Review - Strays by Garrett Leigh

Lenny has a stalker, and the police don’t seem able to do anything about it. He moved from his flat, deleted his social media accounts and even changed jobs, but the man always finds him. He’s at his wits’ end after another encounter when Cass finds him. The co-owner of Urban Soul offers Lenny a place to stay with Nero, and he can hide out in the kitchen working with the chain’s master chef. Nero is always working. It keeps him from thinking too much about his past. He doesn’t know the details of Lenny’s situation, but can’t help feeling protective of the young man. As feelings grow, Lenny wants to know Nero better but can’t seem to pierce the man’s hard shell.

This sequel to Misfits continues the story of a London restaurant group, but focuses on two new characters. The three men from the first book play significant roles in this story, so it’s best if you read both books. Despite the initial setup of Lenny’s stalker, most of the drama is provided by the rocky relationship developing between Lenny and Nero.

Nero had a troubled childhood, but he doesn’t share the details with anyone, even Lenny. Nero puts up a gruff exterior to keep people at a distance. It’s a classic “men don’t talk about their feelings” cliche, but once we learn what the man keeps hidden, it actually makes sense. We get an early idea that Nero is really a good guy when we see how much he cares about Lenny before he even gets to know the young man and why he's in hiding.

By contrast, Lenny is more of an open book. We know how he ended up on Nero’s couch and a lot of his family background. Lenny is a very sympathetic character. It’s easy to identify with the fear he feels about his stalker situation, as well as his frustration at trying to get to know Nero and what he’s really feeling. Lenny is a very resilient young man that manages to find himself as well as romance.

“Strays” is available from Smashwords or see BookBub for more online sources.