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Sean Bielecki is working at his wine
shop, minding his own business, when a commotion breaks out
in the alley. He runs outside to investigate and intervenes
in an attack on a young man. After discovering the young
man, Bobby Thompson, is only sixteen and homeless, Sean
invites the boy to stay with him for a while. Then a
customer at his store, police officer Sam Davis, asks Sean
out. Despite the demons of Sean’s past and Bobby’s present
still haunting them all, will Sean be able to find happiness
at last?
Bottled Up is a sweet story about finding love
and family in unexpected places. Sean is a kind person who
survived a horrific ordeal as a young man. The experience
shapes his relationships, leaving him guarded and fearful.
When he stops Bobby’s attacker, he feels the need to help
the boy. I liked Bobby. While he trusted Sean rather too
quickly in my opinion, he was a pretty neat kid. Sam, the
police officer who likes Sean, is almost a knight in shining
armor. He’s strong, sweet, caring, and understanding.
Somehow he managed not to come across as too perfect. There
were a lot of secondary characters—Sean’s parents, Bobby’s
social worker, police officers, Sean’s friends (mention in
Andrew Grey’s The Best Revenge), Bobby’s parents,
etc. The storyline of Bottled Up deals with a
lot of heavy issues, and I kept waiting for the angst to
kick in, but it never did. For the most part, Bottled
Up remains sweet and positive. I would have liked
to see some heavier emotions and more of Sean’s past, and I
definitely would have enjoyed getting some of Sam’s point of
view. There are a couple of places where the plot veers a
bit into melodrama as well. In the end, though, I enjoyed
Bottled Up. The characters were all so
likeable it would have been hard not to. |
