Summary Review: This book changed my perspective and perception of what a BDSM relationship should be. Deviations: submission is the story of two men who were searching for that one person to complete them, and then they found each other.

THE BLURB

Tobias is a skilled Dom and Noah is a man in need of just that. He wants to sub badly, but has yet to find someone he believes in. Through a series of encounters in the world of bondage and discipline, we learn why Noah has trouble trusting, and why Tobias is reluctant to let himself love.

Still, Tobias can’t resist Noah’s charms, and the two of them set about making a scene for themselves, one that works for them and their unique set of problems. But can they stay together in a world where learning to love means accepting all of their dark secrets?!

THE REVIEW

I have to say upfront that of all the D/s books that I’ve read, this series is one of the most engrossing, intense and enjoyable for me. I’m not a fan of heavy BDSM but the Deviations series really hit all of my hot buttons and I learned a lot about the lifestyle, the consensual aspects of being a submissive, as well as how much trust figures into a D/S relationship. Submission is  the first story of Tobias’s and Noah’s journey which took 5 books to complete and come full circle.

Tobias is a veterinarian and Noah is a police officer and when they met they had both come out of relationships that hadn’t worked.Tobias had been with Phantom, his sub/slave for about 6 years when their contractual relationship came to a mutual end, but they remained close. Noah had been searching for a Dom after an unfortunate experience with a previous Master. Since they broke up he had not been able to find anyone who met his needs on an ongoing basis.

For his 41st birthday Tobias decided to have an evening out at his club where he had been a member for 19 years. He had not been there for sometime and on arrival he was met by his old friend Bradford, the new owner, who introduced him to Noah and suggested that they might suit each other. After one session both men thought that they had found what they were looking for but it took another session before they decided to meet outside of the club to seal the deal. Their first weekend together was initially a trial run even though they had both signed a D/s contract for 6 months, but it was obvious that the emotions and need for a long term relationship was already being formed.

Tobias’s excitement the first weekend he spent with his ‘boy’ was beautiful to witness and Noah’s joy was no less powerful. They had a number of trust issues to resolve as a result of Noah’s past experiences and resulting hangups. The scenes throughout the book were sensuous and hot, although a few of the discipline scenes were painful to read even though it was clear that Noah wanted and needed the rigor of what Tobias provided in order to center him and give him focus in his life.

I never understood what the ongoing ‘lifestyle’ was all about until I started this series even though I have read many BDSM books, including Switch and Submission Times Two by Claire Thompson and Volume 1 of Sean Michael’s Velvet Glove series. More recently I also read Mr. Benson by John Preston, the classic BDSM novel, referred to as one of the top ten S/M novels ever written, which is as far from the Deviations series as possible. I won’t kid you, Deviations is not for everyone, especially those of you who are squeamish about pain. BDSM is more than pain, bondage and domination obviously – there should be respect and caring on the part of the Dom for his submissive and the scenes should never involve humiliation. The lifestyle is definitely outside the norm for most people, but when Tobias and Noah were in a scene it was easy for me to imagine it as the right thing for them.

The emotional needs of both protagonists were clearly met in Submission but I didn’t get as much information about Noah as I would have liked, even though he was quite outspoken about what his unmet needs were. I would have liked access to some of his internal dialogue to ‘get’ him and find out how he felt about this new journey on which he was embarking. There is no doubt that Tobias took his responsibilities towards his sub seriously and entered into his role with the mindset that Noah’s needs came first.

What I liked

 The relationship between Tobias and Noah and the caring between them.
The fact that I was able to be a participant in Tobias’s life outside of his relationship with Noah, especially with his delightful 83 year old housekeeper and the partner in his veterinary practice.
The role play in the scenes of “let’s pretend” which were like another world.
Phantom, Tobias’s ex slave/submissive who, in addition to being a bit of a devil, was also a good friend to Tobias
All of the other supporting cast.

