Title: Down Memory Lane
Author: Heidi Champa
Length: 5,000 words
Publisher: Amber Allure
Genre: m/m contemporary romance
Rating: C-
Blurb:
Kyle knows he shouldn’t, but once again he finds himself waiting for Quinn, the sexy man who drove out of his life years ago, but keeps turning up when Kyle least expects it. Every time Quinn’s car would come rumbling down his street and stop before his house, Kyle would eagerly jump inside the passenger seat and go anywhere Quinn wanted to go.
Yet this time, Quinn is back for good. Or so he says. Will this be the start of something special for Kyle and Quinn, or just one more passionate drive down memory lane?
Review:
Kyle is in love with Quinn and has been for years. Quinn, however, is a free spirit who doesn’t want to be tied down, so every so often he’ll roll into town for a night of passion with Kyle before heading on out again.
I rather liked the sound of this book, and I think I would have liked the story a whole lot more were it not for two things. Firstly, Kyle has a boyfriend who he lives with. The unfortunate boyfriend is only there, it seems, to fill in time between Quinn’s visits. I felt sorry for the boyfriend who is obviously being used by Kyle. Maybe he doesn’t mind, we are never told, but it didn’t endear me to Kyle that he would deliberately sneak off for sex with another man behind his boyfriend’s back. The second reason is that the whole set up reflects badly on Kyle who waits, like a faithful puppy, for Quinn to show up and give him a good time before disappearing off. He doesn’t even believe Quinn’s lies any more, which makes him doubly pathetic. I’m never very fond of stories which show love as being something which makes you weak – and Kyle’s love for Quinn makes him very weak – so this ended up being just an OK story for me.
The story wasn’t all bad though. The writing was good and most of the story is made up of a sex scene which was hot and erotic in tone. Kyle’s feelings are well described, and I particularly liked his views on Quinn’s car. All of Kyle’s yearnings for Quinn come through strongly in the narrative, but I got the impression that Kyle is holding onto only a memory of Quinn and knows next to nothing about the guy who turns up every so often. Of Quinn we find out very little – probably because Kyle knows nothing too. Where he goes for months at a time is a mystery to Kyle and the reader.
Overall, this was a story with promise, and for readers who aren’t turned off by Kyle and Quinn’s strange relationship, this may just be a story for you. It missed the mark for me though, and left a slightly bitter taste in the mouth.
