K.C. Burn

Hayden, at the beginning, was so relatable as somebody whose fear of rejection and abandonment lead him to make some really toxic friends, which deepened his insecurities and made him afraid to show who he really was. Jez’s desperation to find a new life away from his abusive ex led him to beg his brother Miguel for a place to stay, who then asks Hayden to put Jez up, as Hayden has a house while Miguel is just renting a room, which allows Hayden to see the freedom he is missing and show more eventually make some needed changes in his life. There was so much to like about this little book, (13 short chapters). The complexity and depth of the characters were fantastic, and I cheered at how Hayden grew from somebody who was uneasy in his skin to being comfortable and willing to help others...and to stand up for himself and others like him. K.C. Burn put a new twist on the "opposites-attract" theme with the more straight-seeming Hayden falling for the flamboyant and unapologetic Jez. With his acceptance of Jez and then acceptance of himself, he (and we) discovers that they weren't so different after all. The story itself speaks a lot about not judging people. Not by who they hang out with, or their actions...or who they choose to love. Miguel’s character reveal really drove home how we tend to come to conclusions based on the bias of how we perceive things to be...not how they may actually be. I also enjoyed how, rather than jumping in and be the heroes of the day when going to deal with Jez’s abusive ex, the couple took a step back and let the police calmly deal with the situation....and that the police didn't just write it off...even when they were presented with reasons why they might have. The author provided an amazing sub-plot that tied everything up very nicely. In a nutshell... Set Ablaze is a novel that looks at acceptance of who we are and how the people we surround ourselves with can and do, influence and change that acceptance. Oh yes...it also had a very cute little dog:) show less

I received Cop Out by KC Burn, from Hearts on Fire Reviews, located here http://heartsonfirereviews.com/ for an honest review.



Summary :

Detective Kurt O’Donnell and his partner Ben, make a good team. Kurt learned much about being a detective from Ben. Unfortunately, their partnership doesn’t last long. They stake out a building on a tip that turns out to be a set-up and Ben is killed in the explosion. The death of Ben reveals to Kurt a whole other side to his partner that he never knew show more about. At the funeral Kurt notices two strangers, a woman and a young man and the young man looks devastated. Kurt’s curiosity on who these people are and his desire to help them has Kurt doing a little investigating of his own. What he finds out stuns him. On arrival at Ben’s home Kurt finds a depressed and ill Davy. Piecing everything together Kurt realizes that Ben has been keeping secrets and Davy was the big one. But as Kurt learns more about Davy he finds out that his partner Ben also had a dark side to him. A side that cut Davy off from his friends and had such a tight grip on Davy’s behavior, that Davy had suppressed much of his own personality to be what Ben wanted him to be. Kurt is appalled and sets out to befriend Davy and help him take back his life. Cop Out is a story of friendship growing into so much more, a story of people breaking free of pasts and carving out a new one without fear. It’s a story about Kurt and Davy blossoming into who they are truly meant to be. But in doing so, it also tears them apart.


Description :

I will say right off the bat that I loved this story. Whenever I’m asked what my favorite M/M romance story is I always answer Cop Out. It has the wonderful character growth that I love in books. Absent between the two MCs was the instant love that I’m not terribly fond of. Instead the readers are entertained by a slow growing love between Kurt and Davy that pulls us into their world. A love that is palpable even though they engage in the most mundane of everyday activities.

The story is told through Kurt’s eyes and the author does a great job of getting us to feel Kurt’s emotions as he changes throughout the book. Kurt believes he is straight, but has never really had fulfilling relationships with women. At first, after finding out Davy’s situation, Kurt visits Davy about once a week but gradually over time increases his visits. During his increasing visits Kurt is able to chip away at Davy’s defenses and gets Davy to accept his help. With each interaction with Davy, Kurt feels more and more attraction for Davy and Davy also becomes closer to Kurt. Kurt begins to realize that he is gay but fears he can’t tell his large Catholic family else he’d lose their love and respect. Because of his fear he hides in his newly found closet and this turns out to be a bad choice when it comes to Davy.

We don’t really get to understand or know as much about Davy and his emotional state as we do about Kurt. Since the story is from Kurt’s pov we only get to see what he thinks Davy is experiencing. What we learn is that Ben had pretty much kept Davy completely dependent on him and Davy could barely function on his own. Kurt steps in to help with daily necessities and rebuilds Davy’s fragile self-esteem until Davy starts to become more independent, and in a chance encounter at a restaurant with Kurt, Davy’s friends start to return to his life. Unfortunately we learn that because of Ben’s hold over Davy, Davy’s thinking isn’t quite logical and it deeply influences his feelings about Kurt and leads up to the flash point between them.