What I didn’t like

I was taken aback at Tobias referring to Noah as “sweetheart” from their very first scene which I didn’t feel was appropriate between a Dom and a sub, especially on their first meeting.
Another misstep – Brett, Noah’s former Master who called him “baby.”
There was a lot of emphasis in the book on Noah’s physical appearance.
The tenderness and kiss in the first session seemed a bit off for a serious BDSM scene
I thought that some of the language initially might have been too much like lovers would speak to each other, rather than a Dom and his sub.
Some of the pain and whipping was a bit much for me even though I understood that this is very much part of the lifestyle.
Some of the role reversal between Tobias and Noah which didn’t ring true for a Dom and a sub.

I’m definitely no expert in D/s relationships but over the years I have read many BDSM books. Some of them are okay, but others distort what these relationships are supposed to be because the authors don’t do the research and they present half baked ideas of the BDSM lifestyle as fact. Typically, readers end up with a book that misrepresents the lifestyle and portrays it as one protagonist being totally subservient to another who beats and mistreats him because he’s on a power trip. There are a few books that give a balanced view of the D/s relationship and Deviations: submission may be one such book. In this series you will come away, hopefully, with what is in fact, a love story between two people who need each other in the worst way. This is an intense and emotional journey between the characters, as their emotions are stripped away and they learn to love all over again in a different type of relationship. If you read this book you won’t be able to resist picking up the other stories, it’s that good. Despite the reservations mentioned above I thoroughly enjoyed Submission. Highly recommended!

I will be reviewing book 2, Deviations: Domination in about a week.

A guest review by Jenre

Summary Review
A sweet fantasy romance set in Amy Lane’s Green’s Hill world where flighty sidhe, Whim, learns the meaning of constancy from a human, Charlie.

THE BLURB

Whim believes himself to be the least powerful sidhe at Green’s Hill: he is as constant as a bumblebee in a hurricane and as faithful as a stray breeze. Whim’s prince believes there is more to him than that and on Litha, the night of the summer solstice, sends Whim into the mortal world where he strives to give a piece of himself to others.

It is on Litha that Whim meets Charlie, a young, desperate human who steals a kiss. Whim steals one back and, in turn, craves another taste of this extraordinary man. Their vows to return next Litha and finish what they started launch a thirteen-year tradition of celebration between the mortal and the immortal, between love and patience, that is sustained by Whim’s driving, faithful compulsion to love and keep his human close to his heart.

THE REVIEW

Amy Lane has written a number of m/f and m/f/m fantasy books set in the faery world of Green’s Hill, a place governed by a sidhe, Green, and populated by faery folk, shifters and vampires. This story fits in and around the events of those other books. I haven’t read any of the other Green’s Hill books and it isn’t really necessary to have read them to understand the events of this book.

The story follows sidhe, or elf, Whim. He lives on Green’s Hill along with his brother Bracken. Whim’s name is very appropriate, as he’s forgetful and inconstant with a mind full of butterflies. His friend and sometimes lover vampire Adrian, persuades Whim to visit the human world on occasion and Whim decides he will make an annual trip at Litha (or summer solstice) to the human world and bestow a favour on a lonely human by giving them a night of carefree passion. During one of his visits he meets Charlie, a lonely young gay man. The two heroes hit it off and spend a companionable night together. As dawn approaches Whim asks Charlie to meet him at the same time, same place next year, thus beginning a yearly relationship which deepens into so much more for both man and sidhe.

This romance has a lovely bittersweet tone to it, as we follow Charlie and Whim as they meet each Litha and deepen their relationship with each other. I thought the way that the relationship strengthens as time moves on, and the way it develops year by year brought a sharpness to what could have been a bit of a mushy story. When Whim first meets Charlie he is 18 years old and full of promise and as the years go by Whim (and the reader) see that promise develop until Charlie is a mature man, careful of his responsibilities. Much of the story follows the last few years of their yearly ritual, as Whim waits patiently for the time when he can take Charlie back to Green’s Hill with him, and Charlie longs to go with Whim but feels unable to leave his life behind, or ask to go. There’s a real yearning in the story, yearning by both characters to be able to spend more time with each other and for the time to be right for that to happen.

