Book Review: My Heart to Keep by Bailey Bradford

Title: My Heart to Keep
Series: Love in Xxchange, Book 10
Author: Bailey Bradford
Genre: Contemporary Romance, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: June 19, 2015 by Pride Publishing

Losing everything doesn’t mean Remy’s lost.

Fred’s been the bar manager at The Xxchange for a long time. He’s seen servers come and go. With the bar revamped and turned into a more reputable club, the last person he ever expects to see walk in is Martine, a snarky booty-boy server who worked at The Xxchange years ago then just didn’t show up one night. But Martine isn’t really Martine—he’s Remy, and always has been. To get hired at a place he could party and have fun at, Remy had lied about his age and gotten a fake ID.

Then he got into a bad relationship, one based on money and a contract no one should have ever agreed on. After his parents commit a crime that lands Remy in trouble with his sugar daddy, Remy loses everything. The only place he can think of to turn to is The Xxchange, and the people he used to work for. If they’ll just give him a chance to prove he can be a mature, responsible adult, he might not end up living on the streets any longer.

These two men come together first as rescuer and lost soul, then as friends. If there’s going to be more than that, Remy wants them to be on equal footing. He’s learned his lesson about trying to find the easy way through life.

But someone doesn’t want him to have a chance at freedom or love.

Reader Advisory: This book contains references to past abuse.

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Reviewed by: Crissy

Why I Read This Book: To be honest, I quit reading this series a while back, and it took me a minute to remember Martine after I read this blurb. But when I read it, I found myself wondering what happened to the bubbly bar boy.

In A Nutshell: The beginning of this story is good. The middle and ending could use some work.

What I Liked: When Martine first worked at the Xxchange it was a meat market of a bar, and Martine was center stage. His disappearance from the series was almost inconsequential. Honestly, it’s barely memorable. Now the Xxchange is a nice place to hang out and when Martine returns, so to his entire history. I love that he ends up being a completely different person—Remy. With a messed up history and a desire that broke him down and humbled him at the same time. Remy is the heart of this story. He’s a scared kid. A lot of his growth and what the mitigating factors for it happen before this story begins, but we get to see the final result—with Fred’s help.

I like Fred’s calming presence. He’s very… nice. He’s understanding and giving where most people in his position would not be. And patient. I love his level of protection for Remy, not exactly claiming him but letting Remy know where he stands. He gives Remy the time to come to him but never takes control of Remy. He is everything that Remy needs.

What I Didn’t Like: While a decent story, it’s very predictable. My connection to the characters waned from like to indifference a lot of the time. While I enjoyed the Martine/Remy storyline, I was not glued to the pages after that. Remy and Fred’s story flagged after about 60% and so did my interest. It wasn’t bad, it was just not engaging.

In My Opinion: There was a reason I quit reading this series. Before I picked up this book, I had forgotten what it was. The predictability and kitschy storyline reminded me.

Crissy’s Rating: