Reviewed by Paul

TITLE: Steven’s Heart

AUTHOR: Ashavan Doyon

PUBLISHER: Torquere Press

Lenght: 340 pages

BLURB:

When a love triangle breaks, Steven Everett is left alone to grieve over a boyfriend lost to someone else. Surrounded by friends too tied to Aidan’s new lover to give advice, Steven turns instead to a broken and beaten man, Aidan’s other ex, Michael Rossier, who also knows the pain of having loved and lost Aidan. Steven’s and Michael’s confessions grow deeper, each confiding in the other until neither can deny an attraction. But being with Michael feels like cheating, and Steven isn’t sure what to do. The connection get stronger every day, and Steven realizes he’s facing an impossible choice.

To make a relationship with Michael work, Steven needs to make peace with Michael’s troubled past. Even more terrifying, he’ll have to tell Michael the secret he’s never told anyone, not even Aidan. With Michael recovering from yet another surgery, Steven leaves to face the ghosts of the past. He has to be certain. This time, Steven knows, the decision means revealing the secrets of his heart and hoping their fragile feelings can survive.

REVIEW:

Steven’s Heart is a love story, but not an ordinary one. Yes, it’s m/m, but that is not the reason why it is different. It’s different, because it takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride, which starts with the angst of numerous hospital scenes, interlaced with sweet moments of early love, scattered with bittersweet memories of Aidan. But throughout the story, the reader becomes attached to Steven, understanding what drives him.

Steven is a dedicated rower, because he loves that sport, but also because it grounds him, gives him sense of stability and rhythm. In a great scene with Tim, his coxswain, whom he trusts completely, he shares his secret, which he kept hidden for all of his years in college. And he does this because he knows he has to trust his coxswain, because Tim always gives him the right rhythm.

The book is also a testament to a loving family, in more ways than one would expect. But we learn that Steven was raised by a loving family, who will protect Steven no matter what. His father is very accepting of the fact that Steven is gay, his mother isn’t angry either, yet she’s afraid her son will get hurt. Steven’s brothers react in their own individual way and that interaction gives us many heartbreaking and sometimes funny scenes.

From the start Steven is taking care of Michael, a victim of severe violence. But because Steven is trying to keep up with rowing practice, college work he needs the friends from Michael to help him. And that confronts him with Michaels past. But despite all these obstacles the bond between Steven and Michael grows closer every day. And, even with the hospital restrictions, gets physical in a sweet, yet awkward way. But Doyon takes his time to develop that in a believable way. After all the angst the story seamlessly develops into a love story. After Steven rids himself of the fear that Michael is no more than a rebound and he tells him his big secret the reader is taken on the merry-go-round. Steven takes his new-found love home and introduces him to his family. Funny and happy scenes follow, with the normal stress those formal introductions always seem to incur. With great sense for detail and a warming feel for character and speech, Doyon shows us that in life only one thing is important:  Be who you want to be, and without prejudice accept the people around you. This was a lovely book, which I read a high pace, because I wanted to see what was next. Some great twist and turns, that were all believable. Very well written, designed with great care, and without being pedantic, it showed me how to live my life.

RATING:

BUY LINKS:

Torquere Press

Amazon