Review: Hurt-comfort storyline that's sweet but nothing special
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 01 22, 2013
Warning: This review might contain what some people consider SPOILERS.Rating: 7/10PROS:- I'm a sucker for hurt-comfort storylines, and this story is pretty hardcore hurt-comfort. Francis is emotionally fragile, and Nick is wonderfully gentle while still managing not to treat Francis like a child.- In spite of Francis's emotional pain and his uncertainty regarding men and the BDSM lifestyle, he doesn't have the air of a victim about him. He has moments of weakness, but overall he's blunt and strong.- I love reading stories in which BDSM is given a nontraditional slant so that it works within the scope of an individual relationship. The basic tenets of the lifestyle work for a lot of people, but for those with special circumstances, the lifestyle can be fashioned so that it works for them specifically. My favorite example of that in this story is the men's decision to have a hug word in addition to a safeword.CONS:- I'm not sure this is a con, and it's certainly not something that readers will notice unless they've read a LOT of Sean Michael books, like I have...but the tone of the writing here is a little different than a typical story by this author. The fragments and the internalized narrative style and the frenetic pacing--as well as other hallmarks of Michael's writing--are here, but there's something about it that's just a little...off.- Like most books by Sean Michael, this one has more than its share of editing mistakes. It did seem to me as though there were fewer here than in the last several Hammer books, though.Overall comments: I'm addicted to this series and have read every single story in it (as far as I know). So naturally, I liked this. I wouldn't call it a standout among the Hammer stories, but the characters are sweet and their connection gave me a warm fuzzy feeling. The main thing that struck me about the book was the writing style: the story still has a conversational tone, but the writing isn't quite as choppy as what I'm used to from this author.