Review: The One Who Saves Me by Cardeno C.

I love Cardeno C! If I see that name, it’s an automatic read for me. I love the writing style, the characters, the plots, the romance, and WHEW! Cardeno C can write a sex scene!

With “The One Who Saves Me”, I have to confess a little disappointment. The premise of the story is a good one. Best friends from the age of 14, Andrew and Caleb have had a special relationship. Even though they didn’t live near each other, they’d spend time together in the summer when their parents visited each other for vacations. They realize they’re gay, and they begin to experiment together. At first, it’s fooling around, and soon they begin having sex. The book follows them through the years as they mature, go to school, get careers, and boyfriends. Most of the way through, they’re having “friends with benefits” sex. They love each other…simply as best friends, but it doesn’t seem as if they even consider being a couple.

It starts to get a little complicated toward the end. Andrew seems to be in constant pursuit of a permanent boyfriend, while Caleb can’t keep anyone around for more than a month. It started to get very frustrating. It’s a personal thing with me, and it’s not the same for everyone, but once a “couple” has been established in a book, that means they’re together. So, when they’re dating/having sex with other people, I feel a little queasy…like they’re cheating on each other. Seeing Andrew and Caleb with other men was bothersome, but Andrew has the WORST luck with men, and he finds the truest loser he can and hitches his horse to that wagon. The man is a slut, for lack of a better word, and Andrew, desparate for a relationship, just tolerates it. He agrees with it being an “open relationship”, meaning the guy is out doing other men while Andrew sits at home along, waiting for him. To top it off, Drake (the horrible man) is HIV positive and doing meth! I honestly felt sick to my stomach while I was reading about this. Sweet, eager to please, doctor Andrew is determined to save Drake, and he becomes such a doormat. As you can imagine, this comes between Andrew and Caleb. Caleb can’t undertand why Andrew is putting himself through all this for a man who never really loved him. I was with Caleb. I wanted to scream at Andrew and shake some sense into him.

The last third of the book is about Andrew and Caleb finding their way back to each other. This was a bit slow, but I understand it had to be. There had been a lot of damage between them, but finally there is a satisfying ending for everyone.

Every Cardeno C story has great main characters. They’re always captivating and lovable, even if they do piss me off occasionally. “The One Who Saves Me” is no different. Andrew and Caleb are well fleshed out and felt so…REAL to me. The whole thing felt like I was watching two frends going through these experiences. Perhaps that’s why I was so frustrated with them. Also, as with all Cardeno C books, the sex is outstanding! So, so hot. There are plenty of sex scenes, but they don’t feel gratuitious. Each one fits into story they way they should. The background characters are also well written, even though they’re not all nice people. They help to compliment the story, rather than distract from it.

All in all, I am glad to have read “The One Who Saves Me”. It is SO far from being a bad book. It’s just my favorite, and I’m pretty sure I’ve read them all. If you’re a fan, you’ll enjoy it, and if you’ve not read any of Cardeno C’s work, this is a pretty good place to start. That way, you can see how much MORE awesome the other stories are.