A Love Song for the Sad Man in the White Coat by Roe Horvat
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
*~~*ARC kindly provided by the author to me in exchange for an honest review *~~*
I admit, when I’ve heard about the latest book by Roe Horvat I squealed a bit because I was so thrilled. When I discovered The Layover earlier this year, I was captured. I had the same awe while reading Dirty Mind and with this latest work – A Love Song for the Sad Man in the White Coat (yeah, I know what a long title. :D) – it’s the same like all the other times. 🙂
I am captured and hooked from the first page. Roe knows how to keep the reader’s attention and while I love and worship the floating of the writing, I want to warn people about the sensitive topics. The works by Roe Horvat aren’t easy, and their characters go through a lot. There are devastating parts, the characters seem sometimes like lost souls and may act unexpected and break your heart – you suffer with them, you hurt with them, you want to hug them tight and keep them close – but at the end, they get their HEA and your heart is set to a while piece again – after it was shattered in tiny fragments.
The book, as I say, isn’t easy due to the topic. There is the dealing of depression, it’s on page, actually it’s a huge topic in the third part of the book. It also contains substance abuse, but also violence (not on page but mentioned in detail) and abuse (with a neglecting father/parents in general). Homophobia, including slurs and name-callings included, and all these things are maybe too much for reader. I want to mention these as potential trigger warnings for some.
Besides all the sufferings, the mess in Simon’s and Matej*’s life, I loved how Roe presented Simon. He is charming but also a lonely man, one who is suffering, he is deeply sarcastic (kinda reminds me of Ondro from The Layover) but all in all he is searching for the right partner, for love and understanding.
In Matej he found it, but their happiness is suddenly coming to a halt when Matej leaves not just Simon but his younger sister behind.
Divided in three parts, always told from the third person, but switching between Simon, Matej but also Marta, Matej’s sister and small parts even from Mike’s POV, makes the book very vivid, and it gives the reader a great insight. Mostly the focus and POV is on Simon and Matej, but the tiny shiftings in the narration are what make the book different to other.
Attentive reader may have noticed within the book that Matej is a reappearing character from Dirty Mind and we got a glimpse of his story already in this one, but never got the whole. This book is the answer to all the questions you have had about Mattias, as he is a called by his new friends from Dirty Mind in Germany.
What I also loved about the book, next to the captivating story with the broken but oh so sweet and lovable characters, is the setting. We have the book set in Prague, and later a small part set in Germany. The insight of European, mostly East European places and therefore political and cultural aspects is so refreshing different. It’s also enwinded with the character’s past, their lives and has a deep effect on them. I really loved to get this insight, to have a change in the setting because, let’s be honest, and as much as I love stories taking place in the USA, UK or Australia: you are getting a bit tired of reading the same places over and over again. xD
The book has pretty detailed, smoking hot, intimate scenes between Simon and Matej but it’s more their tenderness, the deep emotions, and also the reflections which stood out and I am pretty happy how we have the sex, attraction and love mixed together.
While reading I highlighted a lot of parts, some were heartbreaking and I was near to tears for the most time. It really takes a toll with your heart and I am so happy to see the ending displayed this way. Yes, it’s a rocky path for Simon as well as Matej but at the end, they get what they really hoped for – and it’s so beautiful.
I could go on and gush about the book for hours but close my review with giving the book 5 out of 5 stars. Marvelous piece, with broken, lost characters, but you keep them close to your heart, even after finishing reading. If you haven’t read any book of Roe Horvat I deeply encourage you to pick up one, may it this or their other works, because they write in such a great, captivating manner. ❤
(*I use the name’s spelling without the diacritic mark within my review)
Title: A Love Song for the Sad Man in the White Coat
Author: Roe Horvat
Genre: M/M Romance
Release day: December 15, 2017
Publisher: Beaten Track Publishing
Length: 63.000 words
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PURCHASE LINKS
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon DE
Beaten Track Publishing
Blurb
Simon had always expected love to feel different than this. Whether it was his Catholic upbringing or the poetry he’d read—Simon had thought that true love would be uplifting, fulfilling, that it would give a meaning to his loitering, and add joy to his leisure. But not this kind of love. This love was a flesh-eating monster, sharp-clawed and evil-eyed, ravishing his mind with medieval cruelty.
Dr Simon Mráz is a respected specialist and lecturer at the Charles University in Prague. He is a serious man, responsible. His students call him The Cruel Doctor Frost not because he’s unkind, but because of his unwavering, ice-cold composure. As a psychiatrist, he values sanity. And sanity can be found in work, restraint, and self-control.
Not many know of that one time in the past when The Cruel Doctor Frost lost his cool. His ill-advised, secret affair with a student left Simon deeply wounded. Since that day, every minute of Simon’s life has been a struggle to remain sane, functioning. He’s managed so far—as long as he is needed, as long as his work makes a difference, Simon can scrape together enough strength to get up in the morning and run off the nightmares. But when his friends begin drifting away, his beloved protégé becomes independent, and the man who bereaved Simon of his precious sanity might return… Simon’s mind and body stop responding to his impressive willpower.
Other works by Roe Horvat:
The Layover
My review of The Layover
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon DE
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A prequel to The Layover called The Swiss Project can be read free on Roe Horvat’s website.
Dirty Mind
My review of Dirty Mind
Amazon US | Amazon UK | Amazon DE
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Author bio – Roe Horvat
Roe was born in former Czechoslovakia and endured a miserable adolescence in the post-communist wasteland. Equipped with a dark sense of sarcasm, they left for Germany and later, Spain.
Finally, they settled in Sweden, where the weather is nasty but the freedom great. Roe works as a motion graphics artist, loves Jane Austen, Douglas Adams and everything in between, preferably by the fireplace with a strawberry daiquiri in hand. Roe writes contemporary romantic fiction—it conveniently balances out their real-life pragmatism.
When not hiding in the studio doing graphics, Roe can be found trolling cafés in Gothenburg, writing, and people-watching.
Get in touch with the Roe:
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/roe.horvat.98
Website: https://www.roehorvat.com
Twitter: @roehorvat
Author links / get in contact
Website
Email
Facebook personal page
Twitter
Goodreads
amazon
Dreamspinner Author page
Mikku-chan 
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