Review: Not a bad tale, but too rushed and requires the suspension of disbelief just a little too much.
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 07 21, 2014
I'd kind of both liked and found Michael irritating from his appearance in the previous tales, but as his heart was always in the right place, I hoped that he'd find the guy who would smooth over his tendencies to bitch, and who'd make him less abrasive. Whilst this tale was well-written, and whilst I can see why the author went with her storyline, it didn't give me what I wanted, and it didn't entirely satisfy.Michael was strong and opinionated, slightly arrogant and abrasive at times, so he needed an older alpha of a guy, one who'd be in control and would make him feel safe. loved and not so abrasive. Instead, he got Nicky, who was as soft as the name sounds, and who at 29 was still a virgin, only having had anonymous, infrequent encounters from time to time, and who in himself, was far too conflicted to be of any help to Michael.Nicky, pleasant as he was, and decent guy who loved his mother as he did, came across as too unbelievable in a contemp tale, and frankly, at times, he felt too wet and immature; at times I wanted to shake him and tell him to grow a pair or at least find his, as they were clearly missing. I didn't buy the love between the leads, due to their differing personalities, one being out and the other being closeted, one being so jaded and the other so utterly naive and cloistered, and one being so needy and yet so fearful of being himself. The making of this couple was certainly possible, but the tale was too short and Nicky's mother's illness overshadowed any romance, yet at the same time, her passing was mentioned in a way that made me wonder if the author was really expressing it in such a passing/flippant way, or if I was misinterpreting it.Yes, I do think that these leads could have made it, but their tale needed to be longer, and they needed to be stronger together. The tale was rushed - it ended on 89% of the download - and felt as if it wasn't cut and dried that they'd make it. I felt that Nicky's mum dying gave him an out from outing himself, though he did supposedly out himself to his work colleagues; the latter didn't ring true or feel believable.Overall, this is a readable instalment in the Fire and Rain series, but personally, I'd focus on books 1 and 4, skipping 2 and 3.