Friday, September 7, 2012

SUSAN: BOOK REVIEW - "Afflicted" by Brandon Shire

SUMMARY:
A high priced male escort and a blind gay man meet by chance. What ensues is a hot, steamy romance by two men looking for something more than a one night stand. But can they reach beyond their own insecurities to grasp what they really desire?

Meet Hunter Stephens. He’s gay, tall, dark haired, and he’s hot. Very hot. But he doesn’t rely on the visual cues when appraising a man because he’s also blind. He listens to the timbre of their voice, trembles at the touch of their skin, and luxuriates in the deep richness of the aroma of man. He’s hard of the hand because he’s a black belt and takes no shit, but soft of the heart because he’s lonely and has been for a while.

Until he meets Dillon.

Dillon Chambers is straight man candy. He’s a high priced male escort that works with an exclusive agency who handles only the wealthiest of clients. But it wasn’t always like that for him. At sixteen he was thrown out of the house for being gay and struggled to survive, turning tricks on the street and finding food and a place to sleep wherever he could. He met two people that changed his life, but he has never met anyone who could change his heart.


REVIEW:
Kudos to you, Brandon Shire. This book was lovely and the way it was written felt LYRICAL.

I really enjoyed the angle of Hunter as a blind lead. The way things were described down to the tiniest detail permeated from the pages. Things we take for granted as "sightlings", had to be written from such a different perspective (smell, touch, sound) that it I almost wished I could have read this book with my eyes closed!

At first, it took some getting used to how VERY descriptive passages were:"...the menagerie of odors that came with the entrance of each group...Vicks VapoRub, deodorized tampons, car grease, Kool Aid, grape chewing gum, sweat, leater, hair grease, more sweat, oranges, the curdle of sour breast milk, urine, Icy Hot, and a whole other host of industrialized miasma he couldn't even name..." (I mean, c'mon...yuck!). 

BUT, it is amazing how once you get used to it, those very details are what placed you smack dab into the middle of Hunter's POV. Suddenly, lines like:"He smelled of feet and armpits and ball sweat and Hunter wanted to taste every single one of those flavors." came across as ROMANTIC! (I wouldn't believe me either...until I read it!)

Dillon's and Hunter's relationship was beautiful and I loved getting to know the trauma and hardships of their pasts and seeing how it manifested into the insecurities for their present and future with each other. Very touching...

IN A NUTSHELL:

If you've never read M/M, this probably isn't the book for you. But, this book is beautiful and it's not only to be read, but to be experienced.  Perfectly dark & light, hard & soft, happy & sad...so good...

1 comment:

  1. Thank you for this wonderful review. So glad you enjoyed it.

    ReplyDelete