Title: Stars Fall
Series: N/A
Author: Louis J Harris
Genre: Contemporary / Sports
Length: Novel (315 pages)
Publisher: Louis J. Harris (March 12th, 2015)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 4 Hearts
Blurb: Keegan Mansfield is a loner.
A bilateral amputee athlete.
With only one goal; to qualify for the Rio Olympic Games. Every move he makes is towards this dream, and even though there are forces trying to stop him, he moves forward because there’s too much at stake. Although he has the determination and the will to succeed, he is dependent on others and there are ingredients missing from his life that he so desperately needs.
Truth, love and happiness.
When team mate Conrad Smith saves him from a violent incident, both embark on a journey of love that would lead to the truth about Keegan’s past and a happiness that will last for only a moment, and a tragedy that will bring them closer, as one, for neither can live without the other. And, just as things seemed as bad as they could get, Keegan learns an important lesson, that trust is not a game, trust is as real as day and night, as real as the wind. He learns, through tragedy, that Rio comes with the sacrifice of his dependency on others.
He learns that true love thrives on togetherness.
ISBN: 978-1-31081-351-1
Product Link: www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00UNXO686/
Reviewer: Prime
Review: This is the first book I’ve read by Louis J Harris, and the author’s 2nd full length story. I was not disappointed at all.
This is the story of a bilateral amputee athlete who competes on his university track team, Keegan. I am always drawn to characters deemed to have a disability. Although like many characters, Keegan is strong and does not let his prosthetic legs stop him outwardly despite the fact that he is a loner and socially reticent. He has been attracted to team-mate, Conrad, for some years.
The two are united when one of their fellow team mates, Geoff, begins his nefarious plots on the first page of the book.
These guys are in uni and we know that they are around twenty-two years old. Because of this, the feeling of the book and being set at a uni means that this one seems to be walking a fine line between young adult and adult fiction. Regardless of this distinction, the young adult themes come out when it’s clear that Keegan is still settling into his sexuality, while Conrad is more than comfortable with life outside of the closet.
The guys are great, after finishing I can conclude that I love Conrad and as for Keegan, though he redeemed himself, he really did start to annoy me for a stretch of chapters. Around the middle of the book the story seemed to drop off but when it came down to the action at the end, Keegan redeemed himself (for the most part in my eyes) and things fell into place.
I loved the setting – in the author’s home country of South Africa, I enjoyed the splash of Afrikaans littered throughout (one shouldn’t assume that everyone South African knows Afrikaans). The use of Afrikaans really helped to differentiate the setting from other English-speaking nations such as England and Australia, which could have easily subbed in for South Africa in this context.
So I loved the book – that’s clear. The reason I did not give this 5 is because: (1) the stories contains the most frustrating mechanism that keeps the MCs apart and gets the romance off the rails – running away and not communicating! Grrr…Really irritates me at times.
The entire last third relies on this device and in the end made me start to dislike Keegan. Also: (2) the story slowed significantly at one point, and dragged. Before we had a clear villain to end off with, I found it hard going for a while. Finally, (3), the epilogue felt a bit out-of-place, it reads like a different voice is suddenly telling the ending.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *