Make Me Whole

I was lucky enough to win a copy of this book from the author. I studied classics so I know she got everything right. I loved that the story involved two sets of lovers who had to correct a major issue that many people face before either pair could find a HEA. My only complaint is now I want another story based on ancient mythology by the author!

Nick and Galen were on/off lovers, not exclusive, about 6 months ago. Nick wanted a commitment and Galen couldn't give him one, so he walked out. This isn't as heartless as it sounds. Galen had previously been in a serious relationship but his lover was killed in a car wreck with a drunk driver--while Galen was driving. Galen survived in body, but heart and spirit remain crushed even two years later--he still can't get behind the wheel without panic attacks. So, he wasn't ready to commit to another man, though he did feel that something promising had been building between them.
At the point where the story begins, Galen 's art museum is prepping for a new exhibit and (astonishingly) he finds four bronze statues in the back of his storeroom. These four statues have no known provenance but they are clearly old and seem form a continuous exhibit, a nude warrior in four separate poses that suggest a missing mate.
Stunned and overjoyed with his find, Galen immediately incorporates the statues into his new exhibit, but he also reached out to Nick--who is a an art fanatic and also an antiquities hunter. Nick knows all about the statues as it turns out--his family had OWNED them in the past but they were lost at sea decades ago. Nick had, in fact, been planning a dive to discover the wreckage.
As it turns out, the statues have a curious history. They are all of Nick's ancient ancestor Dexios, and depict him awaiting the return of his missing lover, Lykon. Throughout history, these statues have been cared for--at times they have been completed. It seems the real Dexios was cursed to wait eternally for Lykon to return, and the only way for these lovers to be reunited is through reincarnation and reconnection.
So, Nick's thought is HE is the Dexios while Galen must be Lykon. Galen is appropriately appalled--he's still not sure he can HAVE a relationship. Yet, the two (Galen and Nick) embark on a real relationship. They go on dates and begin to develop the kind of intimacy they had missed the first time round. It remained to be seen if this would reunite Dexios and Lykon, UNTIL THEY STARTED TAKING OVER THEIR BODIES!!!
I really enjoyed this book. Such great emotional angst. So many stakes--not just can Galen get over his grief? Or, can Nick overcome his fear of abandonment? No, we also have mythology and magic interfering in ways designed to truly test the love and faith of both Galen and Nick.
It was a slow burn, with tentative steps toward reconnection. Many times Nick, Galen, or both, had to slow the machinations of Lykon and Dexios. This was all to the good because they've waited hundreds of years to be together and failed several rounds of reincarnation. Smexytimes were well-written and steamy. I received a copy of this book via Goodreads' Don't Buy MY Love program. This is my honest review.

* I received this book for free through DBML in exchange for an honest review.
A very solid four stars, that would've been more if it weren't for a little niggle that threw pats of the ending off for me.
An old legend tells of two lovers, Dexios and Lykon. Warriors drawn together by war and chaos, they made a promise to each other in the name of Cythera, the goddess of love. But when faith is broken, and the promise along with it, the goddess sets forth to make the men pay for using her name in a promise they did not keep. To be made whole, they must find a way back to each other, and this time, keep their promise.
But now, in a small museum in Chicago, Galen, the gallery owner, is shocked when mysterious boxes arrive in the museum without any record or indication where they have come from. What he uncovers from their depths are beautiful statues, each resembling a man, only half of his whole. The statues are somehow incomplete, missing another.
Their arrival spawns old feelings for a past lover, and despite his hesitation, Galen reaches out to Nick in order to find out more about the statues. Together they find out that statues are simply the start of it, but what really lies in that museum are the culmination of decades of life and death, and a tragic curse that they are desperate to break.
I want to start off by saying that for the better part of this story, I absolutely adored it. I have a thing for mythology and history, and this delivered a lot of that. It had so many lovely little notes of mystery, especially through the first half of the book.
But since I want to end on a good note, I'll just get my bad note done with now. There is a part in this where there is one of those issues of miscommunication. This isn't something that always bothers me, but in this, there were elements of it that made me want to headdesk (and yes, I'm using that as a verb). It seemed at that point that things were just getting dragged out too much for my taste, and it lost a bit of the sizzle that it had before. I wasn't as enchanted with it, and that makes me sad.
BUT, back to the good stuff, of which there is many for this.
There were little moments of greatness. One moment in particular made me just slightly teary eyed, as it was something that just tugged on my heartstrings. It was so simple, so very small, but monumental to me. To hear that /BEGIN SPOILER Lykon and Dexios were forced to live the rest of their natural lives apart, desperately longing for one another, and that in his last dying breath, Lykon was held once more by Dexios... that he wasn't along in those final moments.../END SPOILER it quite simply touched me.
There were also small bits of BDSM dusted in throughout this, the elements more exploration and growth in each other than nonsensical BDSM thrown in just because the author wanted to write it. I also could see how it might translate into /BEGIN SPOILER them being reborn from all these past lives that failed and warriors, where control was so vital,/END SPOILER It just made sense to me, and I like it when things make sense to me.
And finally, some of the descriptions had me all dreamy. It was a nice balance between reality and this mystical other-world that tangled these characters together. Even the details of the statues in their most incomplete stages were beautiful. I loved how it tiptoed the line between fantasy and the here-and-now in those little moments.
In sum, another great book from Ms. Labbe.