November Rain by Daisy Harris (Fire and Rain #4)
M/M Romance
September 2, 2014
Samhain
Reviewed by Helyce
From Goodreads: Detective Joe Klamath is used to guys falling on their backs at the arch of his commanding eyebrow. Yet he can’t seem to get a read on a cute, department-store sales guy. The vagrant who just walked in, though? He’s easy to read. He’s dangerous.
Joe’s training kicks in, but as he wrestles the gun-wielding man, he gets shot.
Raised in a conservative Ethiopian community, Elias Abraham keeps his natural attraction to men under wraps. But Joe’s heroism moves him to care for the man who saved his life. After all, Joe is hurt. Chances are slim he’ll demand the types of things boys in college always wanted. Sex acts Elias wasn’t—and possibly never will be—ready for.
Gradually, Joe’s easy confidence softens Elias’s resistance. But as Joe’s healing progresses too slowly for a man of action, and trouble brews in Elias’s family, Elias begins to wonder if he can handle the pressure. Because though he hasn’t given all of his body, he’s already given all of his heart.
I love Daisy Harris. Her stories always have interesting, if not quirky characters and in this particular series, the angst level is not too high, and there is always some kind of humor. The stories in this series are generally under 200 pages, but I’ve never felt that it’s lacking; the stories feeling complete and well rounded out. Unfortunately, this was not the case in November Rain.
In the previous three books, there was a sense of cohesion. I was familiar with most of the characters, even if they’d only had small parts in previous stories. They were connected in some sense and the stories flowed. November Rain, though, takes a big turn giving us two characters who, if they had been mentioned in previous stories, did not make enough of an impression for me to remember them and I struggled with this story from the beginning. While there is a brief mention of one of the previous main characters it really was not enough for me to make a connection.
If that wasn’t enough, I didn’t really care for our main protagonists. Joe, the gruff police detective and Elias, the soft spoken young man who struggled with his sexuality didn’t quite pull it off for me. The catalyst of their relationship, Joe putting himself in between a guy with a gun and getting shot to save Elias should have been swoon-worthy, but was not. Elias seems to become more caregiver who then morphs into lover. This couple just didn’t mesh with me for some reason and I couldn’t buy their relationship.
One bright spot for me, though, was Elias and his relationship with his brother and his brother’s wife. Strong religious beliefs and worry about losing the two family members he has in the states, keep Elias from being true to himself and honest about his sexuality with his brother. A tragic event changes everything and Elias eventually finds the courage to come forward. While a nice ending, it did get wrapped up just a little too easily.
Rating: D
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