As Charlie matures, so does Whim, so that he’s a very different sidhe at the end of the book from the first. I liked that this story was just as much about Whim as it was Charlie. I also liked the snippets of information we are given about Green’s Hill, the world of the sidhe and the powers and limitations of that race. It all added the the setting which managed successfully to have one foot in the fantasy world and the other in the world of humans with the bridge being the feelings that Whim and Charlie have for each other. I also liked that not everything is easy for the pair, they both have to make sacrifices, lose loved ones and make changes in their lives before they can be together.

If I have any complaints about the story it’s the way that the book used a sudden crisis to resolve the ending. I actually felt this was a little out of keeping with the rest of the book, and that perhaps I would have liked the story better if events had not conspired to force the issue rather than Charlie making the choice of his own free will. Having said that, I understand why the story ended as it did, and that perhaps the conclusion was suitably dramatic.

Despite this niggle, this was a pretty great novella. I loved the main characters, especially Whim and his ever-changing hair, and strong moral sense despite his flightiness. I liked the setting and the idea of the story in general. If you like fantasy stories with faery settings then you’ll like this book too and I recommend it to anyone with a love of fantasy or who wants to read an unusual book with sympathetic characters.

Today’s Amber Allure “free” book is Wings of Love by Deirdre O’Dare.

Special Border Patrol agent Alex, who can shapeshift into a raven, is used to working alone. He honors his Scots ancestry and has never met another shifter except for kinfolk back in Scotland. When he’s required to accept a partner, he normally manages to get rid of them by being so distant, aloof, and downright weird that they cannot deal with him. But the latest man assigned to work with Alex, a Native American named Manuel Ortiz, poses a whole new range of challenges.

Manuel, a member of the Tohono O’Odham tribe, works for the Border Patrol to support his ailing elderly parents. He has a secret he’s never dared to share—he can shapeshift into a red-tailed hawk. When his superiors team him with cold, cynical Alex, he’s not sure why until he learns his new partner has a similar curse—or gift.

Together, the men begin to form an uneasy bond. Confronting an evil and completely alien drug cartel boss, they have to cooperate to survive. In doing so, Alex and Manuel slowly learn the synergy of partnership and even discover that flying together can open a whole new world for them, that riding on the wings of love can be magical indeed…

NOTE: This story is part of The Thin Green Line series.

To win Wings of Love please leave a comment on the post.

I’ve been doing some thinking (which is always a dangerous thing) as a result of recent comments from readers on a few posts here regarding what they want when they buy an M/M romance. Their expectations range from sex 24/7 in these books – which would make the protagonists one dimensional cardboard cut-outs and very, very, tired - to no sex unless it was in a committed relationship, resembling more traditional old style M/f romances. How would it work I wonder, if gay men in M/M romances don’t have sex EVER except with their One True Love?

When guys date in real life, gay or straight, the majority are looking for sex, sex, and more sex, until they decide on the one person who fulfils their romantic needs, and even then they may stray, which is another post. It seems reasonable to assume that if two gay men are dating, the urge for sex is ever present and usually executed.  Typically, in RL men and women think differently about sex although lately that’s changing. Gay men under 30 seem to have libidos that are in constant overdrive (maybe straight men do as well)! 

Het romances in the old days of Harlequin romances had no hanky panky, in other words, nothing of a sexual nature until the wedding. These books have evolved a lot since then and Harlequin romances now have the hero and heroine in bed before the “I Do’s” and maybe even some cheating going on - or a threesome or two. Ebooks have changed het romances and many of them rival M/M in terms of their sexual content, yet some readers seem to have unrealistic expectations when they pick up a gay romance. Why is that? Even though these books are fiction I thought that the characterizations of the protagonists were supposed to resemble real gay men, with all their flaws.  Men love sex and when there are two dicks in play there is even more action. 

