Reviewed by Valerie
TITLE: He Owns My Heart
AUTHOR: Evie Drae
SERIES: Owned Heart, Body, & Soul #1
PUBLISHER: Clandesdyne
LENGTH: 237 pages
RELEASE DATE: August 11, 2020
BLURB:
Only true love can free a captive heart.
Landon Jenks, retired four-time Golden Glove-winning shortstop for the Chicago Cubs, is lonely, heartbroken, and in need of simple human contact. Trapped in the sticky fine print of an ironclad contract that forbids him from revealing his very-much-single status until the season finale of his reality show airs, he calls an elite male escort service that caters to the rich and desperate.
Accustomed to servicing his often less than savory clients at more upscale locales, twenty-six-year-old Toby Carmichael is surprised when his handler sends him to a run-down motel off I-55. But “surprise” doesn’t come close to describing the shock that rocks his system when a delightful stuttering mess covered in tattoos and nearly ten years his senior stumbles into the room—and right into his heart.
For the first time since Toby was forced into the life of prostitution, a kiss sparks a desire that has nothing to do with money and everything to do with genuine chemistry and the faintest beginnings of something so much more. But Toby’s dark past and troubled present make it impossible to see a future with Landon. And when the truth comes to light, a horrified and helpless Landon is determined to save Toby at all costs.
REVIEW:
I really wanted to love this book but wasn’t satisfied. My problem with He Own’s My Heart is with expectations not being met. Author Evie Drae lists ten content warnings, including human trafficking, violence, non-con prostitution, and stalking. Along with the blurb, this suggests a much more harrowing story than was written. Seriously, you can’t get a much worse situation than sex slavery. Drae takes steps in the direction toward darkness by setting a basic framework for drama, angst, and danger with some of the worst possible themes, but they’re not adequately explored. There’s plenty of grit that could’ve, and should’ve, been delved into but the author just brushed the surface.
Landon is retired from a stellar career as a Chicago Cubs shortstop. He now owns a custom motorcycle shop, and is wrapping up, for some inexplicable reason, a reality show in which he comes out to the world and gets engaged to an actor who then dumps him. He yearns for a human connection so he hires a prostitute, aka Toby. Toby’s life circumstances are horrendous; he’s been trafficked into sexual slavery and is currently owned by an evil man who keeps him locked in a windowless room.
Landon is the antithesis of Toby’s usual client: kind, caring, shy, and stuttering. It unlocks something in Toby and he relaxes the usual defenses he has in place because of his sometimes cruel or violent clients. Toby does the unthinkable and kisses his client – and sparks fly – between him and Landon. But it’s pointless because after a night cuddling (!) after sex, he needs to return to his handler/owner. All this is believable until Landon falls in love with Toby after a few days. And then Toby falls in love. I just can’t accept the insta-love in this case. Lust? Of course. The beginning of deeper feelings? Sure. But in love with a stranger after a couple nights of sex? Not buying it. Toby and Landon are compelling characters – as is Landon’s best friend Steffon – but that’s about where my interest in the book ended.
At the end of the book a major plot point hadn’t been resolved yet. I was starting to fume that this was going to be cliffhanger, and then very suddenly it ended. Toby’s past and current predicaments were wrapped up and tied with a bow, way too neatly. It was terribly anticlimactic and I felt cheated. This solution could’ve been instituted on day two of the story, and did nothing to address the bigger picture.
If the human trafficking component had been removed from the book, it would have been more successful as a lighter ‘rent boy rescued by his john’ story. The characters are likable, the steamy scenes nice (good intro to light BDSM), but I could’ve done with fewer misunderstandings. Also, the book is too much tell and not enough show. The bottom line: He Owns My Heart could’ve been a masterful work if Drae had tackled the sinister and fully committed to it. As it is, this serious subject doesn’t get the treatment it needs. But, I’m just one person and my thoughts seem to be in the minority, so maybe you will want to decide for yourself.
RATING:
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