Reviewed by Marte
TITLE: My Dragon My Knight
AUTHOR: John Inman
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 200 pages
RELEASE DATE: March 31, 2017
BLURB:
Danny Sims is in over his head, torn between his abusive lover, Joshua, and Jay Holtsclaw, the bartender up the street, who offers Danny the one thing he never gets at home: understanding.
When Joshua threatens to get rid of Danny’s terrier, Danny knows he has to act fast. Afraid of what Joshua will do to the dog, and afraid of what Joshua will do to him if he tries to leave, Danny does the only thing he can do.
He runs.
But Danny isn’t a complete fool. He has enough sense to run into the arms of the man who actually cares for him—the man he’s beginning to trust.
Just as their lives together are starting to fall into place, Danny and Jay learn how vengeful Joshua can be.
And how dangerous.
REVIEW:
Danny is a sweet, young guy that is living with his abusive boyfriend, Joshua. They’ve been together for about a year. Their relationship didn’t start out abusive, but escalated slowly into abuse over time. So slowly that Danny didn’t really realize at first, and excused Joshua for a long time. Now he is caught in Joshua’s net and doesn’t know the way out.
“I’m afraid to leave him, Jay. I’m afraid of what he’ll do.”
Jay owns the gay friendly bar down the street from Joshua’s apartment where Danny lives too. He has his own shadows to live with. He is haunted by the memory of his dead lover who died a while back. He has been wallowing in grief, but he is tentatively starting to look towards a happier future. Especially after meeting a bruised Danny in his bar one day.
Danny and Jay hit it off as friends in the beginning. They both find something in each other they can appreciate. They both feel attraction to each other, but they’re just friends. I was happy to see these two finding each other, especially Danny finding a supportive friend outside of Joshua’s grasp. Joshua was an abusive jerk, no doubt about it. The scenes with him and Danny made a ball of despair, fair and angry in the pit of my stomach. As frightful as the scenes were, they were thrilling to read. I didn’t like what happened in them, but they made the base for me REALLY wanting Joshua getting his comeuppance later. I felt really violent myself for what he did to Danny!
“I said come here. Closer. Come closer. If I ever thought you were cheating on me, you know what I’d do, right?”
John Inman weaves a thrilling net that expands as you read the story. After the suspenseful beginning, the story slows down. Danny and Jay explore their new friendship, and the story is about their daily life. Since Danny is just out of an abusive relationship, they take it slow while Danny heals, both physically and mentally. Their friendship morphs into love for each other, and I was so happy seeing Danny getting the TLC he deserves, but also Jay getting over his grief.
In stories like this, you just *know* the terror is coming. The book kept me on the edge of my seat. I didn’t trust anyone, and kept waiting for something bad to happen. And it did. The buildup was great, although I got frustrated with the characters on more than one occasion. (Fix the damn door, Jay! God!) They made some questionable decisions, and didn’t act on their suspicions. For me, that felt like some holes in the plot. When there’s a “cat and mouse” chase, I really want my mice to explore every option and close every loophole, so then when the cat still finds a way to the mice it comes as a surprise and a frightful scream, not frustration over the thoughtless mice characters forgetting to fix the door, charge their phone etc etc.
The showdown was spectacular, even though I kind of expected how it would go down. It was still thrilling to read about it. I have to mention I had one BIG blowup when finishing. I kind of ended the story on a rage, because of something that happened. I wanted to 1 star the book and throw it out the window. I have calmed down some while writing this review, though. But still, why, John, WHY???! *cries at the same time shaking fist*. You might not have the same reaction as I had. Don’t worry, though, it ends well!
Expect a thrilling tale of a guy stuck in an abusive relationship, who finds a new friend and help, and later a new chance of love. They’ll get it through trials of fire. John Inman has written a thrilling tale of Danny, and his Dragon and Knight.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS: