can fall in love easily, quickly, and they are lucky enough to have someone love them, too. They can go their entire lives without a single moment of drama or angst to test that love. I wouldn't call that lucky, myself. But, then again, in the words of Garth Brooks, \"Life is not tried, it is merely survived if you're standing outside the fire\". Dario and Philippe fell in love, not easily, and when the chips were down and they needed to lay their cards on the table, and the true test of their love occurred, and believe me when I say it was a huge test for Philippe, he stumbled a little. Philippe had to reassess himself and his life because he'd stayed away from people so nothing could ever hurt him as much as when his mother died when he was ten. So watching him face his fears and his emotions tore me up right alongside him.
And then, he risked it all and jumped straight into the fire.
I was overwhelmed when I finished this book. I have found a new author to follow as I hope her other works move me just as much. Even if their levels of emotion are less, I have fallen in love with her writing style and I will be reading more of it. I fell in love with both Dario and Philippe, and their journey into love. Almost as important, to me, the author wrote intensely strong secondary characters whom I grew to love just as much. So, for my very first Mia Kerick I can only say, thank you from the bottom of my heart.
NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.