Jaro_423

This was a hard chapter and really brought so much out. Sam's story with his son told in more detail was heart-rending and left me in tears. Then his expose of what happens to those boys taken into slavery was devastatingly graphic but so needed, both for River and for us to understand more just how amazing Silver is and what a treasure and a miracle he is. Thank you for doing that. I don't think one hates River, but one (at least I did) sees how much the pressure he is under is causing him to make these bad decisions and hurting those he loves most more. Poor River. My sympathies are with him and I'm rooting for him to somehow put himself aside in all this or have someone come alongside him to help him - Sam is sort of doing that, but doesn't seem to see River's need for some support rather than just showing him the consequences of his bad decisions. Incidentally, Sam is such a treasure too. He's such a macho guy but with such a big heart: it's so sad that it took the loss of Neil to bring that out of him. I love your stories - the good, the bad and the ugly parts! I think the good always wins in the end (I suppose that has to be an optimist speaking), and I'm trusting that that's what you will do to bring us all - River, Silver, Ben and the readers - through. I think you've hinted as much in your comments to reviews, so I am looking forward to reading on to see how this is all resolved.

Reading this makes me spitting mad with those organizations that purport to be protecting the rights of minors and are actually doing nothing more than interferring in lives and creating more problems. What's with them? Bloody Nanny State to the fore again making a mess. Poor River. I'm rooting for him all the way. One can understand the pressures he is facing and see why maybe he doesn't make better decisions to protect himself and his loved ones. You sure write a good social exposure in the vein of Charles Dickens no less!

Thanks for a really great read. What more can I say that hasn't already been said about this - great characters, great story, great ride - better than a roller coaster. Really put my heart in a bad place when that damn black car appeared just when they were so engrossed in each other. What anguish you put me through! Though nothing like the pain that Silver went through. Ugh! That was hard. Lots of tears. Oh my! Not sure I am ready to take on Enigma II yet.

You have done it again: sent me searching for information on the whole business of trafficking in sex slaves though I haven't had a lot of success so far. Would be grateful for any refs you can pass on to make the search a little easier and less of a wade. Heartrending stuff! You write in such an uncluttered unsentimental fashion and yet succeed in putting that knife deep into the heart. Not sure how you do that but it leaves me somewhat of a basket case because I get so emotionally embroiled in this and deeply affected by it. You are a great writer.

I haven't been reviewing chapter by chapter for a long time, prefering just to read as much at a sitting as possible, but I can't do that with you; you are just so damn good at this, and I had to say that. I've been away from your writing for a while but its exhilarating to be back. I feel like I was travelling on a bus on a dusty road, bumping along happily, enjoying different scenes and different places, different interesting people, but now suddenly I am in a fast car, speeding down the highway with the scenes a blur as I focus on the road ahead and hold tight in this scary but sooo exciting ride. Wow! Thank you for writing and publishing here so that these stories are available to people like me. I feel so privileged to be given the opportunity to read your work.

Rather different and unexpected.

An intriguing and heart-warming story with a few neat twists. Very entertaining. Thanks.

Hey, well done for the story. Thanks for writing! I agree that the ending was too abrupt. So much more that could have been got out of this. More conflict, misunderstanding, etc built in to the relationship angle. And more detail of description to add to character and atmosphere. The sex aspect is good. Amazing that these folk are so incredibly comfortable in their nakedness with each other, even where there's no intimacy. It's a bit like a nudist camp! I think you show great potential and that you were brave to get in there and submit a story. Well done!

What an absolutely delightful story from beginning to end. You are so romantic! And it's so sexy too. Wow! Michael is such a dish, though one doesn't realize that to begin with because he seems so much the officious hotel manager and a bit of a dick in the worst possible way. It's only as Jason gets to know him and appreciate him that we do too. I just love the way you developed the story and the characters. Thanks for writing. You're definitely on my favourite authors list.

