His Hero

Title: His Hero
Author: Simone Anderson, Sue Holston, Devon Rhodes, Em Woods, Sara York, Kit Sands
Cover Artist: Posh Gosh
Publisher: Total E-Bound
Buy Link: N/A
Genre: M/M contemporary romance
Length: 322 pages
Rating: 3 stars out of 5

A guest review by Jenre

Summary Review: Aside from a couple of stories, this anthology was a complete flop for me.

THE BLURB

There is no individual blurb for the anthology. Here are the blurbs for each of the six stories – apologies for the length:

‘Uniform Desires’ by Simone Anderson
Patience and training have provided him with the tools he’ll need to fight for what he wants.

Home on leave, Cade Donovan isn’t looking for a hook-up, let alone love. Certainly not while he is out with his brothers. When Cade steps in to even the odds in a fight outside a bar, he is instantly drawn to the man being ganged up on. Acting on instinct, the Marine Corps sniper is drawn to the smaller man like a moth to a flame, refusing to give up until the man is his.

Being the younger brother of the school bully has made Jason Carlson’s life hell. During yet another retaliatory fight, a man comes to Jason’s aid just when he thinks his life and his luck have gone from bad to worse. Warned to stay away from his home, Jason accepts the invitation of his rescuer and soon realises that his life has been forever altered. He can have everything he desires, if he’s willing trust Cade with his heart.

When the reality of loving a man in uniform sets in, Jason must find the strength within himself to believe and know that love is worth fighting for.

‘A Ring and A Promise’ by Devon Rhodes
Careers in military service are never easy on relationships—even less so when both lovers are in different branches…and both are men.

Naval Academy graduation now under their belts, Cary Barrientos knows the reality of the upcoming separation from his roommate of the past four years. Owen is more to him than just his best friend—he is the one person Cary can see spending his life with.

Owen Marsh knew that when he became Cary’s lover, the day would come when he would have to walk away. Now that day has come, and he’s having a hard time convincing himself that it’s just sex between them. Even with DADT repealed, there is no way a Marine and a Navy flier can be together. He’s just being realistic not expecting more.

When Cary switches their Academy rings, hoping Owen won’t notice, he makes a vow—he will do whatever he has to do, including believing enough for the both of them, to make their unlikely relationship stand the test of time. But when his Marine is called up for duty overseas, can a piece of jewellery and a promise be enough to get them through?

‘Only Sam’ by Em Woods
When a restaurant goes up in flames, will a spark of love rise from the ashes for a chef and his hero?

When chef Dylan Brookes finds his restaurant engulfed in flames, all he can do is watch his dreams turn to ashes. Shock, hurt and disbelief leave Dylan vulnerable to both the man who wants to love him…and the one who wants to kill him.

Fire fighter Sam Carter has been frequenting the same small restaurant for a year, trying to work up the nerve to ask the chef out on a date. When Dylan’s Omni burns to the ground from foul play, Sam steps in to help.

Now the question is…will his efforts be too late?

Reader Advisory: This book contains minor scenes of violence

‘Zane’s Inferno’ by Sara York
Zane’s Inferno—when burning, hot lust ignites into raging love.

After being trapped in a fire, Zane Wilson is shocked by the heat directed his way by Nick Dubois, the fire department’s top paramedic. Nick comes on to Zane, kissing him in the bunkroom and surprising the hell out of him. The next day, Nick shows up at Zane’s house and the fireworks really begin. The sex is rough and hot, not at all like anything Zane has had before.

Their relationship began because of a fire then almost ends because of one. When Zane is trapped in a forest fire and almost killed, Nick moves in and doesn’t leave his side. But a jealous ex is setting up Nick…and gunning for Zane. Will they survive they survive the firestorm created by their relationship, or succumb to the flames?

‘In the Name of the Law’ by Sue Holston
Baltimore police detective Mitch Dawson is in love with his partner, Ivan Stanislav, but will fate intervene before Mitch can reveal the truth?

