2016 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Come Back To Me by Edmond Manning (404-09-05-2016)

1) The fifth book in a series I love. I'm not able to judge how it would stand on its own, but for me this was all that I appreciate in Manning's writing. There are moments of deep pain and of joy, humor that made me laugh out loud and plot surprises that I did not see coming. I would have loved the book to be twice as long, to see parts of the relationship between Vin and Mark that happened off the page. But that's mostly greed, since I wouldn't give up any of the parts that we did get to experience. Manning writes like no other author in this genre, and the result is an amazing, vivid, and gorgeously emotional ride.

2) Beautiful and heart tugging. Whether you have followed the journey of Vin Vanbly or not, you will love and hate this installment in his tale.

3) This was very much like the satisfying culmination of a long arduous time in college when you finally obtain your degree. The glorious dessert at the end of a fabulous meal that leaves you overstuffed and yet your tastebuds are so supremely happy with what they have just experienced they are willing to have "just a little nash." This was the earth-shattering, bone melting, world-rocking, spine-tingling, breath-stealing, fireworks exploding, brain wiping orgasm that romance authors write about, and mere mortals can only ever dream of experiencing. From the very beginning of the book, the Trigger Warnings page, which was handled very eloquently, and with much sensitivity on the part of the author, to every detail (both small and large), secret, and "big reveal," to the meat of the story, the plot with its intricate weaving and engraving of subplots and emotional daggers and mental exercises, this book took the reader on what could only be characterized as a feat of reading strength. Even the beautiful moment where the scene is canceled, Vin finally realizes what he can have, and his true name is revealed, is one that is so fraught with beautiful pain and unbearable love, relief, pleasure, and yes-the tension that only reveals itself when you are waiting for the other shoe to fall-that the reader can't help but feel as if their every response, action, reaction, and perspective is being altered mentally, emotionally, and spiritually by the growth, stretch, and depth revealed in the characters and their relationships in this book. Through all of that, however, the settings, so artfully described as to make the reader feel as if they are ones in the gleaming jacuzzi bathtub, or in the dirty garage, trying to come down from a particularly emotionally harrowing scene, to the bedroom where dog toys are hidden and the scent of magical soap drifts out of the bathroom, and many more, the plot stays true. It is not burdened by too much information on the characters, or too much angst, or even a plot too heavy with too much promise without delivery, this is a book that fulfills every promise and supersedes them. It reveals not only the strength of the human spirit, but the depth of the human heart, and the sustainability of a "true king's" soul. And as with every story in this series, there is that one perfect sentence that is pertinent, not only for the book, but for life. And this one came almost at the end of the book: "Absorbing someone's story can do that to you-weigh you down. It can also free trapped parts of yourself, but first, you have to let it weigh you down." What a beautiful story. From the rich development of the characters, to the vivid description of the settings, to the effervescent plot sprinkled with darkness and cold reality, even with its heartwrenching memories and retellings, its realistic descriptions, and its real consequences of action, inaction, violence, pain, and love, and with its glorious ending, this was a book that completely deserves the score of 40/40. What a magnificent job this author did in writing it. Thank you for sharing this with the readers.