Readers’ expectations of  M/M romances seem to change constantly and authors are getting different messages about what we really want. In my post on How Do You Like Your M/M Erotic Romance 2010 - The Results, linked here,  readers weighed in on every aspect of M/M romances and the consensus overwhelmingly was -

Most of you moved to M/M because you found het romance boring and unfulfilling
You love the different dynamics between two men

So why am I writing this post? I’m puzzled by recent comments which seem to indicate that, contrary to what you said in the survey above, some readers want gay romances to be aligned as closely as possible to het in terms of the  sexual mores, lifestyles etc.  We know that there is a big difference between the lifestyles of single gay men and single straight women (at least I think so) although both have changed over the last decade. For M/M romance to replicate straight romance would be to deny what being a gay man is all about. I’m not saying gay men are one dimensional – far from it, but for the most part their sex lives are quite different from the typical straight female, until they are in a committed relationship. If you read some of the stories in the Coming Out of the Closet post here they would give you a small glimpse of the life of young gay men, and straight women do not have the same experiences.

Women read M/M romances because we are looking for something different, so why would some of us expect M/M romances to duplicate what we find in het, especially Harlequin romances? Here are two quotes, very different, from two female readers, on another post, in response to my question:

Me“Do you consider it cheating if the main protagonist has not yet made up his mind to commit to one person, and is having sex with others until he decides which man he wants? I don’t. I call that dating.”

Sue “Truthfully, Wave, I am not interested in having the main protagonist date (have sex) with multiple men in a novel. I am reading m/m fiction for the love story between TWO men, just like I would in a Harlequin m/f romance novel. I admit I am vanilla, but in between writing my thesis, grad school classes and real life I have very little time for reading for fun, so I limit my choices to what I know, like and find comfortable.”

Quinn “One very important aspect for ME in the attraction of m/m though, the relationship between two men DOES NOT and SHOULD NOT mirror a m/f Harlequin romance. (If a story and characters do so and I didn’t realize before buying, the book probably will be DNF). I even do not necessarily need a HEA if I get great characters and an engaging plot.”

While the audience for M/M romance is still predominantly female, that is also changing because more men are now writing (22%) and reading (15%)  M/M romances, according to a survey on this site, so I asked TJ, a gay man who is a ’regular’ here, what his expectations are of these books and this is what he had to say:

TJ  ”My expectations of m/m stories are the same as for mainstream fiction. As a gay man, I want to read about other gay men who are interesting, three dimensional and believable. For me, part of being believable, even in a romance novel, requires that their actions and reactions to their circumstances follows their character’s development in the story. As real life people often do, I would expect these men to make mistakes, make some foolish choices, and maybe even sleep with the wrong guy or guys along the way. That’s part of how we figure out who we want, or should be with.

As a result of this, I don’t always expect a HEA or even a HFN ending, although there’s nothing better when it makes sense in the story. Nor do I look for everything to necessarily be fully resolved, as long as the story is satisfying in some sense. I don’t mean that major plot lines are left unfinished, but more along the lines of the main characters’ relationship not be rushed. I don’t like inst-love. I don’t even like instant pudding. For me, all good things, especially good relationships, require time to develop” 

I also asked Ethan Day, an author, for his view of the M/M world, because I knew that Ethan would have an opinion or two.  Here’s what he said, in part:

“There’s nothing wrong with showing two gay men meeting, falling in love and having that HEA. But for many people…they’re only willing to read the same story so many times. Yes you can change the names, places, and faces, but you can only fool so many people for so long with that set-up. I think this is why I keep hearing so many readers saying they’re bored, or tired. Usually this is tagged as being connected to the sex scenes. Is it really merely the sex scenes or are the stories as a whole becoming too formulaic? (I’m asking here because I’m the first to admit that I’ve barely scratched the tip of the gay romance market as a reader.)
 
