Review: Hunting for Sport is hot and heartfelt.
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 14, 2011
D. River's second full-length novel, "Hunting for Sport," is akin to, but also very different from, his first, "Wild Horses," (which gets a throwaway reference in the story). Make no mistake, sex is what drives these m/m romances, and River is good at it. Or at least writing about It. But sex alone never sells a book for me.  I need heart.  I need to give a crap about the characters, even more so if they're uncannily gifted seducers and high-stamina sex gods. I can't relate to perfection; perfection only makes me feel inferior. Fortunately, River is a romantic and not merely a sex fiend.  He knows what his readers want. He explores every gay guy's jock fantasies (high school, college and pro!) and builds a plausible, if improbable, series of dramatic and erotic set pieces around them.The main protagonist in this book is James Hunter Philips, a computer-nerd turned hotshot multi-millionaire, internet mogul, and high-profile pro-sports team owner. I really don't want to reveal any good stuff; let's just say Hunter is very good at everything he does. Except, it seems, at love.  What is most appealing about the narrative--because the plot matters, and the story pulls you in and makes you connect with the men who populate its pages--is that our first glimpse of Hunter is not necessarily either flattering or entirely attractive. However, as the story unfolds, and we begin to understand the workings of this man through the first-person perspective of the narrative, we begin to appreciate him more and more. His very human emotional frailty allows us to forgive him all of the unfair advantages he seems to have over us mere mortals.This is a fantasy. It's a good fantasy, and a well-written fantasy. It has substance way beyond the sex. Not that the sex wasn't good. Sigh.  That's what made me regret that it's a fantasy.