Hurt Me Good by H. C. Brown

Title: Hurt Me Good

Author: H.C. Brown

Genre: Gay MM/ Contemporary

Length: Novel (206 pages)

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (November 5, 2012)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating:  ♥♥♥2.5Hearts

Blurb: Harper Cole may look like a best-selling author doing research for his next book, but underneath it all, he is a badass Dom and ex-rock star looking for a sub. When he meets a sexy stripper at the local gym, he uses the pretense of doing research for his next erotic novel to get close to the delicious man.

To the world Flame is a self-confident male stripper and acclaimed modern dancer, but deep down, he carries a crippling secret that stops him from trusting anyone. When Harper saves him from a life-threatening attack, Flame starts to open up, and even though his vanilla preferences don’t exactly match with Harper’s plans, he finds himself attracted to the big Dom.

Their worlds collide, leaving both men reeling. Harper is determined to show Flame the benefits of taking a ride on the wild side, but Flame cannot trust his heart to another man. What will it take to bring these two men together? It’s up to Harper, as the Dom, to make it happen… if it’s possible at all.

Product link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3329

Reviewer: Heart

Review:  Seriously, a Dom, best-selling author and an ex-rock star paired up with a sexy stripper and you can’t help but wonder what’s the catch, because it just can’t be as good as that.

I went into this book full of expectations, but it didn’t take all that long to realize I would have an issue with the writing. As soon as Hunter sees Flame, the dancer, he knows he would have him and despite everyone telling him Flame is out of his league and not into the lifestyle; Hunter is persistent enough to get what he wants.

The initial chemistry appealed to me, and I found myself enjoying the sparks between the characters and Hunter’s charm. But every once in a while he would come out with a statement that would just rub me the wrong way. I ignored it for the most part, but by the end of the book I had an opinion of him and it definitely influenced my rating.

Now, the writing style didn’t suite me at all as it happens sometimes, and I found the characters to be too conflicting. They switched from serious to dramatic when it came to Flame and as for Hunter, he was a real Dominant who lived the lifestyle one moment and then someone out of control of his emotions and with a too old-fashioned attitude when it came to subs. I think I probably disliked Hunter more, with his pushy personality and pompous behavior when in my opinion he had very little to offer. The whole conflict/hostage thing seemed over the top and more like a script to one of the old action movies than something to be taken seriously. I loved the starting heat between the guys, but as the story moved one and their character quirks came to the surface neither of them was convincing to me anymore and I lost the little interest I still had in the book.

The appearance of the side characters bored me to be honest. Their dynamics seemed all wrong and I just didn’t want to read about them. But that’s just another little detail among many that got to me in Hurt Me Good.

I don’t have much experience with this author’s work, but the one story I’ve read seemed more solid and it definitely had more defined characters. I’m thinking I’ll just write this down as a venture into something different, and hope for a much better next book.