A BJ Review: The Downs by Kim Fielding

Rating: 4 stars out of 5

This story was written as a part of the M/M Romance Group’s “Love is an Open Road” event. Group members were asked to write a story prompt inspired by a photo of their choice. Authors of the group selected a photo and prompt that spoke to them and wrote a short story.

Prompt: Dear Author,
He stood, head bowed, body tense, waiting. No matter what happened next, his life would never be the same…
Please give this man his life changing event, whatever that may be, as long as he ends up with his HEA/HFN by the end. Thank you, Aislinn

This story reads rather like a fable or a dark fairy tale. It’s set in a fascinating dystopian world where those convicted of a crime are taken from the city, across the Reach and pitched over a cliff into the Downs where they are told they are being given to the demons for their pleasure.

Nicely done world building. The story begins with a Entian, a criminal who has been wrongly judged then carted across the desert, brutalized and thrown down a cliff, supposedly to the demons. However, he wakes instead to tender care at the hands of the gentle, scarred giant named Rig. Both of the main characters were intriguing. Although he hadn’t deserved what he got, Entian hadn’t been at all an innocent saint in his previous life. And Rig with his sad past and big, sweet bear personality is lovely. Both of their backstories are very developed for a story of this length.

This story had many elements I enjoy: dark, dystopian, hurt/comfort, scarred/broken characters, and a sweet love story. There is action but for the most part it moves at a steady pace that lets us sink gently into the world and the relationship.

This isn’t only a romance, but a fable-like tale of betrayal, second chances, and vengeance. Little truths sneak out from its pages. Like for example how sometimes it’s the unfortunate events that brings us to the exact place where we find what it is we most needed all along. But Entian’s determined desire for revenge even after he’d created a life with Rig was the one sour note in the story for me. I did end up liking how it played out though. So overall a great story with a sweet and fitting end.

The cover is lovely and uses the actual prompt photograph from the m/m romance group which inspired the story!

Free Story which can be found here.

Book Details:

book, 95 pages

Published June 10th 2015 by M/M Romance Group @ Goodreads

edition language English

url http://www.mmromancegroup.com/?p=276854

characters Enitan Javed, Rig (The Downs)

A Bj Review: The Gig (Speechless #2) by Kim Fielding

Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

An accident in Drew Clifton’s past left the former novelist with aphasia, unable to communicate through either speech or writing. Through sheer strength of will, he built a quiet but lonely life for himself. But now he’s fallen in love with Travis Miller.

Travis has his own issues—a permanent eye injury and unemployment. But he’s determined to help Drew find ways to engage and succeed again in the wider world, and a guitar-playing gig at a local coffeehouse seems like a good start.

Dylan Warner and Chris Nock happen to be in the audience that evening, and they have a few niggling problems of their own. Perhaps a chance meeting will provide solutions that might benefit all of them

A revisit with the guys from Speechless: Drew Clifton’s, the former novelist with aphasia, and Travis, the one-eyed machinist. After his accident, Drew built a life for himself in Portland, and now shares it with his love, Travis Miller.

Now that he’s back in Portland, Travis is unemployed and being cared for by his lover isn’t sitting well with him. He wants to stand on his own two feet. He’s determined to help Drew though and one way he finds is to see his lover succeed again in the wider world, this time using his talent as a guitarist. He gets him a gig at a local coffeehouse.

There they meet Dylan Warner and Chris Nock, who happen to be in the audience. Will this chance meeting provide solutions that might benefit all four guys?

Dylan and Chris are characters from another of Fielding’s books, one that I haven’t as yet read. I love how she gave me some subtle clues about them without having them come right out and say things.

Well-written and fun but very short read. Like Speechless, this is all from Travis POV. It does a nice job of tying up some loose ends from the first book. BUT I have the same niggle with it that I did with book one. The ending is abrupt and leaves me wanting more. I totally wanted to attend the event that was mentioned with these guys… the set up for it was so perfect. I wonder if it might be in one of the books containing Chris and Dylan. I must go now and scope that out.

The cover by Paul Richmond is understated, but fitting for the story.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) |

Book Details:

ebook, 24 pages

Published May 22nd 2013 by Dreamspinner Press

ISBN13 9781623807122

series Speechless #

A BJ Review: Speechless (Speechless #1) by Kim Fielding

Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

One-eyed Travis Miller is a machinist living what he terms a “fairly sucky” life in Portland. His only real companion is a rescue a cat named Elwood. After he spots a handsome man playing the guitar on his porch along his walking route home, that starts to become a highlight of his day. Travis gathers the courage to speak to the man and discovers that the former novelist Drew Clifton suffers from aphasia after having been in a car accident. Drew can understand what people say, but cannot speak or write.

