Title: Elided Cadence
Author: T. C. Blue
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (251 pages)
Publisher: Torquere Press, September 10, 2013
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts ~ It’s one of those books that you want to climb into the pages … 5 OMG!
Reviewer: Mandingo
Blurb: The last thing Alan Freemont is expecting when he finishes his latest makeup gig and heads to Oak Grove, Arkansas, for a long-deserved vacation is to discover a wrecked tour bus. No. The last thing he’s expecting is for the tour bus to belong to part of Andrew Lyon’s band. Wait. No, again. The LAST thing he’s expecting is to meet Andrew Lyon and discover that the man is more than just pretty, but smart, too. And needy, because three of Andrew’s closest friends were on that bus. Only two of them made it.
Andrew Lyon has been having a relatively good year. Sure there have been disagreements between him and his record label, but what else is new? Then he gets an early morning call that changes everything. One of his closest friends is dead and two others might be following soon after. Alan Freemont, the man who discovered the accident, turns out to be a Godsend.
Can the men — one on the periphery of celebrity and the other a favorite media target — find their way to something real when intense emotions, paparazzi and an abundance of fans descend on the small town? Andrew isn’t sure. He’s already suffered enough loss already, hasn’t he?
Maybe. Maybe not. If Alan has his way, he’ll see to it that Andrew doesn’t lose anything more
Purchase Link: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=97&products_id=3985
Review: Okay so within the first chapter of the book, the word ‘minions’ is used. This Despicable Me reference should have let me know that the author was going to take me on a joyride. So, let’s just find some adjectives to describe this book. Sultry. Erotic. Heartfelt. Gripping. Gut-Wrenching. Author blue manages to take you through all of these emotions on the roller coaster ride that is Elided Cadence.
The novel opens by focusing on the themed of grief, loss and guilt. The author expertly made Andrew’s grief real and palpable and his emotions raw. This grief fives way to the need for a human connection hat has nothing to do with the joy of sex, but more the need to acknowledge life through one of life’s most powerful forces and to anchor oneself to life. Once the reader becomes attuned to this, the author then shifts the focuses to the themes of pain, sacrifice, what it entails to be gay and famous and to lose one’s anonymity.
This story begins with a climax and then the reader gets to ride the roller coaster of emotions that the climax creates. Many m/m novels present men as one dimensional while this novel allows the reader to see the full spectrum of gay men and life by demonstrating their full spectrum of career, friends, lover, confidante, parent and protector. The novel also differed because it focused so much on how the men felt, and communicated more so than on the superficial aspects of looks and hotness, although these were also there in good measure.
I’m a book buff and I love m/m romances so I really didn’t think that I could be surprised by anything new in this genre. Well colour me surprised! The book is told from multiple perspectives like a Chinese telephone game. And while that strategy should be confusing by jumping from thought pattern and perspective to another, it isn’t. Each time the story changes perspective, it is because that character’s viewpoint s actually what propels the story forward. All the events that Alan and Andrew experience are seen and felt through that of many of the secondary characters and reflects a very real-life depiction of how tragedy is experienced and overcome and how a relationship can begin, grow and develop in that atmosphere of emotional devastation.
The story however feels more like Alan’s story than it does Andrew’s and the author’s ending while very satisfying allows the story to continue and to explore Andrew in a way that was not done in this book. Alan is a very complete character and a ‘whole’ man. Andrew is still on a journey and it is meeting Alan that allows that journey to begin and it begins with his discovering human compassion, warmth, empathy and understanding in. This he adds to the deep friendships he’s already learned how to build, develop and sustain.
In closing, this reviewer’s most eloquent comment about this story is that it feels real. The emotions are real and they do sometimes leave you reeling or needing to take a reading break to get a grip on how you are feeling. The dialogue is also very real. It will have you laughing at the snarkiness of Alan and then crying at the angst of Andrew as he struggles to communicate. You can hear his very pause, gulp and uncertainty in his tone. So grab a tissue and some tea – you will need it.