Book Details
Title: Point of Contact
Author: Melanie Hansen
Genre: MM Military Romance
Length: 403 Pages
Publication Date: March 26, 2018
Format Read: Kindle
This book was not provided free
Review
Warning! This review will contain spoilers!
This is probably one of the hardest books I have read. Only for the fact that I had to read between tears. Melanie Hansen did an excellent job hitting me in the feels. She built up the characters. Then, she struck them down. She captured everything in between.
We know what happens in the book, it’s in the blurb. The book is split into two sections. Before the event, and after the event. The chapters show the time difference, so for example, a chapter will say 10 months before, or 10 months later. The first half is easier to read, but once the main event happens, that’s when emotional hell breaks loose.
The story starts with MC1, Trevor. His son, Riley, is with a group of army buddies at the house. MC2 is also there. They are having a last party before deployment. The author does a great job giving Riley a personality, making the reader like him. Chapter after chapter, the time ticks down. If you follow along, you know exactly which month and year the death will happen. The author hits you over the head over and over with Riley doing things that make you fall in love. Then she rips your heart. Riley is dead. The MC’s will never let you forget it, as they themselves will never forget either.
For the MC’s, the relationship is a slow build up. It is a romance novel between Riley’s Dad (Trevor, MC1) and Riley’s best friend (Jesse, MC2). Neither of them really have any contact except a brief encounter right at the beginning. Other than that, Riley will talk about his father to Jesse during their deployment. Trevor goes through his own story. He does not really think about or learn about Jesse.
After the death, the MC’s really connect. While it is still slow, they don’t instantly fall in love. They bond over the shared trauma of losing Riley. Trevor gets to know his son through Jesse, and Jesse gets to learn more through Trevor. Through Trevor, we see how Riley was born, the troubles they go through, and how Riley grows. Once Riley goes into the army and moves out, Trevor can’t understand who his son becomes. Trevor misses out on who Riley becomes. But, we get Jesse, who was Riley’s roommate and best friend. Jesse gets to fill in Trevor on the man his son has become. And it is…devastating. This is the core of the book. This is where the relationship is supposed to bloom in that common romance story structure. While we do get that, we also get to learn all about Riley, the unofficial third MC, that wasn’t briefly covered in the first half.
Now, I don’t want to reveal too much, because it is so bittersweet. However, the real HEA appears in the epilogues. There is a series of them that take place over a few years.
Spoilers and opinions for the epilogue
I was so heartbroken, thinking that Trevor’s only child was killed. He spent a lot of time thinking about Riley growing up and all the fun times and memories. I thought to myself when Trevor and Jesse were in Hawaii, I hoped that they would have another child. My inner monologue was all, please give this poor man another chance. Learning about Jesse’s family built up a foundation. Having Jesse at an older age contributed to that framework. So when I reached the moment when Trevor and Jesse got another chance to have a child, I was overjoyed. They also got to introduce the child to Riley, which was beautiful.
I went through a few stages before the end. I was thinking, oh man, hopefully Trevor gets another son. And what if they name him Riley after his first son. But then I thought, no that wouldn’t really do it justice. Having a child named after an earlier child just feels like a replacement. The best I could think of was giving the new child Riley as a middle name.
Well, they have a daughter in the end. And, I wasn’t to preface that I have nothing against that. Maybe I am going crazy or it’s just a massive coincidence. There have been a bunch of MM Romance books that I have read recently, where they end up having a child, whether adoption, or surrogacy, or whatever. And it seems like they all end up having daughters. Leave a comment below on your opinions of this. Is there correlation between what the Author identifies as and the gender of the child? Or maybe it’s just a big coincidence. It would be interesting to see if anyone else has run into this. I wonder if there is an explanation for this happening that I am just not aware of.
