Aries: Riddle Me Wicked

Title: Aries: Riddle Me Wicked
Author: Vivien Dean
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: M/M action/adventure romance
Length: Novel (186 pages)
Rating: 4.25 stars out of 5

A guest review by Jenre

Summary Review
An exciting story of two very different men coming together to solve a riddle to find a priceless treasure, whilst eluding the bad guys and becoming distracted by their growing feelings for one another.

THE BLURB

On his first day on a dig in California, gunshots awaken Ian Tunbridge, an assistant curator of classical antiquities at the British Museum. The only way to save his life is to run for it, but luck is not on his side. At least, not until he meets Lucas Arpini, the brash American photographer who seems to have some sort of clue what’s going on. Together, they’re supposed to be the tools in finding an artifact nobody believes is real—nobody, that is, except Lucas and the man who has kidnapped both of them.

Ian doesn’t know what to believe. His colleagues are dead, he’s injured, and he has no choice but to put his faith in a gorgeous stranger. Their escape should lead them straight to the police, but when Lucas shows him pieces of the puzzle they were meant to solve, Ian is too intrigued to walk away. He wants to solve the riddle as badly as Lucas does.

Unfortunately, they’re not the only ones…

THE REVIEW

The start of this adventure story throws you straight into the action.  British archaeologist Ian is running for his life from men who have attacked his camp and killed his colleagues.  He’s eventually caught and told that he is needed to decipher an ancient script on a set of stones which supposedly point the way to The Blood of Sheol, a mythological and priceless artefact.  Ian is then shoved into an underground cavern where he meets Lucas, an American photographer and adventurer, who wants Ian to work with him to solve the riddle of where The Blood of Sheol can be found.  After deciding to ditch the bad guys, the pair race breathlessly across the USA to England, stopping along the way to collect valuable materials.  As Ian spends more time with Lucas, his feelings begin to change from scepticism and suspicion to grudging admiration and respect, to something much deeper.

I love a good action adventure book and I was thrilled when I began reading this book that it looked to be heading off into Indiana Jones territory.  Well, it didn’t work out quite like that because instead of lots of action sequences, this turned out to be more about the relationship between Ian and Lucas than about chasing off to find treasure.  Don’t get me wrong, this wasn’t a bad thing, just that the book took an unexpected turn.  I liked Ian, and thought that the author had done well in producing a British character with enough British reserve and caution without it becoming too much of a cliché.  I also liked that the two men were opposites in that Ian is the sceptical scholar, used to staying in his office and studying his books, and Lucas the believer and adventurer with connections around the globe.  Despite being opposite they also had a lot in common, a shared belief in their partnership, a united front against injustice and a general belief in the good of man.  I enjoyed watching Ian’s feelings slowly changing for Lucas, and the scene where he takes Lucas on a ‘date’ was quite delightful.  The long build up of sexual tension was delicious, as was the explosive sex at its culmination.

Another part I enjoyed was the way that this became a sort of ‘road book’ taking us on a physical journey as well as an emotional one.  As the men travelled together they discover information about each other which added to the characterisation.  This is especially true of Lucas who is definitely the more secretive of the pair.  This meant the action was much more low key than I was anticipating, but also led to a more satisfying relationship between the heroes.  There were a few action sequences to spice up the story, and those were tense and thrilling, edge of your seat scenes.

There were a number of loose ends left over at the end of the book.  Many of these are related to the characterisation.  For example we find out bits and pieces about Lucas’ family and know that he is estranged from his parents, yet we never find out why.  Similarly with Ian, his father is mentioned a few times and we know that he has a good relationship with him, yet there’s also a tension there that was hinted at, but not explored.  Lucas’ occupation is another hinted at part of the book.  We know he’s a photographer but that’s it, we never find out what type of photos he takes and who he sells them to.  We also never learn why he has such a large network of friends with connections to high places.  The story ends without much being resolved in terms of the treasure hunt, in fact the end is like another beginning.  As the sub-title of this story is Boys of the Zodiac, it suggests, as does the large number of loose ends, that this is the first book in a series, but although I can find another book in the series coming soon by Pepper Espinoza, there doesn’t seem to be another book by this author.

If you discount the loose ends, this was still a pretty great book.  I enjoyed the fact that it was based on relationship with a few action sequences and that the pacing was swift and exciting.  I also very much liked the characters of Ian and Lucas, and that there were few other characters to detract from their growing romance.  Overall, if you like action/adventure books I think you will be happy with this one. I was.