'Broken Colour' by Carol Lynne
“... You took my broken colors that lay scattered about the room. With a kiss you made them whole...You help me make it through.” ~ Wesley Hesketh
Frankie Black in 'Broken Colors' by Carol Lynne is a complicated person inside and out. He's very talented; his artwork is everything to this brilliant painter, but he's eccentric, even for an artist. Frankie is also compulsive-obsessive and riddled with Survivor's Guilt. His panic attacks are off the scale and PTSS completely disables him at times. Frankie is the quintessential Gordian knot and he knows it. He holds little hope of ever untangling it which is what he needs to do in order to recover and be happy. He needs someone to help free him from the bonds of his own making, which are slowly smothering him to death. It's a tall order and will take a special person. When he meets Clint, he's attracted to him, but he's also terrified. Instinctively, Frankie knows that this is a turning point in his life and he's not sure he's ready to face it, but with Clint's persistence, he knows he is going to try.
Clint Langley is bored and disillusioned, just coming out of a bad relationship. He's stuck in a rut, doing something he's good at, but not ideal. Clint isn't even sure he knows what he needs, but when he sees Frankie he's intrigued on many levels at once. Yes, Frankie is beautiful, but there's obviously so much more to this quirky, complicated little man and Clint wants to delve deeper into his life. As he gets to know Frankie, he realizes that in order to help him, he needs to take a few steps back himself to when life was simpler and he was happier. In doing so, he and Frankie make their own rules about living and loving.
This is a short, sweet love story, written in Carol's precise style, making every word count. Clint and Frankie do fall in love very quickly, but it's partly because they realize that they are each other's touchstone; they are the standard by which they measure unconditional love. They fit together perfectly, for each other at least. There's not a lot of outside angst, but there's a lot going on inside Frankie and Clint as they work toward understanding each other and themselves. I loved the story and would recommend it not just to all Carol Lynne fans, but for anyone who believes that unconditional love can be achieved if both parties are willing to work toward it. Thanks, Carol, for once again touching my heart.