Review: And So Is Love by Scarlet Blackwell
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 03 2, 2011
Prison romances are not so common in the classical romance genre, probably since this is probably really the only affair where the two lovers HAVE to be men; but with the raising of the Gay romance also this theme is taking a turn and it's not the first time I read one. The main big difference this time is that both men are guilty of the crime for which they are in prison; prison novels in general, and prison romances above all, have to respect the rule that the goods are good and the bads are bad, and so, even if in a cell, the hero/heroes have to be as much as innocent as possible. Scarlet Blackwell decided this was not the case, and by the way, both Dane than Bailey are convicted for manslaughter, so violence is not new to them.Dane has already spent two years in prison, and even if same-sex relationship are pretty common, he has never "lowered" himself; yes, Dane is a little bit homophobic, he doesn't go around using gays as punching ball, but he is neither friendly with them. I'm not sure if he is in a huge denial phase or if he is really like that, one way or the other, he is not exactly the nice guy of the story. When Bailey joins him in the cell, and it is soon clear he is gay, Dane presents him a cold back, making easier for other inmates to rape the poor guy.Now Bailey is not exactly the down-low type, he has a mouth on him that seems to attract danger; but I think he was most scared than not, and for sure he didn't ask or encourage being raped. It's probably even worse since it happened right the morning after the first night he showed a sign of weakness, and found inside the prison a little hope that he was not alone. It was like giving him a punch in the gut after having him deluded with a caress.The story is highly emotional, and probably for some more romantic readers also a little too much harsh and violent; while the author gives a romance to Dane and Bailey, she doesn't forget they are inside a prison, and life in prison is not at all easy. Even if in love, Dane and Bailey haven't found the magic key to a parallel world where their time will move faster and faster to the day when they will be finally free to be together, they are still in a nightmare and they have to pay for their sins.My only complain is that, even if it caused the death of another man, both their crimes seem to me not worthy of being in jail; but I'm not really an expert of the US criminal law.