What really bothers me more than anything, is when readers trash a book or the author when it doesn’t live up to their strict vision of what love is. Is it really the author’s fault that your vision of what should be is so narrow? I don’t believe anyone should have to read anything they don’t want to, but why wouldn’t you want to look at the world from someone else’s perspective? This issue of cheating bugs me. Is a man who cheats forever to be deemed unworthy of love? That’s it, one strike and you’re out? No exceptions? Because what that feels like to me is, no compassion. And isn’t that kinda-sorta the same emotion the guy who cheated likely had, to begin with?
 
On the flip side, I think gay men can be just as restrictive in the opposite sense. Maybe if there were more literature out there that showed two gay men meeting, falling in love and living happily ever after then there wouldn’t be such a stigma attached to gay men as the perpetual man-ho who is incapable of commitment. I know it’s not true, but it sure can feel true, especially to me when I first came out. People looked at me like I was crazy when I’d say that I would prefer one good guy over 20 hot one-nighters. Granted I was 20 at the time, so not your typical statement from a guy at that age. But it was drilled into me by my community not to go expecting too much. Don’t set your heart on finding ‘the one’ ‘cause we’re gay…and we don’t do that. Obviously, I don’t think anyone ever came out and said that, but it was the feeling that I got. And I don’t believe anything should feel out of my reach as a gay man………”

The gay men who are now writing these books in increasing numbers are bringing different perspectives to M/M plots because they are speaking from their life experiences, and this will ultimately change many of the stories that are released. This does not mean that female authors don’t give us gritty and realistic M/M stories, because they do – Bareback and 9-1-1 by Chris Owen remain two of my favourite M/M romances and they were written by a woman in 2003 and 2005. Similarly, Laura Baumbach’s A Bit of Rough released in print in 2005 is another wonderful M/M book that’s one of my favourite reads. I love many books written by female M/M authors such as Jordan Castillo Price, AM Riley, M.L. Rhodes and on and on because they write tough and gritty stories or sometimes simple romances. This is fiction, after all, and if you can dream it you can write it. However there’s something to be said for writing from personal life experience. Rick Reed, author, did a post recently on this site in which he talked about writing about real gay men. Here’s part of what he said

 ”……we all have a responsibility to be true to the characters we create. We need to give some recognition to the very real problems, pitfalls, and pleasures real gay men experience, aside from falling in love. As a gay man, I can tell you that I—or close friends—have personally wrestled with such issues as homophobia, HIV, drug abuse, promiscuity, job discrimination, hate crimes, the inability to marry the person we love, and many other things that occupy today’s headlines.”

The paradigm shift in M/M romances is here or on the immediate horizon, brought about mainly by more gay writers entering this field. Will those readers who are looking for gay romances that resemble het romances abandon this sub genre because it no longer offers them what they want? Would that be a good or a bad thing? Should Harlequin romances be the benchmark for M/M?

So readers, what are your expectations when you buy an M/M romance? Do you want it to be similar to het, even to the point of emulating some of the mores and conventions of Harlequin romances? Or are you willing to embrace more realistic characterizations of gay men in these books? What are your hot buttons?

Liade

Congratulations Liade. Please email jessewave@gmail.com with the format of your choice so tht I can forward your information to Clare. Thanks for playing everyone.

Summary Review:  Too much wedding planning and not enough romance.

THE BLURB

Davey is proud of his business, Pomegranate weddings. He’s built it from the ground up, and couldn’t be happier to be putting on his best friends’ wedding and reception. He’s even hired his best photographer, Alan to work the ceremony and reception.

Alan would love to be more than an employee to Davey, but he’s not sure how to get close enough to make it happen. What he doesn’t know is that Davey shares his desires. Can Davey find a happy ending for them like he had for so many of his clients?

THE REVIEW

Pomegrante Weddings was very successful and Davey was happy to comp his best friends’ Darren’s and Peter’s wedding because they had been good to him when he really needed a friend, after his family threw him out when he came out. His favourite photographer Alan would be attending to take the pictures and Davey could not be happier.

