Review: Very Enjoyable Read
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 06 27, 2014
I received a copy of 'True Nature' from the author through the Goodreads M/M Romance Group's Don't Buy My Love program. The story is told in third person through the eyes of Lake Clearwater, a naiad, and Forrest Oakwood, a dryad.Lake Clearwater is eager to start his new position as Gem Lake's conservation officer. Unfortunately, he isn't off to a good start and almost dies in the snow in the woods until Forrest Oakwood finds him and brings him the station. Lake is suffering from hypothermia and Forrest has to keep him warm. That isn't so bad, but Forrest is attracted to Lake right off the bat. We soon find out that Lake feels the same for Forrest. However, neither does anything because Lake doesn't want to lose his job and Forrest doesn't believe Lake is gay. He is also hesitant because of an incident in Forrest's past that he is deeply ashamed about.Lake and Forrest sleep in the same room, and at one point in the story, the author writes a particular masturbation scene where the action switches back and forth between the characters, each thinking the other is asleep. The scene flowed very well between the two characters without the jarring that can often happen when povs change.The book reads like a fairytale. Lake is a naiad, a human that can take the form of a water spirit. Forrest is a dryad and spirit of the woods. We find that they are humans that turned into nature spirits, and that there is something else unusual about the town's people. The 'people' were very well described and we can easily tell `what' they are.There are a couple of things I didn't like however. One was the overuse of the term, "Powers That Be," during sex. It sounded silly after more than one use. Next was the use of hand lotion as lube. The author has used hand lotion as lube before in her books and I'm wondering why not use olive oil or another cooking oil instead? I'm sure since they cook, they have it in the house. It's much less likely to get tacky too, plus it's natural compared to hand lotion with loads of artificial ingredients, since Lake and Forrest are nature creatures.The author did a great job of tying names of the characters to their personalities and what they represented. When it came to the sex and the senses, the author described actions and feelings in terms of nature without becoming repetitive. The writing flowed nicely without dragging.This is a fun, fairytale style read, with imaginative usage of words. Easy to read with a HEA, I'd recommend this to anyone looking for a low angst, fast and happy read. I give this 4 Stars.