Mitchell Dawson is a detective with the Baltimore Police Department’s Vice unit. He’s hard-working, dedicated…and carrying around one big secret—he’s in love with his very straight, engaged-to-be-married partner, Ivan Stanislav. Then Ivan’s fiancée dumps him and too much alcohol leads to Mitch and Ivan sleeping together. The next morning, Mitch figures their friendship and partnership is over, but surprisingly Ivan doesn’t bring up their encounter. On the outside, life continues on for the duo. However that night changed everything for Mitch.

When Ivan is shot and nearly dies, Mitch realises he has a choice—keep quiet and eventually watch Ivan fall in love and marry someone else, or tell Ivan the truth and reveal he’s been in love with his partner for years, hoping the other man might feel the same. Will Mitch risk it all for love?

‘Wings of Fire’ by Kit Sands
Angelico is Jamie’s idea of a perfect man, but can he avoid the hateful actions of a deranged bigot long enough to have his dreams come true?

Jamieson Peele moves to Austin, Texas, on the heels of a failed long-term relationship. Starting over isn’t easy—even less so once Jamie becomes the target of a hate crime. When he finally finds the man of his dreams, Jamie is willing to risk it all for a chance at love with the big Italian.

Fire fighter Salvatore Angelico’s life will never be the same after he pulls Jamie from the burning wreckage of a car accident. Angelico must decide to tear down his defences and have faith in love again.

Together, they must face old demons and new dangers if they hope to fly on wings of fire.

THE REVIEW

I picked up this anthology because I like stories about men in uniform and so I was looking forward to reading this collection. Unfortunately, apart from a couple of stories, I wouldn’t recommend reading this collection of shorts for various reasons I shall set out below.

Let’s start with the positives. The one reason for reading this anthology is for the story A Ring and a Promise by Devon Rhodes. It tells of two Navy men (one a marine and the other a pilot) who have been lovers for a couple of years, and the difficulties which arise when they come to the end of their training and are posted away from each other. I really liked this realistic portrayal of not only the difficulties in being gay in the military, but also the hardship of being the partner (gay or straight) of a military lover. I liked that there was no easy answer to their situation, and that the two men were sensible in not only how they conducted themselves but also with their pragmatic approach to their relationship. Very moving, well written and definitely a 4 star read.

The other story I liked was In the Name of the Law by Sue Holston, which tells of two vice detectives, Mitch and Ivan. Mitch has been in love with Ivan for a long time and as the story progresses he becomes more and more caught up in wanting to confess his feelings. The story was a touch melodramatic on occasion, but I liked Mitch and felt for his situation and was happy when things worked out well for him.

Only Sam by Em Woods and Wings of Fire by Kit Sams were what I would consider ‘OK’ stories. There wasn’t anything to dislike about them too much except that the men fall a little too fast for each other and they also, rather bizarrely follow a similar storyline which becomes almost identical towards the end.

The other two stories didn’t work for me at all. I found the characters hackneyed and one dimensional and the stories unbelieveable. Any story which has the main character announcing to his family that he’s found ‘the one’ after knowing the other guy less than 12 hours is going to lose me as a reader. One of the stories so thoroughly lost my attention, due to the lack of chemistry between the pair and the ridiculous situation, that I skimmed the last few pages because I wanted it to be over.

One thing that struck about the anthology as a whole was that many of the stories relied too much on sex and less about a realistic plot or romance and substituted sexual desire for true intimacy of feeling. Too many times feelings of lust or protectiveness were used as a short cut for love. This just didn’t work for me because whilst there was often that zing of initial chemistry between the characters, the reader is often then just told that love is happening rather than being shown it in scenes other than the bedroom.  There were also too many over the top villains who behaved in baffling and irrational ways, and too many couples who fell in love too quickly and didn’t act in a rational or consistent manner. It’s not that the writing was bad, but more that the characters and situations didn’t work for me as a reader.

Overall, this anthology would have been 2 stars were it not for the Devon Rhodes story. Fortunately you can buy that one as a separate story, and I suggest you do that rather than spend money on this anthology.