A Hearts On Fire Review

3.5 HEARTS--Five Sided Heart by Max MacGowan is a polyamorous romance set in the Outer Banks. Told from multiple POV, the novel starts off with a funeral of one of the five men's father, Noah Trevelyan. Noah was kicked out his house for being gay at eighteen, and returned back to his hometown for the first time in years. He is an outcast to a majority of the islanders who view him as the prodigal son (in a way) but just way too late. One local who has no problem telling Noah how he feels about him is Ian, an out gay man and conservationist. He's been Noah's father's neighbor for the last 5 years. Another local doesn't share Ian's view due to having more than enough on his plate is young Ty. Ty and Ian get offered a ride on Noah's boat while trying to escape and Noah just so happens to invite two stranded strangers, Joshua and Gabriel.

What starts a good deed ends in a bit of a disaster. But the disaster is also the foundation of all the troubled men to start a relationship.

Five men in a relationship? You're probably thinking this was a fantab erotica.

Not so.

This is more of a romance, I think a little ambitious. But kudos for tackling a poly romance and trying to capture all of the mens' feelings. The story relies heavily on characters to get the story moving and, for me, it did not scratch enough of the surface for all men equally.

I have the honor of reading all of MacGowan's work, all of two. And with both books, the author has a way of piecing together the plot: with MacGowan's debut, the plot was told by different states visited. In this book, it was a different POV.

I would really like to read a simple plot from this author, that just follows the romantic leads (however many make up the partnership) where the characters get a deeper connection and further characterization. I rated both books by this author the same, but character wise, the debut was better. What did Noah do for a living? How could he stay for all those weeks with no cash flow? Gabriel and Joshua, the most damaged of the five, barely touched the surface onto their background. The crux of Ty's situation gets cutoff and somehow it left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

There were a number of times where that feeling happened- cut off scenes mostly - albeit sex scenes, the insta-connection, the kink of one of the guys. I'll stretch the rubber band of reality with five men who all just so happen to be gay on dock at the right time, who were open to be in a relationship.

And the last 15-20% was a soft finish. What's up with Ian's ex? If there was ever a guy to wish ill on, it's Ian's ex. He's a douche canoe and oddly needed to make the plot move. But the way he entered the book and the way he left, didn't match to how he was originally portrayed for me.

The men are a good group together - they all have their roles in the group: Noah is the paternal one, Ian is like a hen gathering his chicks and feeding them, Ty is happy-go-lucky and still a young pup, Gabriel is scarred, artistic and listens to what is said and unsaid and Joshua who had a rough patch is very intuitive and lives for the moment.

Good guys, I do think they'll last.

The sex takes a backseat to the romance, so if you've come for erotica, look somewhere else. It's an interesting read, but not something I'd re-read.

I think this would work best for fans of the Outer Banks and poly romances where the characters are developed just enough to keep the plot moving.

20/6 - There were many, many problems with this but I just loved it. The editing gets 1.5 stars (mistakes of all kinds everywhere - missing words, missing letters, incorrect words, typos, incorrect tenses, etc.), the general writing gets 2 stars (lots of repetition of words/phrases), the dialogue gets 2 stars (some pretty stilted conversations made worse by awkward phrasing, the plot gets 3 stars (so predictable), the characters get 5 stars (oh Ash! *swoon*). All that adds up to '4 I loved it, but I can't overlook all the faults' stars. Damn, I wish I could edit out the errors as I read and have it translate to all the other copies because the plot and characters deserve better treatment than they got.

I loved Asher! His chapters/scenes were my favourite, especially when he was sneaking into Nat's apartment. Lots of sex from both PoV with possibly an excessive amount of swearing, especially the F word (I don't think anyone used the phrase 'have sex' once in the whole book).

This, and the first book in the series, are books I would read over and over (I finished this two days ago and I already want to read it all over again) and really enjoy but I just can't buy a book that needs so much more editing, so if I ever do buy it, it won't be till it's been gone over by someone with a better eye for detail than whoever did it this time. I can't wait to get my hands on Sugar Rush the next book in the series (am I living in a dreamland for hoping it will be better edited?).

