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Affairs of M/Men

M/M Romance Reviews by Maybedog

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S.H. Allan
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G.S. Wiley, Rowan McAllister, Dawn Douglas, Stephen Osborne, Anna Martin, Elizabella Gold, K. Lynn, Eva Clancy, Rhidian Brenig Jones, Anna Butler, Caitlin Ricci, S.H. Allan, Rob Rosen, River Clair, Nico Jaye, A.C. Valentine

Half Moon Chambers

Half Moon Chambers - Harper Fox I really enjoyed this. There was a lot of angst but it made sense. I'm a sucker for people at rock bottom, particularly addicts. I like real people who've made really poor decisions but who are basically good. I love characters who have had something awful happen to them and they are trying to cope. This has that in spades.

The characterization is excellent. I love these two men and I believe in them both. I love their issues and suffering and how they're trying to make it work. I love that the police captain is real and deals with what's happening as best he can. I love that Jack isn't evil, he's just a man who made some major mistakes. He's a good guy in the end.

The romantic pieces were a little unusual and fit well with the addiction/angst/messed up-ness of the characters. It might not make sense for some people, but it really worked for me.

The pacing is very good, too. There's suspense and intrigue, danger and mayhem, romance and angst, and intense emotion that's played out in actions more than words. I really love that.

One big issue I had was that throughout, Vince is vilified by his family because he went on a raid with his team instead of immediately going out and looking for his druggie deadbeat brother who was missing again. He is blamed for the brother's death. Not fair at all. He had to work, he didn't really have the option of not going. But even if it weren't for that, there was no guarantee Vince would find the man when his own wife couldn't. He was also at the end of his tether at that point about his brother. I'm in the same place with my daughter. It's a terrible, terrible, thing to have to figure out when to stop enabling behavior by constantly rescuing the drug addict, especially when he/she has no desire to change. Second guessing that decision is cruel and unfair.

There was some beautiful imagery. One character reflects back on a sexual encounter with "a smiling golden-eyed man" who had "...taken me into his body and rocked with me until sunlight exploded in my spine."

Nit picks: "Anymore" was written as "any more" a couple of times where it was referring to time. Methadone is not used as a treatment for a crack addict because crack is not an opiate. Methadone is used for heroin and is only used if absolutely necessary because it is more addictive then heroin and almost impossible to get off of. Maybe things are different in the UK but here, if someone goes to inpatient rehab, they aren't out and back at work after two weeks. After surgery someone is described as now having no pain. Well, the pain for which the surgery was performed might be gone, but no one has surgery without pain. The act of cutting into the body does not rest well with the neurons and synapses.

This is a silly thing to like but I was really tickled that when someone says, "I don't care if you're xxx," they use "the Dalai bloody Lama" instead of the usual "Queen of England," or some other typical answer.

Overall, I really loved this book and look forward to reading something else by the author.