These two lonely men form a friendship that deepens into romance, but soon realize it might not be communication that’s their biggest challenge. Travis is inexperienced at relationships and struggles with a precarious financial situation.

Speechless (Speechless #1) by Kim Fielding was an easy, quick read. It’s a sweet love story without being syrupy or full of drama. I love broken/wounded characters and watching them overcome their hardships. Both of these men are wounded, Travis having lost his eye and Drew his speech. Yet both are strong characters and the angst level is fairly low–neither of these men whined over their situations. Not to themselves or each other. I enjoyed that. Both men came across as everyday guys, not super handsome, buff, rich or super tough.

This is told only from Travis POV, which made Drew have to get himself across to not only Travis but also us readers through only his actions. Not an easy thing for the author to achieve, I’m thinking. But yet, she did it wonderfully. Drew comes across as a very expressive, endearing, strong and determined man. Still, I admit that I’d have loved to have gotten a bit into Drew’s head, because how awful for him as a writer to lose his ability to use words! He made light of it to Travis, but I can imagine that was not the case. At least he could still read.

I thoroughly enjoyed this refreshing story and these imperfect, yet perfect for each other men. In life, people who can talk just fine often have such a hard time communicating. Sometimes it seems people don’t make a very strong effort to do so if it’s too difficult. I love this quote “I hardly ever had any problem understanding him. You just have to pay attention.” Exactly. But unfortunately, even to those of us who speak, many don’t pay attention, don’t really listen or watch to see what’s behind the words. Travis paid attention, and I loved him for that.

Another quote from this that I adored, mainly because it made ME feel good was this one, “…even if you never write anything again, you’ve already done way more than most people.” Again… damn, I love Travis.

My quibble is that the ending felt rushed. However, I noticed that there is a sequel to be had, so will have to check that out and might end up having to up my stars on this down the road.

The cover by Anne Cain is a little plain as far as color but it gets the point of the story across well.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here

Book Details:

ebook, 62 pages

Published July 18th 2012 by Dreamspinner Press (first published July 2012)

ISBN 1613727178 (ISBN13: 9781613727171)

edition language English

series Speechless #1

A BJ Review: The Pillar by Kim Fielding

Rating: 5 stars out of 5 ★★★★★

When he was just a youth, orphaned Faris was flogged as a thief at the pillar in the Zidar town square and left to die. A kind old man took him in, healed him, gave him a home and taught him a profession. Now Faris is the herbalist who cares for the injured and ill of Zidar. He spends his lonely days haunted by his past and insecure of his place in the community. Until the night he saves a dying slave from the same pillar upon which he’d been flogged.

Boro is a former soldier has spent who has spent his last decade as slave. Faris uses his herbs and ointments to hear Boro’s physical wounds, but both men carry scars that can’t be seen. When these two broken men find solace in each other, constraints of law and social class in 15th century Bosnia make it difficult to sustain the fragile happiness they’ve found together.

From the first page, the imagery in this book grabbed my imagination and created a rich world around me that I could have stepped right into. The story has an almost a fairy-tale feel to it. It’s a simple story at heart, but lush and rich and timeless and full of meaning. Beautifully written. There is certainly brutality, slavery, torture, pain and angst here, but despite that the story didn’t come across as dark to me. It showed the bad, yes, but also the kindness and goodness that can be there as well. Hope and love definitely were the overriding notes this book left with me.

I enjoyed both of the main characters, but also felt that I knew many of the other inhabitants of that quaint little town. I wish I could go for a walk across that bridge with them, into the town where we’d say hi to the townspeople and I feel like I’d recognize them. Then stroll on into the woods to gather herbs. She painted it so well with her words that I’d feel right at home.

This is a beautiful hurt/comfort story. I adored the way the love between these guys grew and deepened as they got to know one another. The perfect way they complimented each other and helped each other to heal inside even as Faris was healing Boro physically. This one totally touched my heart and is one of my favorite by this author at the time of this review.

Seemed to me that the title had a two-fold meaning. . . the obvious one of the stone pillar used for the beatings, but also later there is a reference to Faris, who thought of himself as a worthless thief almost right up to the end, being proclaimed by the town leader to be a pillar of the community. . . and YES, his character totally shined out all through the book but especially with how the whole town rallied around him at the end. So it seemed there are two pillars. . . the stone one in the town square… but Faris was ‘the pillar’ too. And it’s him, more than the inanimate one, that was the center of this outstanding book.

The final chapter’s events fit. From early on, I had a feeling it would end up needing to happen that way or something similar given their world, but I think Faris was right in his assessment that Boro himself needed it to be that way, too.

The cover by Shobana Appavu is absolutely gorgeous and perfectly fitting for this book. Evocative of a fairy tale, just like the story.

Sales Links: Dreamspinner Press | All Romance (ARe) | Amazon | Buy It Here