Review: Great First Time Outing by New Author
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 07 15, 2014
Disclosure: I "know" the author through his blog and Facebook. That being the case, I was already prepared to purchase this book as soon as it came out. I mean, if you know the person who wrote it, you need to be supportive, especially for a first book, right? However, I wasn't that sure that I'd like it; I'm not that into the hot cowboy sub-genre of m/m romance. I also wasn't 100% sold on the premise: guy wakes up buck naked and tied to a plank in a field? What kind of wacky BDSM sh*t is going on here? I'm very happy to say I was WRONG. Sterling ties all the various strands together in a sweet, but uncompromising romance with a mystery background. (For me, the WHO of the mystery wasn't much in question but the WHY was really intriguing to think about.)Allan is who he is and doesn't try to hide his light under a bushel. Gay, femme, androgynous: he owns it. He couldn't pass for straight if he tried and why the hell would he try?! Duke, on the other hand, is (as his moniker implies) a dyed-in-the-wool cowboy. A man's man. The kind of man who could play it straight if he wanted to but doesn't. He's come out to his family, to his employees, and is enthralled by this new and wonderful character who's landed in his life. Their love story, while played in fast forward given the extreme nature of their situation, is real and engrossing.For a first time author, Sterling did a fabulous job. The writing is tight and the characters real and well developed. I laughed a lot and I had a tear in my eye at one point. These are people I'd like to hang out with. In addition, for a self-published book, there were no glaring typos or mis-edits, which is rare in the genre. I highly recommend Splinters and hope Sterling comes out with more.