THREE HEARTS--Assassins! I love them. The darker the character the better. Give me a complex criminal I can sink my teeth into and I'm one happy reader. I'll admit, I saw the cover and squeed (only a little) because we always need more assassin romances in the world.

In S.C. Wynne's "Assassins are People Too", don't expect dark. Instead, it's lighter, closer to campy and snarky.

The novella starts off with a bang...in more ways than one. I question the swiftness of some actions *shrugs* but the reader is taken along for a ride between first alternating POV between neighbors, geeky, resident good egg & bookstore worker Dillon and anti-social snarky assassin "Marc". The men have a five year age gap, but seem to act like it's super ancient at times. Marc and Dillon have eyed each other for a while (prior to the book) so there is supposed to be a connection. Sex fiends will be happy with the rapidness of loss of briefs in this book.

I, however... I'm on the fence with buying this couple. I wonder how long they'd actually last.

The story is readable. The action is fast paced. The time jumps, eh...it doesn't really help as much to the viability of the couple for me. But for the a fast paced story with a light campy assassin, it works. I might be looking for something more to sink my teeth into when this book is more like cheese and crackers.

I actually liked Marc the assassin more than Dillon. Dillon had a couple of TSTL moments that grated my nerves and then Marc would come in and I'd give Dillon a pass. The repetition during certain passages got to be annoying. But not too much to affect the overall enjoyment because I believe Dillon was supposed to be the good guy with a caring heart to Marc's worldly loner bad side.

That opposites attract theme...it was decent. If I look at the only main ingredients and not the little things, I can say enjoyed myself.

But...the story had issues. And the biggest one is not something every reader might catch.

The setting.

Maybe, just maybe if this book wasn't set in NYC, I might've rated higher.

Possibly. *squints...thinks about the repetition and camp*

Maybe.

It's a me thing (most likely), but I can't rate higher when the setting is all wrong.

See it started with a niggle - how could a bookstore worker who stated he worked in a "dead end job" afford to live in a high rise apartment building in NYC. Dillon lived on the 39th floor and the high paid assassin lived directly above him on the 40th. How could he afford this? I tried to pretend it was a really cheap rent controlled apartment and ignore the niggle.

But...let's say it wasn't Manhattan since it wasn't specified because a lot of authors assume NYC is Manhattan and nothing else. Plus, once Dillon referenced Central Park and the Hudson, game over. High rises aren't cheap. The two men have disproportionate pay scales...and Dillon lived on his own with a car...in the city.






But then the niggle got worse to tugging in the gut when said bookstore worker (not even an owner) drove his car around to park with no problems in the city. He drove to work. *stares* He drove to eat. *double stares* No mention of paying for parking or even taking public transportation. He can just park wherever he wants in his building's garage. So he's paying rent, car insurance & gas on a book store worker's salary without resorting to living on Ramen noodles once a year and air sandwiches for his natural born life?

Now, I know you can find places to drive and park without paying in Manhattan, but in this book it's too easy for someone who works a "dead end job" and it read...off. I really wish this was set any other place but NYC. It'd work for any other place. Damn these niggles.

Since the setting thing probably wouldn't bother most readers who aren't familiar with NYC, it's worth a peek. I don't think everyone is going to love it. The story is closer to cute, it had a few solid moments. I do wish it was longer and possibly if the story started a couple of days before, maybe with Marc watching Dillon from afar for a few times while in between assignments. Something to make the connection more solid. It started so quick and then the weird courtship period didn't lend any credence to their "foundation". The repetition of their issues wasn't going to make it more believable.

This is a story I could nitpick all day - nothing that rocks the boat too much, nothing to make a lasting impression. There is a cliffhanger ending that possibly means more from this pairing. If the premise is interesting enough (more information on their backgrounds, no more NYC please and less naivete from Dillon), I might come back from more.

Great ideas, decent execution (minus the setting). This is swimming in the 3- 3.5 Hearts pond.

Light assassins could be a thing. Who knew?


A copy provided for an honest review.