Reviewed by Stephen K.

TITLE: Steele My Heart

SERIES: (A Bridge to Abingdon #1)

AUTHOR: Tatum West

NARRATOR: Alexander Cendese & Tor Thom

PUBLISHER: Tantor Audio

LENGTH: 6 hours and 27 minutes

RELEASE DATE: July 2^nd 2019

BLURB:

I was tired of working the police beat in Northern Cali. Exhausted – my whole body was yearning for a place I hadn’t been in years, my old home. When my mama died, I knew I had to come back, and a pay bump and new job as police chief sealed the deal.

I got away from heartbreak. From being so tired. From the constant, never-ending world of crime I’d come to know.

In Abingdon, I can relax, see all my old friends from Jackson Academy. Maybe I can even change this place a little, make it better for all the kids like me. The ones who were different, who always needed a place a little bigger and broader than a small mountain town could provide.

I always promised myself I wouldn’t come back. But Kendall Vincent – he might just get me to stay for good. When I’m in his arms, I feel complete, whole again, like a man reborn to the world.

Everything seems perfect, right up until the moment that it’s not. When two gay kids get hurt bad by a gang of thugs, I realize that Abingdon needs me far more than I thought. And I’m here to protect the town – and the man – that I’m growing to love.

REVIEW:

Gil Steele returns to his home-town in rural Virginia to assume the role of small town police chief after being away 15 years and a stint as a cop in Northern California. He soon meets and quickly falls for Kendall Vincent, a fellow southern small-town boy turned chef. The two quickly pair off and get carnal but seem to be continually interrupted by the machinations of a group of anti-gay rednecks aided by a old-school bigoted southern county sheriff.

While the carnal action here may be interrupted a time or two by Gil’s being a first responder, that doesn’t slow these two fit and horny young guys down very much. There’s plenty of tab A goes into slot B action along with more affectionate foot massaging than I’ve read about in a long long time.

The main (non-romance) plot-line here involves a reprehensible kind of betrayal. One that has become all too common in these United States. It’s a problem when corrupt and/or unthinking law enforcement officers – those who’ve sworn to protect and serve, oppress the very ones they’re paid to protect. That problem is especially pernicious when the targets of their oppression are the very ones with differences we should celebrate, not just “tolerate” or “accept.” It’s especially satisfying in this tale to see other, more enlightened law enforcement, acting to end these abuses. In this case there are two happy endings. one when the “good cops” end the bullies’ reign of terror. And the other, a more romantic HEA. It was especially sweet when the tale reminds us that an officer failing to report a crime is committing a crime themselves.

In some ways I was continually torn… when these two were getting it on hot and heavy, I wanted to see how the plot was advancing. And when the plot was advancing, I wanted to see what these boys would get up to in the bedroom, next. What does finally come was a bit of a surprise. It’s something that’s really only been legal in Virginia since 2014 but saying more would be spoiling things.

As to narrative style, this is another “He Said/He Said” romance. Alternating chapters are told from the viewpoints of the two main characters. Alexander Cendese narrates Kendall’s chapters in an animated and slickly endearing style, while Tor Thom narrates the Gil chapters in a more sedate and clearly gruffer style. While the contrast was initially a bit jarring, both styles do work effectively and by the end I was comfortable with both men’s styles.

RATING:   & 4 Bonfires!

BUY LINKS:

Audible

Amazon