I learned a lot about the wedding planning business, as the author gave us what I thought was way too much information – from the description of the centerpiece on the cake, a statue of Persephone carved in ice with real pomegranate seeds spilling out around her feet, to the decor of the Reception Hall, and every single detail of what was on the menu. Davey even checked on the coat-checker to make sure that everything was according to plan. I did understand his anxiety since this was a special wedding, but some of the information seemed a bit of a overkill.

Alan, who had been photographing Davey’s weddings for almost a year, took so many pictures of the grooms I thought it was lucky that he was taking digital photographs or he might have run out of  film if he were using a conventional camera. Here’s how the author described his activities that day, and this was only the beginning of his photography marathon:

Alan took pictures of Darren and Peter each getting ready for the ceremony. He took pictures of them getting into the Model T Ford replica, which would take them to the park where they were having their ceremony. He took pictures of them getting out of the Model T at the park. He took pictures as they walked up the makeshift aisle to where an arched trellis stood, covered in vines with red berries. In other words, he was a picture taking fool.

Both men seemed to want a deeper connection so I couldn’t understand why nothing had happened between them in the year they had known and wanted each other, since neither had a significant other. It could have been the boss/employee relationship but that didn’t seem to be an impediment once things got going.

I really wanted to like Pomegranate a lot more. For starters it was set in Toronto where I live, something that doesn’t happen often, but I found too many things wrong with the story. First, Davey was characterized as the stereotypical fussy, flaming queen and I thought that was too easy for a wedding planner. There was not enough information about Davey’s and Alan’s romance until almost the end of the book so I didn’t really get to know them as a couple. Also, there were too many spelling errors for such a short story, which prevented me from fully enjoying it. However the end of the book did make up for a few of my issues and I thought that Davey’s and Alan’s HEA was quite appropriate for a wedding planner and his photographer BFF.

To be a wedding planner I suppose one would have to be a bit anal, but I was overwhelmed with  the details of the wedding at the expense of the romance, although the sex was good and the love between Davey and Alan seemed genuine.

If you like weddings you will love Pomegranate.

Today’s Dreamspinner Press free book is Beached Hearts by Scarlet Blackwell. Here’s the blurb

Inspector Conor Kelly’s heart broke and his life fell into disarray seven years ago when his father disowned him and his lover Liam left him. Now Conor is fighting both old, lingering pain and a new, fierce attraction to Eli Sanders, a marine biologist—just like Liam—who is only in Ireland for a short time to study the unfortunate death of a whale. Conor will have to find the courage to face the demons of his past, because if he lets Eli go without making his feelings plain, it may very well be Conor’s last chance at love.

To win Beached Hearts please leave a comment on the post.

A guest review by Lily

Review Summary

An okay story of two men who must get over the painful memories they share in order to explore the possibilities of a relationship.

BLURB

Reid Hansen has always had a “thing” for Marines. But not for former Marine, now up-and-coming fashion designer, Jackson Tate. In fact, Reid would rather see Jackson dead.

Jackson Tate has more success than he’d ever imagined, and all the stress that goes with it. Who better to help pull him back from the edge than Reid Hansen? But Reid’s fateful and unexpected presence in Jackson’s life resurrects the ghost of the Marine Reid once loved, the Marine Jackson served with, the Marine who died saving Jackson’s life, and it’s quite clear that Reid has no intention of offering Jackson the salvation he seeks. In fact, it seems Reid would rather deliver that final shove that destroys him.

Jackson is the last man Reid wants to meet. Their lives first intersected on an Iraqi desert years before. Now, finally face-to-face, resentment, anger, and guilt put them at odds. Grief and the truth bind them. And then there’s the unrelenting want fueling their actions. A craving neither can deny.

Yes, Reid’s the one man who could save Jackson from himself. But who is saving whom?

REVIEW

Jackson Tate and Reid Hansen have never met yet the men share a very painful bond. Reid’s lover Stan died in Jackson’s arms while they were serving in Iraq and Reid has never forgotten, nor forgiven, Jackson for living. Years later Reid attends a celebration for Jackson’s new fashion designs and the men finally meet.

