Review: Downed Fences

Title: Downed Fences
Author: Kate Roman
Publisher: Torquere Press
Publication Date: 5 May 2010
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 68 pages

Rating: 3 out of 5

Review: All Cody has going for him is horses; he's trapped between an overbearing father and sadistic trainer/lover with no way out. That all changes one day when a flighty mare throws him into a fence at a show, when a small kindness shown by a steward opens his world to new options. Will Cody be able to find it within himself to take the chance at a new life or will he remain trapped in his own private Hell?

Cody is not quite broken, but not too far removed from it. Fearing every session with his trainer--both in the ring and after hours--he tries to convince himself that it's love that keeps him going back. His reactions to the abuse are heart-wrenching, but I can't help questioning just how it began, or when. A little history would have helped to flesh Cody out a bit, rather than just defining him by his abuse. It was nice to see things changing for him in the end, but they seemed to almost happen on their own; his handling of most situations was to avoid them. It would have been nice to see him step up a bit more.

Troy was a fairly generic Good Guy. Ignorant of Cody's abuse but knowing that something was wrong, he tries to do what he can to help Cody, though even once he's aware of the abuse his action too is mostly inaction.

The baggage of Cody's abuse is inescapable between him and Troy, which makes their intimacy vaguely bittersweet. Although it was a welcome change for Cody from his abuser, I felt somehow as though the time he spent with Troy was too private; I ended up skimming most of the last sex scene. This isn't to say that the smut wasn't done well--it was--but to me the relationship between them called for a bit more discretion on my part.

The supporting cast was comprised mostly of horses, Cody's father, and Cody's trainer, Gary. Cody's father was stereotypically overbearing, focused more on wins in the show ring than anything else. Gary was almost cartoonish in his villainy; all he needed was a pencil moustache and a black cape, and he'd have been made. A little more development of him wouldn't have hurt.

The story focuses primarily on Cody's relationship with Gary, both with and without horses, and Cody's growing feelings for Troy. It's fairly predictable though not in a bad way, but I would've liked to see some things first-hand, rather than getting a recap after the fact. (I'm referring here specifically to the resolution with Gary. There's actually not even really any resolution, just a throwaway line about him. I would've liked to have seen Cody actually dealing with it, instead of the cards just falling where they would.)

For a sweet little romance, this isn't bad. It was easy to root for Cody to escape his situation, but ultimately a little anti-climactic in the end. It could have benefitted from a little more character development and growth, but it still went a long way toward satisfying my craving for horse stories.

Review: Midnight Dalliance

Title: Midnight Dalliance
Author: S.J. Frost
Publisher: Torquere Press
Publication Date: February 2010
Reviewed Format: ebook
Length: 29 pages

Rating: 3 out of 5

Review: Dalton sank everything he had into his Grand Prix dreams and a stallion named Midnight Dalliance. He may be in over his head, though--until his hero in a beige cowboy hat arrives on the scene.

Given that this was a short story, it's perhaps not terribly surprising that character development was thin on the ground. Dalton and Kelvin (the aforementioned cowboy hat-wearing hero) each have a voice, though thankfully not at the same time. Dalton's is the stronger of the two, but not enough to give much of an impression of his personality. This isn't a bad thing for the format, but a longer story would have been interesting to see, with more exploration of who Dalton and Kelvin were, both separately and together.

The supporting cast was comprised of one, plus the horses. Again, there's not much of a way around this with the story length, and really wasn't necessary; the horses were enough to carry the story along.

The chemistry between Dalton and Kelvin was well-done (again, given the story length). It was naturally a bit rushed from meeting to sex to commitment, but not so much as to be terrible. The sex (most of the point of a short story) was hot, which was a bonus.

There was a little drama in the story beyond the sex, mostly in the form of horses and an ex-boyfriend, but, really, it was just a vehicle for the sex. It's certainly an adequate vehicle, though, and enjoyable enough in and of itself.

Although I wish it had been longer, this was still a nice bite of story. It definitely helps satisfy a craving for horse stories with a dash of romance (or romance with a dash of horses).