I loved how the author showed the slow growing friendship between Kurt and Davy. How they each in their own way, helped the other through a tough time in their lives. And then the author blew it all up in a pivotal scene that I won’t tell you about. The scene was filled with anger but at the same time filled with tenderness depending on which character’s eyes the reader watches the scene. This was one instance that I could feel for Davy because he knew nothing about the true situation concerning Kurt and I could see the future guilt coming to settle down on him from a football field away. This one particular scene had tremendous emotional impact and I could identify with both characters. In the end I felt badly for Kurt. Both men made a mistake, but in the end it was Kurt who kept reaching out to Davy. I found Kurt’s dedication to Davy and his willingness to accept responsibility for what happened heartbreaking and touching. At this point in the story Davy vanishes for quite some time and we don’t hear about him again until a major event happens to Kurt and then Davy returns.

This leads up to the one flaw in the story that bothered me. We find out through Davy’s conversation with Kurt near the end, that Davy has pretty much got his act together after his disappearance. My question is if Davy knew Kurt still cared for him and was still reaching out for him, why wait until something tragic happens before he returns to Kurt? I felt that this was a bit of a cliché of a scene in that the potential partner only comes back to the other person’s side because of a tragic event. I didn’t feel the love as much at the reunion as I did in the earlier parts of the story. Kurt seemed to accept most of the blame for what happened and I also didn’t feel that Davy groveled enough. But I can understand why Kurt wouldn’t want Davy to grovel. Kurt just wanted Davy back in any way he could get him. Maybe it’s because we didn’t get a good feel for Davy’s personality throughout the story that I wasn’t satisfied with Davy’s character in the hospital scene. The good part of the scene was that it was a lengthy one and wasn’t anywhere near the last scenes in the book.
I enjoyed the secondary characters especially Kurt’s new partner, Simon. Simon was open-minded and protective. He was a good friend when Kurt needed one. Another character was Ian, Kurt’s brother. He doesn’t show up much in the story, but when he does the moments are important. I hope the author might consider writing Ian’s story. It could be interesting following Ian around for a while.

I wouldn’t call Cop Out an action driven story except for the scenes at the beginning and near the end. But it’s more about character growth and discovery which is what I personally like in M/M Romance stories. I don’t consider this story a ‘gay for you’ story either, although I can see how many people might. If you look at Kurt's behavior after meeting Davy you'll find that Kurt was attracted to other males, for example Justin, once he admitted to himself he was gay. Kurt didn't realize he was gay until he met Davy, however he did know that something was lacking in his relationships with women.

The author continued to spring surprises on the readers and there is a good one at the end that I liked very much. It was a nice touch.

Cop Out was well written and full of emotional impact without having to resort to large action scenes or over dramatic characters. The one hospital scene with the return of Davy is the one part I felt was a bit cliché and that affects my rating a tiny bit. I give this story 4.75 stars and round it up to 5 stars. I would recommend this to everyone interested in M/M Romance.

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Six months ago Devlin’s best friend and band mate died. Since then, he’s been existing in a kind of daze, sleeping on his mother’s couch and avoiding anything to do with his old band. He decides to go back to school but doesn’t really have much direction career wise. So, he takes a few random classes hoping to find inspiration. Archeology is one of those classes, and his sexy-nerd professor, Jack Johnson is just the distraction he needs to avoid dealing with his grief. Trouble is, show more Jack is such a fan of Devlin’s band that he sings in a cover band. Jack finds himself falling for the ex-rocker who likes to needle him in class, but Devlin has been clear that he wants nothing to do with any mention of his old life. With that...the foundation for our “misunderstanding” is created. I absolutely loved the character of Professor Jack Johnson. He was such an unexpected personality. I was impressed, and kudos to K. C. Burn for making it work. His personalities included the hot nerd professor, the punkrock singer and the mad fanboy. Every one of those personas somehow melded seamlessly. I wasn't as impressed with Devlin. His grief felt overdone, and I didn't understand his reactions. Obviously, other readers may really feel for him and sympathize. That’s not to say that I disliked Devlin, I just found it difficult to understand him. His mother, however, was a glowing secondary character that I loved instantly. I enjoyed this story, but it lacked something to make me say I loved it, which is unusual for a K,C. Burn story. I think in the end it was all just too predictable...but the majority of romance books are no matter if they are M/F or M/M. It was a good story, by a really good author, and I will read it again, I'm sure. show less

4.50 Stars

The first reason I loved this book? It's set in my home town and I felt...comfortably familiar with the setting.

But more importantly, I loved this book because of the characters. They grabbed me on page one and didn't let go until the book concluded. I really liked that we, the readers, get to know Detective Kurt O'Donnell's slain partner Ben, and the hidden life he led, right along with Kurt. Kurt was a good guy and I really loved that once he found out Ben's life partner had, in show more fact, been a man he still dives in with both feet to do what he can for Davy. I enjoyed watching their initial contact slowly metamorphose into friendship and eventually, to straight Kurt's confusion, into something deeper. show less