They are instantly attracted to each other but with so many volatile memories and emotions between them it’s not an easy meeting. When Jackson shares a closely guarded secret about the day Stan died Reid has to reevaluate his feelings. Jackson meanwhile is desperately searching for a way to handle the stress of his life and meeting Reid, a dominant who he thinks could help him, gives him the hope of finding the peace he so desperately wants.

Even though he longs to find a balance in his life Jackson is only interested in sexual domination and the men grapple for control outside the bedroom. Jackson and Reid must find a way to get past all of their issues if they want to have a chance to make their new relationship work.

This was a confusing story at times and I just never felt in touch with either of the protagonists. Reid isn’t particularly likable at the beginning and I found Jackson’s feelings towards Reid strange. He’d only known of the other man from conversations with Stan years earlier, had never met the man in person and yet he’s been thinking of and longing for Reid to dominate and save him. This just didn’t ring true to me. I did think the sex scenes were hot and written well  even though Reid’s ‘topping from the bottom’ a couple of times was a bit strange for me.

I’ve read a couple of other stories by this author which I’ve enjoyed but was ultimately disappointed with this one. The storyline seemed interesting at first but I quickly lost interest as the neither character, nor their relationship, ever truly grabbed me. The story does end with a nicely written HFN ending and may be of interest to fans of the author. Of course, as with any book, while I personally didn’t enjoy it there may be many readers who will.

Summary Review: Ken wakes up with his rescuer and a body full of bruises.

THE BLURB

Deputy Ken Ito wakes up from a nightmare in a strange place: a cave in the woods, cared for by a beautiful young man with long hair that smells of cedar. Ken falls under Wylde’s spell, feeling like he’s lost in one of those captive-captor romances: Wylde found him, saved him… and now he considers Ken his.

But Ken has to get back to his life and find out who beat him and left him for dead, suspecting it must have something to do with his investigation of disappearances on the remote stretch of road he patrols. Protective Wylde follows him and they begin a fledgling affair, but the danger to them—and their hearts—is following close behind.

THE REVIEW

Ken Ito is a part-time sheriff’s deputy in a small rural area of Washington State.  He took the job for some extra money and out of sense that he was helping people.  Not long after he started his patrols, he found out about the people missing along one of his routes.  It seems as though a number of hitchhikers have disappeared through the years and investigations have never turned up any clues.

As the story unfolds, Ken wakes to a battered and bruised body, his own.  What happened?  How did he get in this cave and who is caring for him?  Whoever it is, the questions will have to wait until he gets better. It turns out that his rescuer and now caregiver is Wylde.  Wylde grew up in this area with his grandfather although he moved away, but comes back from time to time because this is the only place he has ever felt at home. As Ken heals, he remembers the attack and shadowy images of his attacker.  He had been on patrol route and happened upon a shallow grave containing the latest victim, but he was attacked before he could make a report.

Ken and Wylde form a friendship that becomes sexual, but there is a good pace here.  Each is a patient lover and not afraid to let the other know what he truly wants.   

The plot and subplots all fit together very well.  Ken and Wylde get to know each other little by little through their first conversations, and we are treated to their thoughts in a manner that easily flows through the story and enhances it.  And all through the story is the threat of the unknown killer.  Ken asks all the questions that we would if we were newly hired deputies, including whether the previous investigators had not connected the dots.

I liked this story by Jan Irving. I was prepared not to because I had reviewed one other story by this author and didn’t care for it much. However, Born to be Wylde is very good.  There is a lot of background on Ken and Wylde and readers are introduced to Ken’s dad and to the other deputy with whom Ken shares his route.  Ken makes pottery, a relaxing hobby that helps him express his artistic side, and the process is described as Ken attempts to show Wylde how to form a pot.  It really felt to me as though I was there with my hands in the clay.

There are a few little niggles that I have, but overall Born To Be Wylde isn’t hurried even though it is fairly short and the conclusion fits very well. The sex scenes were appropriate for the story and enjoyable.