Wow! Really got caught up in this story. Loved the characters and the twists and turns in their relationship. It was very realistic and so romantic and so sexy too. All the great elements. I also enjoyed the very short chapters that made the read wizz along really fast. That was fun. Though scary too, when Mark started lying to Ross about his involvement with Kyle, I really wanted to jump in there and shake him, not that he would have listened. He was such a stubborn oke sometimes! I hope you've written lots more to enjoy. Thanks for writing!

It's the first of your stories I have read and I really enjoyed it. It was a very interesting read and your characters are good. You do need a proof reader to check stuff and iron out the little annoying bits so that it doesn't spoil. It is worth it as you are good. Thanks for a good read. Loved the Cinnabon! Oh my! Brought back good memories for me in Dubai and in Durban. I liked your handling of the church stuff too. It was insightful without being hateful. Very balanced, unlike how the fundamental church behaves.

I have thoroughly enjoyed your stories - so full of action, adventure and romance - and this one is just as good and ends so well. I love the details and descriptions of the places; I love the characters; I love your style of writing - a little like a foreigner speaking English which gives the story a quaint effective background as though one of the characters is telling it in his own rather good English but sometimes gets confused with the right English word. It was most delightful. Thank you for writing. A very treasured read!

Thanks for a great story. It was enthralling with the detail and the complexity - just like life! And the romance was second to none - so appealing and so heart-warming. Thank you for writing.

Thanks for a really sweet story of love. A delight and a joy.

A very interesting story. It seemed to be more than just a story; almost like there was some autobiography in there. But then that's good authorship that makes a reader think that. So good on you. The romantic in me missed a more romantic ending and was a little frustrated with the realism of it all. Nevermind. The romance is my escape thing! Thanks for writing.

There seems some doubt that this was ever complete. Was there a sequel? But whatever. We can finish the story our way, hey! Thank you for a very beautiful story. It was refreshingly tender and full of kindness and made one believe in people again and in their goodness, each in his own way, and also in the hope that somewhere, somehow, one might find that in another person to love and be loved as a man with a man. A precious story beautifully told. Thank you.

I was a little disappointed in the chapter as it was too much tying up loose ends and little if any action, but I have no doubt the next chapter is going to launch us into the expectation of the next book on the Guild and will no doubt have plenty to make us look forward to. I think I am longing for a ship for Granger as much as he is! Let's hope the French general is captured in this last chapter! I wonder who will be involved with that.

Wow! I have to say that's the best read on this site I have had to date. Gripping, powerful, moving, captivating, enthralling, soul-wringing, mind-twisting stuff. Thank you. Glad you said you still have more to give. That's great!

Intensely evocative in that unspoken intimacy of connection and all the forces aligned against them and set up to de-rail them. Just as so much of their connection was beyond understanding at that point so you wrote the same way leaving so much unsaid but yet saying it without words. Brilliant!

Beautifully handled. Andy's emerging attraction for men is being told in such a subtle way and so disguised under his go get the girl macho image.

You do the high school stuff really well in a very convincing manner, much better really than the earlier period which seemed more an adult's perception of a child's experiences rather than a child's view. Though the earlier chapters were embued with a great intensity and powerful writing, whereas these chapters are more lighthearted somehow and less intense. Interesting. Not sure where the ADD suddenly came from. It was a surprise and seemed so totally uncharacteristic and out of sync. I would have expected Matt to be the candidate for ADD rather!

Such an effective description of first love and heart-break, and how it threw Andy and Matt together in support of each other. Very tender.

Age difference when you young seems so huge so it's understandable they both have concerns, but its great the way they work through them. Young love and first infatuations. Wow! You describe it well and it sure takes one back there!

Things changed quickly from not having ever seen each other before. But I guess that would be natural. Having been to boarding school all my life this seems a little laughable; sorry, you have to excuse me for thinking that. However, it was well told and the after embarrassment was dealt with easily by the interruption of mom's return.

A little less intense and more a natural encounter between adolescent lads somehow. For me it eased the tension of the earlier chapters a little.