Heartscape by Garrett Leigh [Review]

Heartscape (Vino and Veritas) by Garrett Leigh
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: June 28, 2023

Vino and Veritas
Roommate
Featherbed
Headstrong
Heartscape - Paperback | Kindle
Aftermath
Undercover
Booklover
Flipcup
Hideaway
Unguarded
Turnabout
Daybreak
Insatiable
Heartsong
Limelight
Undone
Showstopper
Unforgettable
Stronghold

Related Series:
(find all the books in the series on the 1st book review)
The Busy Bean
1. Sweetheart

In Vino Veritas
1. Wildfire

Moo U
1. Boyfriend

Speakeasy
1. Touchstone

True North
1. Bittersweet

Garrett Leigh
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

I’m not the obvious choice to run Burlington’s coolest wine bar—quiet, brooding, clueless about tannin content, and always one wrong turn away from another downward spiral.

But no one seems to mind that I'm a wreck. Besides me. I just focus on getting through each shift until the night a beautiful stranger appears, looking as lost and damaged as I feel.

When a mutual friend calls in a favor, the sexy newcomer winds up crashing on my couch. I don't know if it's his melodic Cornish accent, or his ocean blue eyes, or the rock-hard body with the mysterious scars, but I get the feeling whatever happened to him runs far deeper than those wounds.

Having Jax in my home makes my chest warm. Makes me shiver. Makes me want more. But I've got a pile of baggage and I don't want to be a burden on anyone let alone a man who seems to have enough demons of his own.

Our chemistry is off the charts. His arms feel like home. The last thing I want is to screw this up. Is it wrong to hope we can heal each other? Or will one of us die trying?

Thoughts on Heartscape: Oh man. Tanner is not in a good place when we first meet him. Well, actually, he's in a better place than he was, but he's not quite where he needs to be. He's skating on the edge of falling apart, but he's also slowly putting himself back together. Then Jax ends up crashing on his couch and he starts to connect (for lack of a better word) to things in a way that's healthy for his mental state.

Now, to be fair, Jax is almost as much of a mess as Tanner when he first rolls into Tanner's life. Jax just hides it a little better, sure, but he's dealing with a lot and his way of dealing is kind of to take off and hide out. In other words, both men have had traumatic events happen to them and both need a soft place to land where they can just breathe and be. Fortunately for them, that place happens to be Tanner's apartment over a bustling wine bar.

That said, I don't think the apartment alone would have done it. Tanner needed Jax and Jax needed Tanner. They worked well together and they managed to work through their issues because the other was there to support them when things got bad.

Trauma (of both the physical and mental variety), friends who don't give up, a grump who tires to push others away, and a man who really listens when it matters most. Good stuff!