FIERCE HEARTS by Lynn Stark

Publisher:  Siren Publishing
Published:   April 14, 2014
ISBN:  B00JOGIOQS
Genre:   Contemporary Romance M/M
Book format: E-book
Obtained via:    Publisher
Reviewed by Helena Stone helenastone63@gmail.com

Rating: 3

Lucien St. James is a famous singer/songwriter already thinking about retirement when he is betrayed by those closest to him. Heartbroken and disappointed he leaves his old life in LA behind him and moves to the town of Silver to hide from the world until he will no longer be fodder for the paparazzi. Accompanied by two bodyguards, Jax Talbert and Jonathan Lang, Lucien moves into a secluded mountain retreat to lick his wounds.

Jax and Jonathan take their job seriously. As a committed couple they enjoy working together and normally keep the relationship with their clients strictly professional. Living with Lucien in almost complete seclusion pushes the relationship a little bit further though and it isn’t long before the three men are good friends; friends who each have their own fantasies about what it might be like if they went one step further again.

When those fantasies threaten to become a reality, Jax and Jonathan quit their job, afraid of crossing boundaries and raising expectations that might be unrealistic. Confused by the actions of the two men and his feelings for them as well as hurt by what he sees as their desertion, Lucien will have to overcome his own pride as well as Jax and Jonathan’s reservations if the three of them are going to have the future together they so clearly deserve.

I’m in two minds about this book. On the one hand there is the story-line, as described above, which I loved. But on the other is the way this story was written. And that didn’t work for me. I found myself getting confused as to whose mind I was in and who they were talking to and/or about.

I can’t help feeling that maybe the author didn’t trust her own story enough. The tale of the three men and what it took for them to accept their love for each other would have been enough. It didn’t need the unexpected and unexplained violent scene near the end. To me it felt as if that was only there for shock value, to keep the reader engaged. The thing is that I was engaged – in the love story – and this scene pulled me out of that, leaving me wondering ‘what the hell?’ and ‘why?’.

I couldn’t help feeling the book would have benefited from a bit more editing. On several occasions the repeated use of a word in subsequent sentences took me out of the story.

I also feel the author dragged the ending out too far. The perfect moment to end the book on came, in my opinion, several pages before the final word. Those last few pages didn’t add anything to the story as they described a future I had already pictured in my mind. I more or less had to force myself to read the epilogue and resist the temptation to just skip to the end. And it wouldn’t have made any difference if I had skipped to the end; I don’t feel I would have missed anything vital to the story if I had.

But, like I said, I did enjoy the story itself. I liked the relationship between Jax and Lang and how well they worked together. I liked Lucien although he did seem a bit naive for someone who’d been famous for such a long time. And I loved how the three men slowly got closer to each other despite the reservations each of them had about that set-up.  I enjoyed watching Lucien getting his confidence back and adored Jax’s turmoil while he was trying to deal with his feelings and his inability to vocalise them.

I liked the idea of the town of Silver. The acceptance of unconventional relationships was not only fun to read about but also something we can only hope will one day be normal everywhere. And it was very smart to have the whole town being private property, thus allowing the sheriff powers he wouldn’t have in any other community.

“Fierce Hearts” is the third title in the “Men of Silver” series. I didn’t read the first two books and was pleasantly surprised that this wasn’t a problem. While it is quite possible that I would have enjoyed the secondary characters more if I had read those prequels, I didn’t feel as if I was missing vital information while reading this book.

Overall this book felt a bit like a missed opportunity; a great story idea that could have been a wonderful read with just a few smallish changes. As it was I found it too easy to put this book down and not easy enough to pick it back up again.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement of this book.