Review: Enjoyable M/M Mystery Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 5, 2012
Enjoyable m/m mystery romance about Paul, an account manager who moves from San Francisco to northern Washington State to take over his late aunt's stables. City boy Paul isn't too keen about running Serenity Stables, especially after a horse-riding trauma from his youth, but he presses on until he can find a buyer for the place. But plans go awry as he struggles with a gaggle of nosy boarders, a violent and homophobic cousin, and the sudden disappearance of one of the horses. Throw in there a sexy horse trainer and a murder plot, and suddenly country living looks anything but peaceful.I've only read Amara before in the excellent shared-world fantasy anthologies Hell Cop and Irregulars, so this is the first work I've read by her that was a contemporary romance. Her style is easy and readable, and she has a sly, acerbic humor that she slides effortlessly into Paul's first person POV. The mystery itself was good, and I was surprised at the layers of reveals that popped up. The growing romance between Paul and Estevan is a nice slow burn, although their chemistry seemed a little reserved. I'm not sure if that was more because of Amara's style or Estevan's general reticence through most of the story.Overall, a solid read, and as a WA state resident, I appreciated all the northwest details. Also, even though I was never one of those girls into horses, I really dug following Paul as he groused around the stables. It was easy to picture everything and get the feel of the setting, and I loved how Amara wrote about the horses, and showed how each was a distinct character.