Scoring
Characters: 4.5 / 5
Trevor: Of the two main characters, I believe Trevor was the weakest. While I believe he is a strong character, there are just a few things that I didn’t like. There were times that he didn’t communicate well, to his previous partner Carl, to his son Riley, and to Jesse. Now I understand that ‘communication issues’ is a common trope in Romance to incite conflict, there were just a few parts that got me thinking, ‘really?’ And to top it off, the thing I can still not forgive him for, is the dog tag scene. The rock throwing scene was beautiful as it was, but throwing the dog tags just seemed unnecessary. I would have liked Trevor to keep them. At the end, I love the photo shrine he made, as well as the yearly visits to see Riley.
Jesse: Being in the Army during DADT, it is clear he is struggling with his sexuality, and he does his best with what he can. The scene that really sold me on the character, was with him and Riley during that final moment. Jesse’s first set of scenes, and how he acted at the party…I didn’t like that. His reasoning behind how he acted was because he was jealous, but then Riley and Trevor just brushed it off and forgot about it. I feel like his jealousy could have manifested itself better than severe homophobia. Overall, good character. The Author did well to show his development from Army boy to caring lover.
Riley: I have to add Riley. He is a huge part of the story, and without him, the story just wouldn’t exist. He grew up to be a great man, and died way too soon. I miss you Riley James.
Click to Expand: Hot Take
Part of me wonders if a Riley and Jesse romance would make a great alternate story.
Story: 4.5 / 5
The story is damn good. It isn’t perfect, but then again, what story is? I knocked a bit off mainly because I just wanted more. I want more of Riley and Jesse. I want more Riley and Trevor. I want more of Jesse and Trevor cherishing and celebrating Riley’s memories. I just want more. But I can’t have more, I got what I got and I am good with it.
Writing: 5 / 5
The writing was good. The chapters were not overly long. They flowed nicely. I knew who was the focus and could follow along. Especially after the death, when my eyes were mostly tears. The author did a good job at adding reminders of Riley as the main focus. These reminders kept me in tears.
Romance: 5 / 5
I don’t really care to nitpick this category with this book. The romance and chemistry are a really slow build. Like I said earlier, it doesn’t happen until well after the second part of the book. That is okay, because the rest is taken up by the build up. The romance felt genuine, they were bonding over shared trauma. The Author made Jesse slightly older than Riley. Trevor was quite young when Riley was born. This way, the age gap didn’t feel too much or too awkward. A few small parts felt like they were moving a tad fast. Overall, I was happy with the romance.
Steam: 🍵🍵🍵
This story was not that steamy. It didn’t need to be. Yes, there are pretty steamy sex scenes. This book is not PG-13. There just isn’t a lot of them, and they are relatively quick start to finish. But you could feel their love. In my opinion, this had the perfect amount of steam and spice.
Overall: 4.75 / 5
I don’t count the steam level in my final score, because how graphic and detailed sex scenes don’t determine how much I like the book.
Final Thoughts
There is no doubt in my mind that this book will stick with me forever. It hit my empathetic side like a ton of bricks. I felt like I was actually in the war, at Riley’s final moments. I felt like I was Riley’s Best Friend. I felt like I was Riley’s father. I read this book over a weekend, and I couldn’t put it down. I knew I had to finish it, because I knew I wouldn’t survive if I had to finish it during the work week. Even writing this review, having to remember, brought me to tears.
If you are okay with crying, and want to just feel, this book is a MUST READ.
WARNING! If you are an empath like me, make sure you have plenty of tissues and water. You will also want a day, or a few days to be alone while you read.
Tea Suggestion
For this book, I think a nice chamomile tea, or ten, will do. To sooth your broken heart, and to keep you feeling hydrated after losing all the tears. Added benefit of helping you sleep, not like you’ll need it. This book will drain you, mentally and emotionally.
Thanks!
Thanks for reading my review of Point of Contact by Melanie Hansen. If my review inspires you to read it, let me know! If you have read the book, leave me a comment below or on any of my socials letting me know what YOU thought of it.
Until next time, enjoy a book and a drink.
