Seeking Sanctuary (Hometown Heroes Book 2)

Seeking Sanctuary is the second book in the Hometown Heroes series. It takes place primarily in North Creek, Tennessee but there are some scenes in Nashville, Tennessee. You technically don’t have to read the first book to understand this one, but I recommend it.

I liked Seeking Sanctuary much more than Finding Refuge, but I think it’s because I’m already invested in the characters. J.P. Oliver does a really great job of making you fall in love with the characters both primary and secondary ones. Like Finding Refuge, Seeking Sanctuary focuses on the Savage-Cross family and expands on the evil brother/evil twin overall arching series plot.

Victor Savage is trying to run his family’s distillery while also dealing with the fallout from his sick father’s neglect of the business. It’s a pretty stressful situation Victor finds himself as he tries to get the finances in order for the business while watching his father slowly die from cancer. Throw in the appearance of his evil twin brother Winston, and it seems like Victor just can’t catch a break. Lucky for Victor, Adrian is back in town, and this changes everything. Adrian is younger than Victor, but he’s no kid. Adrian’s a savvy businessman who runs two successful tattoo shops while also being a member of a motorcycle club. When a bar fight goes wrong, Adrian finds himself heading back home to North Creek to lay low until the heat dies down. What was supposed to be a short break in North Creek ends up turning into a new beginning as Adrian and Victor reconnect and begin dating. The chemistry and heat between these two men is intense. The sex scenes are fantastic and really enjoyable, and I quite enjoyed the whole journey as Adrian and Victor fall in love. Like Finding Refuge, there’s a lot of action and thrills. Victor and Adrian find themselves in danger, and have to fight for themselves and each other, although they are left with injuries. There’s a lot of hurt/comfort scenes where each man takes a turn being the caretaker for the other due to injuries – these scenes are sweet and adorable and add a wonderful layer of tenderness to their romance.

The writing is a little shaky at points, but I believed its improved from book one. I liked the pacing of the plot better for this book, although there were some strange transitions. Like the first book, this one had the Lifetime movie vibe, meaning drama and action were prioritized over certain realistic details. However, that didn’t bother me since the overall plot and characters were enjoyable and sucked me into the story.

Ken Solin narrated the audiobook. He’s a new narrator for me, and he did a decent job with his narration. Some of his voice choices were a bit odd to me, and it felt like he was just simply narrating the book and not really performing it. However, the production quality was well done with no strange noises or glitches.