Review - Untamed Heart
Title: Untamed Heart
Author: Ally Blue
Genre: Gay Erotica
Synopsis: Leon's sent to a remote 'rehab house' in Alaska. The clincher is that he's sent by his employer's - only known as the organization - after Leon has a minor breakdown. Understandable since he finds his lover slaughtered, takes vengeance and finds that it only leaves him emptier. His subsequent alcoholism is the reason for his unwanted leave of absence.
Attacked by a bear, Leon is saved by a young man named Grim. As Grim cares for him, the hardened Leon senses something wrong - and becomes determined to figure out what. During this time, he also find that he comes to care for Grim.
Warning - the review under the cut may contain spoilers.
Writing Level: Excellent. Ally has a nice, easy style of writing. It’s a pleasure to read her descriptions, and there isn’t anything that isn’t important - Leon and Grim’s background certainly are, and everything sets up the next event or is working towards a larger revelation in the end.
Plot: While I realize that getting Leon to his alcoholism and to Alaska and to the place where he needs to be saved by Grim, it’s still a little slow. After that, the events to pick up and the tension ratchets; despite the shocking violence of finding his lover, it doesn’t quite compare to the gut-wrenching way that Leon slowly realizes that something is not quite right with Grim, or the way he reacts to Leon.
While the plot with the organization is a nice set up and somewhat of a backdrop (Leon‘s job and former life don‘t ever quite seem to be out of sight or mind), the real development happens, quite naturally, with the two protagonists. In fact, Ally wrote herself into that situation. Because of the isolation, for a large portion of the novel, the only characters who actually interact with each other are Leon and Grim. Of course, it works. Grim and Leon play off each other beautifully and the fact that they both are damaged goods and the way they were damaged almost require that isolation for them to get to really know each other, appreciate the human contact. I really doubt if Leon had had the option of leaving at the beginning - if say his handler at the Alaskan rehab center had found him immediately - that he would have stayed with Grim in the end. Or at best, I wouldn’t have found it believable.
The action/adventure bits are nice as they are - in the beginning and near the end - but the nice, leisurely plot that pulls Leon and Grim together is just as nerve wracking in it’s own way and in my opinion far more pleasurable to read. (Not because the writing gets better, but rather because I care more about what happens to Leon and Grim at that point, and how they come to know each other; the setup is also emotionally wrenching, but in the end, a setup for Leon and Grim. The ending action is a nice way to show how determined Leon is to keep Grim, but without the back story that is the middle of the novel, it would mean very little.)
Characters: As I’ve said before, the characters that are really worth talking about are Leon and Grim. Honestly, no one else gets all that much space in the novel. Which is okay, even brilliant, because they work off each other so nicely. While Grim is eager for a companion - someone to be there, as well as a sexual companion - he also provides some nice tension of his own. His abuse and training has left him eager to please, and afraid that he won’t - and even more fearful of the consequences should he make one mistake.
Leon is hardened, and takes a while to warm to Grim, but he is also capable of caring for another. The fact that he had a dedicated relationship before coming to Alaska proves that, and the fact that he can come to care for, and worry about, Grim proves he’s still capable of it despite the time it takes. Of course, given how his last relationship ended, needing that time makes perfect sense.
Both characters are flawed in their own ways, but also capable of taking care of themselves. I think that heightens the fact that they need each other because despite that self-sufficiency, they cling to each other with a heart-wrenching desperation. I care about what happens to both of them, and to them as a couple.
Summary: One of my favorites of the gay erotica novels and short story collections that I’ve read this year. (And I started reading them this year.) Of course, I like splatterpunk, and this is the one that’s closest to actual horror, so that automatically got me interested. The writing got me hooked, however. Highly recommended.
Author: Ally Blue
Genre: Gay Erotica
Synopsis: Leon's sent to a remote 'rehab house' in Alaska. The clincher is that he's sent by his employer's - only known as the organization - after Leon has a minor breakdown. Understandable since he finds his lover slaughtered, takes vengeance and finds that it only leaves him emptier. His subsequent alcoholism is the reason for his unwanted leave of absence.
Attacked by a bear, Leon is saved by a young man named Grim. As Grim cares for him, the hardened Leon senses something wrong - and becomes determined to figure out what. During this time, he also find that he comes to care for Grim.
Warning - the review under the cut may contain spoilers.
Writing Level: Excellent. Ally has a nice, easy style of writing. It’s a pleasure to read her descriptions, and there isn’t anything that isn’t important - Leon and Grim’s background certainly are, and everything sets up the next event or is working towards a larger revelation in the end.
Plot: While I realize that getting Leon to his alcoholism and to Alaska and to the place where he needs to be saved by Grim, it’s still a little slow. After that, the events to pick up and the tension ratchets; despite the shocking violence of finding his lover, it doesn’t quite compare to the gut-wrenching way that Leon slowly realizes that something is not quite right with Grim, or the way he reacts to Leon.
While the plot with the organization is a nice set up and somewhat of a backdrop (Leon‘s job and former life don‘t ever quite seem to be out of sight or mind), the real development happens, quite naturally, with the two protagonists. In fact, Ally wrote herself into that situation. Because of the isolation, for a large portion of the novel, the only characters who actually interact with each other are Leon and Grim. Of course, it works. Grim and Leon play off each other beautifully and the fact that they both are damaged goods and the way they were damaged almost require that isolation for them to get to really know each other, appreciate the human contact. I really doubt if Leon had had the option of leaving at the beginning - if say his handler at the Alaskan rehab center had found him immediately - that he would have stayed with Grim in the end. Or at best, I wouldn’t have found it believable.
The action/adventure bits are nice as they are - in the beginning and near the end - but the nice, leisurely plot that pulls Leon and Grim together is just as nerve wracking in it’s own way and in my opinion far more pleasurable to read. (Not because the writing gets better, but rather because I care more about what happens to Leon and Grim at that point, and how they come to know each other; the setup is also emotionally wrenching, but in the end, a setup for Leon and Grim. The ending action is a nice way to show how determined Leon is to keep Grim, but without the back story that is the middle of the novel, it would mean very little.)
Characters: As I’ve said before, the characters that are really worth talking about are Leon and Grim. Honestly, no one else gets all that much space in the novel. Which is okay, even brilliant, because they work off each other so nicely. While Grim is eager for a companion - someone to be there, as well as a sexual companion - he also provides some nice tension of his own. His abuse and training has left him eager to please, and afraid that he won’t - and even more fearful of the consequences should he make one mistake.
Leon is hardened, and takes a while to warm to Grim, but he is also capable of caring for another. The fact that he had a dedicated relationship before coming to Alaska proves that, and the fact that he can come to care for, and worry about, Grim proves he’s still capable of it despite the time it takes. Of course, given how his last relationship ended, needing that time makes perfect sense.
Both characters are flawed in their own ways, but also capable of taking care of themselves. I think that heightens the fact that they need each other because despite that self-sufficiency, they cling to each other with a heart-wrenching desperation. I care about what happens to both of them, and to them as a couple.
Summary: One of my favorites of the gay erotica novels and short story collections that I’ve read this year. (And I started reading them this year.) Of course, I like splatterpunk, and this is the one that’s closest to actual horror, so that automatically got me interested. The writing got me hooked, however. Highly recommended.