Title: Riding Partner
Author: Mary Winter
Publisher: http://www.ellorascave.com
Genre: Contemporary GLBT (M/M)
Length: Short Novel
Rating: **** (out of 5)
Equestrian Derek Whitten’s dreams of a gold medal at the Athens Olympics died with his last jump. After he failed to achieve his lifelong objective he walks away from his lover Charles DeMorinson, owner of the horse he had ridden because he felt that he had failed him. A few years later, in financial trouble and needing to sell his prize horse Dio, Derek turns to the one man he trusts. A simple business transaction, that’s all it can ever be, no matter how much he wants it to be something more.
Charles never blamed Derek for his horse’s performance at the Olympics and he has spent the years since wishing that he had fought to keep Derek in his life. Now Derek is back asking for his help and Charles decides to use another approach to win him over. But the more he tries his brand of persuasion the harder Derek resists and it seems that nothing will bring these star crossed lovers together until the situation escalates and Derek has nowhere else to turn.
What I have always liked about Mary Winter are her characterizations and this time she gives the reader two men who really love each other but seem to have a problem communicating about what’s really important. Charles, the more mature and affluent lover tries to understand Derek’s issues which stem from his feelings of abandonment since his childhood when his mother left, resulting in his subsequent lack of trust in anyone. Derek wants to stand on his own two feet and he resents Charles for trying to help, even though he needs the assistance. I felt at times reading this story that Derek’s life was going downhill so fast it was like a runaway train and I wondered how the author would fix it, however she comes up with a plausible solution that lets Derek retain his pride and learn to trust Charles.
The more interesting aspects of this book were the amazing insights into the equestrian world, providing knowledge without overkill and adding depth to the story line. Also, the wonderful sexual relationship between Charles and Derek was really hot and emotion-filled, a trademark of this author, and the make-up sex was incredible.
Mary Winter did a great job on this book and I would recommend it to fans and other readers as a worthy addition to their bookshelves.
Great review for a great book. I loved this book. Mary’s characters are always so well written that it makes you feel as if you “know” them. They are also totally hot together… ;p
The book really is terrific. I loved the interaction between the characters and she always makes them seem so real, and the sex, oh my! I wondered how she would get Derek out of his financial troubles b/c he seemed to have such a dark cloud hanging over him 🙂
Loooooook who’s here commenting from LONDON!!! :-DDD Free internet access, baby, and no one at the computer :-p Nice review. I don’t feel much like angsty characters at the moment (which doesn’t matter because huh, it’s not like I’ll be able to read e-books anytime soon), but it’s good to know the author found a way to work out a complex situation in the end.
Can you believe I didn’t have time to read Slave Boy before I left????? *wailing*
Wow Mary it is so good to hear from you. Free Internet access!! I hope that you’ll have this most of the time you’re away. I was having withdrawal symptoms and I’m hoping that Lily will come by from time to time.
Actually the book is quite good – I really enjoyed it but I thought at one point, if he gets one more thing go wrong in his life, I give up 🙂
Mary
Slave Boy will be waiting for you when you return!! You have to email me about how you like London.
Thanks so much for your review. I'm very happy that you enjoyed the book and Charles & Derek's story. A friend of theirs is the hero in Cowboy Up, another gay male equestrian romance.
Mary
I really enjoyed Charles and Derek’s story
If you check the blog you’ll find a review of Cowboy Up as well. Thanks for dropping by.