Sins of Influence

Title: Sins of Influence
Author: India Harper
Cover Art: Trace Edward Zaber
Publisher: Amber Quill Press
Buy Link: Buy Link Sins Of Influence
Genre: Contemporary M/M Romance
Length: 40,000 words
Rating: 4.25 out of 5 rating stars

Guest Review by Raine

Summary Review: Change provokes powerful emotions in an established sexual relationship between two strong, mature men.

Blurb:

A Creatures of Sin Novel

For Commander Christopher Montgomery, everything had a place and a time. At home, running Pittsburgh’s Zone Six, he was a respectable, upstanding commander. On vacation, he was a different man entirely, hopping from one hot young stud to the next.

Then he met Kieran Phillips and his life turned upside down.

But that was five years ago, and now Kieran has decided it’s time to take their relationship from stolen weeks in tropical locales to something more lasting. When a promising young candidate joins the race for Pittsburgh’s mayor, Kieran, a political consultant, finally sees the opportunity of advancing himself both professionally and personally.

Chris never expected Kieran to walk into his office one day. But no matter how strong their passion for each other, they both know a relationship in the real world is no holiday, particularly when they wind up on opposite sides of the mayoral race.

Sometimes what happens on vacation has to stay on vacation, whether they want it to or not…

Review:

Set in Pittsburgh, this novel is the fourth in a series called Creatures of Sin. I read this as a stand alone and am now happily investigating the others. The first, Sins of Arrogance, is very good and features some of the same characters here. However this is definitely not a rewrite of an earlier book. It deals with the stresses of change in a five year relationship that has existed outside the main character’s daily lives.

The catalyst for change is Kieran’s decision to move from Seattle and take a job as campaign manager to a Democrat candidate against the the incumbent Democrat mayor of Pittsburgh. Kieran is out as a gay man, and not above using that opportunistically when required in liberal politics. The motive driving the move is his real wish to develop the satisfying sexual liaison he has with Christopher into a proper relationship.

Chris is a police commander whose professional life is all important. He has kept his sexual life ambiguous and totally separate from his work. The work friendships he has translate into family for him. This is not the usual heavy handed buddy culture and it is written about with depth and subtlety. Inevitably, when Kieran decides to use an incident concerning one of Chris’s officer as a campaign weapon, the new growth in their relationship is cut down. The overwhelming atmosphere is one of political ambition and the reality of compromise.

The strong emotions provoked by this takes their emotions and sexuality to another level. Chris in particular reacts very strongly when he fears he is losing control of his tidy life, and pushes the boundaries of their previous sexuality. The contrast of public control with private pain and passion is very well managed. There is heart felt emotion here but no hysteria. It all felt, not necessarily adult, but very grown up.

Carver, from Sins Of Arrogance plays an unexpected part in this book. His personal hard won philosophy is of some significance when Kieran has a choice to make.

“What you need to do is figure out what Christopher Montgomery is worth to you.”

“That isn’t why I came here.”

“No, you came here hoping to find a shortcut back into his good graces. But that is not how it works. The only people we can change are ourselves, and you have to decide how much of yourself is worth sacrificing to get him.”

Both characters develop within the novel; Chris emotionally, but Kieran learns more about his own motivations and matures morally. I enjoyed this book, it was a controlled and intelligent development of an existing relationship dealing with older characters than is usual.

Recommended