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Reviewed by Sheena
TITLE: Love Comes In Darkness
SERIES: Senses Series
AUTHOR: Andrew Grey
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 204 Pages
BLURB:
Howard Justinian has always had to fight for his freedom. Because he was born blind, everyone is always trying to shelter him, but he’s determined to live his life on his own terms.
When an argument with his boyfriend over that hard-won self-reliance leaves Howard stranded by the side of the road, assistance arrives in the form of Gordy Jarrett. Gordy is a missionary’s son, so helping others is second nature—and he does it in such an unassuming manner that Howard can’t say no.
Life is barely back on track when Howard receives shocking news: his sister died, leaving him her daughter to care for. Howard now faces his greatest challenge yet: for Sophia’s safety, he’ll need to accept help, but will he learn to accept it from Gordy, the one man who will not curb his independence?
REVIEW:
In this book, “Love Comes In Darkness”, Andrew Grey leaps from the A List of talented writers to virtuoso. He takes us from the colorful mental landscapes of the typical romance novel, and places us in the dark. In the utter black the author skillfully, and with gentle tact, tells the story from a blind man’s POV. We read, and imagine the world he creates, and enjoy it all while crafting a tale in our heads without once using visual descriptions.
The main character in Love Comes in Darkness, is, you guessed it, blind. From birth, Howard has been blind, and he has fought all along to maintain his independence and be self-sufficient. Here, Grey could have fallen for the trap of making this book a hurt/comfort trope, and we would have still enjoyed it. Yet here is where he makes the best, and bravest choice of an author: he goes against expectations. We are gifted with the tale of an exceptional, and stubborn, young man who wants to live his life on his own terms, and maybe carve out some happiness while he’s at it. Gordy, the other MC, is a man with his own past and trials, and the author has Gordy take the roll of the emotionally vulnerable one, and he slays it. Gordy is a giant with a soft heart, and we learn to love it just as Howie does, and without once ‘seeing’ Gordy in the flesh.
Andrew Grey did serious, and legit, research for this book. He approached them seriously, the issues of blindness and disability, and while at times I may have felt like I was receiving a PSA about the MC’s blindness, never once did I feel the author was merely doing the issues lip service. He walked right up to the delicate topic, gripped it with both hands, and rocked it. I learned more about how a blind man LIVES, exists in the day-to-day, by reading this romance novel, than I have by experiencing lectures on disabilities.
We hear, taste, feel, smell the story, and never once do we see it. We should be unfulfilled and lost, left gasping for a lack of description and scene, yet we are never blind to the story or the characters. Mr. Grey guides us like the Seeing Eye dog in the book, carefully taking us from the frightening opening chapter full of vulnerability, through the last half of the first act where Howie’s independence takes back seat to the needs of another, to the indecision and maturity required of all adults when things get real, and scary.
The true skill and ability of a writer becomes apparent when he or she tackles a subject, situation or/and character outside their usual expertise. Here, in this book, and with this author, we are shown just how truly talented and skilled an artist he is—Andrew Grey, considered one of the m/m genre’s most popular writers, has always been very gifted at telling a romantic tale and making us feel. He does this as almost everyone else does, and in a way we all take for granted: he shows us, and doesn’t TELL us the story. He draws a world we can see, hear, feel, taste and smell, and we get carried along on the current of the story along with his characters.
So I need to say, with this relatively simple tale of love and tragedy, Andrew Grey left me with anything but a simple impression: he is not just talented, but a master storyteller.
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