Review: Hidden Hands by Shayla Kersten
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 23, 2009
Hidden Hands gathers a supporting character from Hidden Force (David) and one from A Helping Hand (Jeremy) and gives them their own story. For this reason, it's not necessary to read the previous books to enjoy this story, but for sure I wouldn't recommend to read them after this one since most of the mysteries on both stories are spoilered in this one and used as basis for the plot.Jeremy is a police detective; he is a nice man and this is confirmed from his role in the previous book: he was the buddy friend of Rich in A Helping Hand, the man to whom Rich turned when his unrequited love for Dan was not returned. And in a way he was the man that helped Rich to realize that he was using him, even if Jeremy was more than willing. Jeremy is not so young, 37 years old, and he has already realized that he wants someone steady in his life; he thought to have found that someone special in Rich, but it was not fated. At the beginning of this book Jeremy is cruising a pub more with the hope to find a lonesome soul like him than for sex, even if sex it's not left out.David instead is the building contractor who was the first lover of Ryan, the main character in Hidden Force. David is the classic closeted case: when he came out with his father as a teenager, the reaction of the parent was so negative that David shut up on his protective shield and denied who he was and whom he wanted. He even married a woman with dreadful consequences. From all of that you understand that David is not exactly a strong willed and independent man; he relies too much on the opinion of other people, he fears his own desire, and he is really convinced that everyone is judging him.Even if David is the bigger in body, he is the weaker side of the couple. He needs someone good and quite, a strong hand in velvet glove; it's quite right that between Jeremy and David there is a substantial age difference (11 years), since David needs the reassuring figure of someone older. I wouldn't venture on saying that there is a "male" Oedipus complex between David and Jeremy, but for sure David lacked of the comforting figure of a father, and Jeremy fills a bit that role. Probably someone will question if David, once he will arrive to be at easy with himself, will feel the same for Jeremy, but sincerely I believe that he will.There is a very nice and long introduction scene, most of which spent in a sex encounter; after that, the story sustains acceleration toward the resolution, but I don't feel as that scene weights to much on the story, since it serves to present the characters and to set the basis for their future relationship.