Burn by H.C. Brown

[reviews_and_ramblings]

The story starts in a very “glossy” way, 37 years old Harper is cruised in a gay club by 22 years old Sax: both firemen, Sax saw Harper’s picture in the local Firemen Calendar and he himself was in the one for Sidney, and instead of sharing field wounds and stories they share the common experience of being the forbidden fantasy of many gay men around the world. At first impression, Sax is not exactly a “nice” guy: sure he is hot and easy, but he is also quite rude, Harper is with another friend and colleague, Grant, but Sax doesn’t like him, and he treats the pure guy like he was trash, an attitude that he will maintain for all the story even if, sincerely, Grant did nothing to deserve it, if not some light pun.

In any case it’s very clear that Sax is very interested in a sex relationship with Harper, more on the level of a buddy friends than lovers, and Harper, maybe since Sax is hot and younger, or maybe since he was on a long dry spell, doesn’t put up much resistance. Again Sax doesn’t make a good impression: first time they have sex, Harper is on the receiving end, and it’s his first time; Sax doesn’t bother to ask (and maybe this is justifiable, 37 years old is not exactly a newbie), but when he finds out, instead of being contrite, or maybe pleased, he is like, “well, I was in an hurry, sorry if I was rushed…”. Despite this attitude Sax is a force of nature, and in a way he conquers Harper so much that he becomes reckless: they are “discovered” and blackmailed and the output is not of the most nice. In a way, Sax is faithful to his character, and in this case, I don’t agree with Harper’s reaction, that is almost of betrayal: they don’t have a long-term relationship, it was only Harper who used the word “love”, and Sax has never said anything else.

What surprised me was the end: for all the story the pace was sex, sex and again sex, the characters were good, really good, at least they were not the usual hot firemen, good and well-behaved; when things between them went a little out of track, I thought, well, that is a challenge for the author, how will she manage to mend the relationship? Of course it was in the classical way, a dangerous situation that proved to both Harper and Sam that nothing is important if not love. And by the way, there was also a tender kitty that really contribuited to the imagine of the hot fireman with a tender thing in his hands… kittens, babies, soft things to soften up an hard imagine.

Be warned: there is non-consensual sex and also an extra-relationship “affair” (but since the second is related to the first, I don’t think it’s a different warning, only the consolation that at least the non-con sex wasn’t between the main characters); I think it’s in the story, and the scene contributes to the characters later actions, so it’s not gratuituos, but I’m sure it’s not for everyone either.

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Amazon Kindle: Burn

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