Chaz can see her point, but his father died in his forties as did his father before him. As far as Chaz is concerned, he has limited time on this earth to make his dreams come true. And he refuses to leave anyone weeping over a wasted life.
Sprocket Moretti is a simple guy. He loves his job, enjoys college, lives in his beloved childhood home—why worry about the little things when the big stuff looks so good. Unfortunately, one of the little things he tries not to stress over is a broken friendship with a very hot and bewildering sous chef. They were pals, hung out and had fun. But one night they stepped over that invisible line, and the next morning Chaz kicked Sprocket out of his bed and his life.
Now, no matter how much Sprocket tries to charm Chaz, the guy has no desire to return to their pre-sex playful bantering ways. And if Sprocket stays true to his motto, this little thing—Chaz—should be written off and never worried about again.
If Sprocket had known one night of reality-altering orgasms would endanger their easygoing friendship… How do you finish that sentence when all your mind wants is its friend back and all your body wants is another taste?
I’m a big old sucker for the Merry Jizzmas stories and I loved the first Parkersburg story that came out last year, Christmas in His Heart. Heart on the Run is set in the same small charming town of Parkersburg and the characters from Christmas in His Heart make a return in this one. But, the authors do a good job of giving you just enough info about them without being too much to make it confusing so you can read this one as a standalone.
I love the town of Parkersburg and it’s the kind of place you want to spend a weekend wandering around just soaking up all the charm and friendliness. All the characters are so devoted to making Parkersburg THE go to place for the small town experience and that’s one of my favorite aspects of this series. Any time a story can have a set of likable characters with a similar goal of wholesome goodness at Christmastime, I’m happy.
Sprocket was one of those not-so-bad boys that sticks with me. I want to hang out with him and soak up his humor and all around goodness all wrapped up in a tattooed package. My only problem was with Chaz and considering he was the other MC, that was a bummer. He was completely likable, but he was also completely frustrating for me.
Chaz has this fear that he has a short lifespan. He’s lost immediate family members at young ages and he’s convinced he has the same fate. So, rather than leave someone heartbroken with his not-so-certain death he shuts himself off and lives a quiet albeit lonely life. Now, keep in mind, he is perfectly healthy so it’s not like he’s in death’s crosshairs. Chaz and Sprocket were casual friends until they had one “cross the line” moment that killed their friendship. Of course, the sex was ball boggling good and the only reason things changed was because Chaz ran. So, Chaz ran, Sprocket doesn’t do relationships historically so now they are both frustrated and lonely. And that’s how they stayed for the bulk of the story.
The story begins after the “night” so there isn’t a lot of insight into what their friendship was like before. It kind of made it hard for me to wrap my brain around them as friends. I didn’t really get why Sprocket didn’t know about Chaz’s family before if they were such good buddies. Or, why Chaz just didn’t tell Sprocket how he felt. So, it wasn’t like there was the “big misunderstanding” to fuel the story there was just no understanding. I don’t want unnecessary angst to be the reason two people don’t get together, it frustrates me.
At the same time, Sprocket was stubborn and not willing to put his heart out there for no real reason he could see. And I couldn’t really blame him. There was more communication and connection to me between Sprocket and his BFF, Mason, than there was between Sprocket and Chaz. I think I just didn’t get enough of them being honest together to buy into them together completely. But, then the Epilogue and Chaz’s plan for redemption were completely charming and I ate that up like the bestest of Christmas cookies. I needed more of THAT to balance the distance between them throughout the rest of the story. Even if Sprocket was still putting the brakes on their complete HEA, I was still much more optimistic.
You know who I really loved though was Mason. I hope he’s front and center in the next story. He cracked me up with his snarkily charming attitude. I could totally see why he and Sprocket were best friends. I could also see why Chaz had his jealous moments and boundary issues with Mason. Sprocket really should have respected that more. Shame on you Sprocket for that one, I was disappointed in him right then. Anywho, Mason was really kind of a dick to Chaz and I didn’t blame him one bit. He’s protective of his friend and all anyone really knew of Chaz at that time was that he was ditching Sprocket for no real reason. Regardless, I really want someone to come along and get his undivided attention. That would make for a really fun read.
For more information on Heart on the Run check it out on Goodreads.
**a copy of this story was provided for an honest review**
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