Broken Silence by Jade Buchanan
Broken Trilogy, Book 2
MLR Press
Gay Contemporary
ISBN: 978-1-60820-749-7
Reviewed by Cassie

Bar owner Rich Matheson has been living a lie for years, but working a family business in a small town, he doesn’t feel he has any choice. He makes homophobic remarks and dates women to hide his sexuality. He’s not entirely happy, but he’s content. Then Matthew Clark moves to town, and everything Rich thought he wanted is suddenly in question.

Matthew moved north to live with his elderly aunt, whose health isn’t as good as it used to be. He figures he’ll have a long dry spell in the small town, but then he meets Rich. While he doesn’t appreciate Rich’s attitude and homophobic remarks, there’s an undeniable attraction. What starts out as a one-time thing turns into more, but can Matthew handle being with a man who’s deep in the closet?

I really enjoyed Broken Silence. At first I wasn’t sure if I was going to like Rich. He comes across as a self-hating jerk for a while, with his incredibly homophobic remarks and determination not to let anyone see his true self. Then he meets Matthew, and realizes what he’s giving up by hiding, and he starts to seem like a sympathetic character. Pretty soon I really liked him and was rooting for him to be happy. As for Matthew, I loved him right away. He moves to a small town to help an elderly relative without complaint. He is dedicated to his job, and he doesn’t let the attitudes of the people in his new town keep him from being himself.

The conflict in Broken Silence is realistic, without the melodrama I’ve seen in so many books recently. Rich has a legitimate reasons to be afraid of coming out, but he lets his fears control him for too long. Everything from Rich’s behavior to the reactions of his family and friends rang true, as did Matthew’s reactions. There are a lot of great secondary characters—family and friends of Matthew and Rich, and townspeople. Overall, Broken Silence is a sweet, realistic romance with an ending that’s well worth the wait.