Title: Downed Fences
Author: Kate Roman
Publisher: Torquere Books
Genre: Contemporary M/M
Length: novella (31K words, 67 pages)
Rating: 3 stars out of 5
Summary Review: I would have liked this story much more if the characters had been fully developed. I thought that Cody was way too fragile and easily controlled by his trainer. Troy was well drawn but had a steep hill to climb before Cody acknowledged him as his man.
THE BLURB
Show jumper Cody Blackwell is used to taking orders both from his father, and from his trainer, with the hardest lessons learned after the lights are out. But when a fall in the jumping arena lands him in the arms of fellow rider Troy Griffiths, Cody discovers a range of feelings he’d never even imagined. Breaking free will open a whole new world, but also put his show jumping career on the line.
Can Cody find the courage to make the toughest leap of his career?
THE REVIEW
Cody loved his horses and riding Rowan and Jaynie in the show jumping arena was a wonderful part of his life. However, his enjoyment was tainted by his trainer who mistreated him whenever he felt like it. He was punished for the slightest mistake and was afraid of his own shadow, and it didn’t help that his father was a hard man who always sided with the trainer and humiliated Cody in public. His life revolved around his horses, but even they were not his because his father bred them for sale and it seemed that whenever Cody became attached to one of them they were sold and replaced by another horse that had to be trained. As if that were not bad enough, in the evenings Gary showed his power over Cody by having sex with him, doling out punishment, and roughing him up physically – sometimes he could hardly walk, much less ride, due to Gary’s cruel use of his body.
One afternoon he was thrown by his horse and injured by the fall; another rider, Troy Griffiths, came to his rescue and Cody felt an immediate attraction to the goodlooking rider. Troy was the antithesis of those closest to Cody and he could not believe that a complete stranger could be so kind and caring towards him. But of course this didn’t last long because Gary and Mr. Blackwell expected him to ride even though he had cracked ribs and his back hurt. He was scratched that day and when he returned home there was no sympathy or help for his injured body as he was informed that he had to put on a good showing the next day for potential buyers
This state of affairs continued until the following week when Troy met Cody at another show jumping event and gave him his card. When things got worse at home Cody escaped to Troy’s horse farm for a day, but even that episode didn’t give him any respite as when he returned there was a crisis with one of his horses. However Cody’s fortunes turned around because Troy had the misfortune to break his ankle when he was due to ride an important client’s horse and Cody was his stand-in, which led to a number of positive changes in both their lives. Oh, there was a lot of sex in the book in case you’re interested.
I would have enjoyed Downed Fences if I believed the characterizations. Cody’s father was unsympathetic and harsh but turned around on a dime in the end because someone else showed him his error in judgment with regard to Gary. He was a very experienced businessman so it seemed strange that he would have hired Gary as his trainer without first having him investigated. Apparently Gary’s reputation as a trainer who mistreated his horses was well known on the show jumping circuit, so why would Mr. Blackwell hire someone who could destroy the horses he prized so highly and consequently his livelihood? He was also blind to the relationship between Gary and Cody. I wondered whether he couldn’t see how hurt Cody was physically most of the time, but maybe he didn’t care enough for his son. As for Gary, he was two dimensional at best, a bully who chose his victims carefully, and his empty threats only worked because Cody was scared of him and his father; there is no indication in the story when his affair with Cody started so I have no idea how long the abuse continued. Troy came off best in this story as he was loving and supportive to Cody, even when he waffled and could not make up his mind whether to go or stay and although I can understand Cody’s concern about his finances if he left his father’s employ, what good is money if you’re dead? His character was incredibly naive – he could have told Gary to shove his threats and reported the abuse to his father, but then I guess the story would have been much shorter.
Not seeing this, not seeing this, not seeing this! I have enough books to take with me! 😉
But a very good review! I think I’ll give a shot.For the horses of course 😉
Larissa
I thought of you and Tam when I read this book because I knew that regardless how I felt about the story there were two potential buyers for the book. I loved all the horses and the last paragragh was for you both. I know you will cave. 🙂
Well chances are that I’ll mostly likely do. But I spend wayyyyyyyyyyy too much money on books this last week. My account is very cross with me right now.
If you do get it you have to tell me what you think. 🙂
Hi Wave,
Good review. I love my cowboys (and horses) too and find their stories fascinating to read. Like you, in any book, I want the characters to be believable, and behave in a manner consistent with their past behavior and development in the story. I have trouble with instant changes or instant anything, although I do believe people can and do change if they want to.
I think if the author had explained the father’s thinking as to why he hired Gary with his history and the treatment of his son, this could have been a far better book.
As far as Cody staying with this abusive situation, I understand that is common with abuse victims. But again, that could have been explained to make it clear. Still it sounds like a good story otherwise.
Hi TJ
I wanted to read this book because I love stories with horses, however there was no background information about any of the characters in the story, nothing about how Gary was hired and his qualifications for his job other than a very brief comment from him which sort of gives a picture of the type of man he was
>>”They think I cracked a rib.” Cody kept his eyes on the ground.<< >>”They think…? Fuck. I didn’t jump for Australia by taking a stand-down every time I bruised my ass, you hear? I’d still be poncing around the Pony Club giving pony rides if that’s the kind of namby pamby I was. Next time, you get up and you get back on and you finish the fucking course, right?”<< >>”Right.” Cody had learned not to argue with Gary. Arguing meant his next coaching session would be harder than ever, and the daily lessons scared Cody badly enough as it was.<< >>Gary marched down the ramp. “Get them ready to travel,” he said shortly. “I’m going to find your father. We can head back early, I suppose.”<< You can see why I was put off. Most of the book was like this - abuse heaped on Cody by his trainer, physical and mental, and no support from his father. The characterizations definitely didn't work for me. The only reason Cody stayed, as far as I could gather, was because of the horses and his fear of going out on his own. Oh well, at least the parts with the horses were good. You might enjoy the book - I love TQ's Spurs and Saddles series.
Hmmm. I do love horses but the whole abuse thing may make me have a think about this one. I get very frustrated by both uncaring parents and people who just take the abuse. If the guy is abusive to animals another big no-no. I’ll have to think about this one.
Tam
as you can tell, I wasn’t thrilled with the story but the parts with the horses made up for some of the abuse and lack of good characterizations. So if you like stories with horses, there’s lots of that here. The abuse ….. that’s something else.
Good informative review, Wave. I have a similar reaction to Tam. I would definitely be impressed with, and interested in, a story full of accurate horse training details (not that I know anything about horses, but I enjoy learning through fiction), but the abuse storyline would probably not be a fun read for me …
Val
I read a lot of M/M books about abuse but this one didn’t make any sense for the reasons I mentioned in the review. I do understand the abuse mentality and why victims stay with the abusers but there was no explanation or backstory here. I finished the book because I love animals and I was anxious to see what happened with Rowan, one of the horses.
Well chances are that I’ll mostly likely do. But I spend wayyyyyyyyyyy too much money on books this last week. My account is very cross with me right now.