Review: Training Tristan
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 2, 2013
Reviewer: MarissaSource: PublisherMarissa's review was first posted at Romancing the Book's blog.Training Tristan is a short read (took me about an hour) that had a bit of a moral issue I had to hurdle. Here we have a cop who falls for the victim of an abuse crime, then decides to take said victim home and "keep" him. But the keeping was mutual consent so okay. The area I had a problem with was the "training". If Jed fell for Tristan the way he was, why does he feel the need to change him?Being a short story, we don't get as in-depth into the characters as a full-length novel would take us. Jed is a closeted gay policeman who dates women to keep his straight cover. He even has sex with them. Even though he falls for Tristan, he's embarrassed by Tristan's girlie ways - his use of toenail polish, lip gloss, and women's underwear, and his swishy walk. While I can understand being embarrassed by someone you love, I have a hard time with the fact that Jed tried to change Tristan rather than try to accept his idiosyncrasies. But then, that is part of the story...Tristan is shy to the point of being withdrawn and it is easy to see why Jed was immediately attracted to him. However, we don't see inside Tristan's mind in this story which almost makes Tristan a secondary character. Other than what he relates to Jed, we don't know what he is feeling or what his thoughts on being taken in by his rescuer are. That's something I would have liked to read - Tristan's point of view.Training Tristan is one of those cute little stories that you can read while on the bus or in between full-length novels. It is well-written (especially considering it's in short-story format) and I found myself wanting to know what was going to happen next as I read each page.