reviews_and_ramblings (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
reviews_and_ramblings) wrote2021-11-16 09:06 am
reviews_and_ramblings) wrote2021-11-16 09:06 am
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2020-2021 Rainbow Awards Honorable Mention: Splinters of the heart
Splinters of the heart by Alyssa Rabil
Twenty-one year-old Aaron needs money, so he goes for gay-for-pay, Dom-sub porn. The scene goes horribly awry, but he is rescued by ex-doctor, current-savior Silas. In fact, these two keep saving each other, time and again, from bad guys and bad situations. This is a dark romance, but the romance is not all there is to this story, which made this hard to pin down as a genre. The writing is pretty damn good, not gonna lie. The dialogue especially is where this shines. Everything sounds like something real people could say. The traumas are handled well and are believable, even if the plot is at times a tad melodramatic. The way Aaron often mentions he and Silas are standing side by side at a precipice, at any moment about to plunge to their deaths, shows the inner workings of these two broken people. At first the edge refers to death, later changes to mean love and freedom, trust and hope, basically living again. The author did a great job conveying the subtle shift from darker themes to brighter ones. This is reflected in their sex scenes which are so tender and sweet and patient that they legit had me tearing up. Overall, though the story took me for a spin of uncertainty many times in the beginning, this was definitely worth the read. Traditional romance story this is not, and at times this reads more like a crime thriller. But at heart it's about the healing power of love, trust, and hope. Still, no easy fixes here, as Aaron continues going to therapy even after he falls in love because love can fix many things but not everything. The underlying current of hope made me finish this with a happy grin.
https://amzn.to/3wNWJJ2
Twenty-one year-old Aaron needs money, so he goes for gay-for-pay, Dom-sub porn. The scene goes horribly awry, but he is rescued by ex-doctor, current-savior Silas. In fact, these two keep saving each other, time and again, from bad guys and bad situations. This is a dark romance, but the romance is not all there is to this story, which made this hard to pin down as a genre. The writing is pretty damn good, not gonna lie. The dialogue especially is where this shines. Everything sounds like something real people could say. The traumas are handled well and are believable, even if the plot is at times a tad melodramatic. The way Aaron often mentions he and Silas are standing side by side at a precipice, at any moment about to plunge to their deaths, shows the inner workings of these two broken people. At first the edge refers to death, later changes to mean love and freedom, trust and hope, basically living again. The author did a great job conveying the subtle shift from darker themes to brighter ones. This is reflected in their sex scenes which are so tender and sweet and patient that they legit had me tearing up. Overall, though the story took me for a spin of uncertainty many times in the beginning, this was definitely worth the read. Traditional romance story this is not, and at times this reads more like a crime thriller. But at heart it's about the healing power of love, trust, and hope. Still, no easy fixes here, as Aaron continues going to therapy even after he falls in love because love can fix many things but not everything. The underlying current of hope made me finish this with a happy grin.
https://amzn.to/3wNWJJ2