Title: Derailleur
Series: Royal Cycles #3
Author: Kate Roman
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Length: Novella (66 pages)
ISBN: B00HMRAMAC
Publisher: Torquere Press, Inc. (January 1st, 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥ 3~3.5Hearts
Reviewer: Thommie
Blurb: San Francisco bike messenger Matt Robinson lives to ride and rides to live, both his bike and his dispatcher boyfriend Jason. But when he’s injured on the job, can they ride the emotional ups and downs the same way Matt rides the hills of the city? Can he keep going for both of them? Or will Matt’s stubborn refusal to accept help drive Jason to do something drastic?
Purchase Link: http://www.torquerebooks.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4103
Review: Jesus but it was painful reading this book.
No, the writing was wonderful; I loved it, I loved the style, I loved the description of the city’s chaos and the traffic’s dangers. I loved how this author made me “feel”, the heartbeat of Matt’s job. But it was so freaking painful to read once the accident occurred. I think it’s because I’m a bike-accident victim myself and I related too much with what happened. Perhaps it was because I knew what kind of physical pain the character was suffering. Perhaps it was because it was so damned well described that it felt as if my own bones were feeling that pain, again. I don’t know. I know one thing though, and it bears repeating. I felt this book, not merely read it.
Matt is a bike messenger and frankly this character’s whole life rotates around his lover Jason and riding a bike. That’s all he knows to do, and the astonishing thing of it, he loved doing it too. His love and passion for his boyfriend and his job are so well written in this story that you can’t fail to miss it. I loved that about him. That passion when he rode the bike, that incredible sensuality as he rode Jason. The heat, the want, the lust all felt tangible and even as this story is quite short, I think nothing was missing in it.
Matt unfortunately has an accident on the job, and being frugal; he doesn’t wait for an ambulance, doesn’t go to a clinic, and doesn’t take care of himself. Guilt for being involved in the accident that meant he can no longer take care of Jason fills the text and if it wasn’t painful before, you can literally not read with ease from this moment on. The things he does to himself in order to avoid losing days from his job, or wasting money to the doctors, make you cringe and moan in sympathy for his pain. Oh my, seriously, it hurt reading this book.
The story takes a low when Jason and Matt are having a sort of fight when Matt’s stubbornness nearly renders him a cripple. And it is during this point that I came to truly appreciate Jason as a character. His silent and stoic demeanour, his love for Matt and the way he handles that hotheaded man… I just loved Jason here.
So the story is lovely to read, albeit excruciating. The characters are lovable, charming and, in Matt’s case, frustrating. But, the read itself was not easy. It didn’t flow effortlessly and it required a great deal of concentration to follow the speed it went on, on the chaos of San Francisco. It was heavy, and that made it a bit hard for me to finish, though as I said it has a short length. Overall, though, it was quite an interesting and enjoyable read. Recommended!
