Rainbow Reviews

BOOK BLURB:
Coryn is the rarest of mages, a young man with the gift of healing. A chance encounter with a sick slave on the road leads to love unimagined, a match for his gentle heart, and the two to a town riven with plague. It's too much for one inexperienced healer ~ but still, Coryn will break himself with trying and his new boy's heart in the process. What will it take to heal a healer's heart?

BOOK REVIEW:
Healing Heart is a sequel to Dark Heart but stands alone entirely. The characters from Dark Heart, Lucan and Tam, do make a bit of an appearance so fans of the previous book will enjoy their interaction but readers who haven’t read Dark Heart can easily pick up this book without losing any context or continuity. That said, this story has a very different tone from the first book and more complexity to its world building. The plot itself has some problems and weaknesses but the characters are strong and interesting. The BDSM elements are again central to the story and the world created, so this will appeal to fans of that genre. However the inclusion of fantasy elements will appeal to readers as well.

Coryn is a young master mage, just barely out on his own when he encounters a fleeing slave. Sick with the plague, Coryn is able to save Raff from the disease and begins to help the nearby city with the infection. Unfortunately Coryn is soon overwhelmed with dying patients and desperately needs help. This mysterious plague seems to act like none other as it continues to ravage the city beyond Coryn’s best efforts. Coryn must gamble on Raff to send help before Coryn kills himself trying to help the lost city.

The plot revolves around the mysterious plague and Coryn’s attempts to heal the sick and dying, well beyond his own capacity and health. The majority of the book follows Coryn and Raff as they attempt to save this doomed city before reinforcements finally arrive in the form of additional mages. This main storyline is interesting as it weaves in elements of the characters, world building, and complexity of the master/slave relationship. Unfortunately this drags on a bit as the repetitive actions of healing until exhaustion combine with the lengthy aside on Raff’s message errand to create a slower, less engaging portion of the story. The pace picks up once Lucan and Tam are introduced but Coryn’s recovery process is dragged out without much purpose as well. This overall led to an uneven pace and tone to the story which would create strong intensity and riveting situations only to go too far in slowing the action and ultimately dragging the story in places.

Although the pace was somewhat uneven, the interesting characters shine and add more complexity and texture to the world building than the previous book. The story is told in alternating first person point of view. Each chapter depicts either Coryn or Raff’s point of view, which creates a very intimate feel to both men. Coryn is a young mage, often unsure and unclear about his role as a master. He adores and loves Raff, yet this creates tension between he and Raff as the dynamic between the two is altered from the classic power exchange. Raff shows dimension and interest as do the supporting characters of Master Jon and Kitten, exhibiting more variety of emotion to include jealousy, anger, and missteps. These help give more depth to the heavy BDSM world where slaves are lower than animals and treated as casual pets and labor.

Coryn’s struggle to find his place in the world and in a relationship with a slave is interesting and highlights his youthful nature. This twist on the stereotype of an all knowing and all seeing Master is a wonderful addition, showing mistakes and responsibilities. Raff also is more than the happy go lucky slave, grateful for his good luck. Although he certainly starts that way, the more Coryn falls in love with him, the more Raff pushes his boundaries and his luck. The complex and intricate relationship between master and slave is shown in many dimensions and permutations from the various characters and pairings in the book. This adds to the overall world building and interest in the characters. There is almost nothing flat or superficial but layered with meaning and purpose.

The writing is clean and crisp with an interesting choice in language and prose. This sometimes helps the narrative and sometimes distracts but sets the writing apart from others in the genre. The fantasy elements combined with the heavy BDSM world creates something unique and interesting, capturing the readers’ attention. Although this world won’t be to everyone’s tastes and some of the elements are questionable, the creativity is certainly present. Fans of the author’s and the first book will enjoy the look back at Lucan and Tam, while new readers will indulge in the richly detailed world and story. As this book is so different in tone and texture from the first in the series, they are difficult to compare. This story stands on its own for completely different reasons than the first book, creating a different tone to the story yet is just as enjoyable. Be sure to pick this up and judge for yourself.

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