Review: Pride and Politics

Reviewed by Jen
 

Hunter is a character who was very difficult to like in the earlier books of this series.  He was not only a man-whore, but he was cocky, dismissive, and sometimes even downright mean to the men he hooked up with.  I'm happy to say that we see an entirely new side to Hunter in this book and we learn a lot about what makes him tick.

As we already knew, Hunter is part of a very politically connected family.  Now, he has been tapped to take part in his uncle's vice-presidential campaign, serving as the token gay family member.  He's getting a huge payoff for the gig, but just to be sure he stays on the straight and narrow, his uncle has hired Steve to serve as his image consultant --and generally as his wrangler.

Steve has no intention of doing anything more than his job when it comes to Hunter. But it quickly becomes apparent that there is more to Hunter than the arrogant ass he projects.  In fact, the more Steve sees of Hunter's vulnerabilities, the more he allows his feelings for him to grow.  The story follows the development of their relationship and the impact it has on Hunter as a person.

I really enjoyed the first half.  I liked getting a behind the scenes look at Hunter and the dynamics of his family and his past.  I liked Steve and his steady influence --and as always, Daisy Harris is great with the sex and the sexual tension.

I did have some significant problems, though.  First of all, I felt like Steve's decision to indulge with Hunter was very abrupt. It was no, no, no --and then yes really fast. I know what the impetus was, but I think I would have liked more time inside Steve's head as he changed his mind.  This bothered me, but not nearly as much as the sudden introduction of BDSM into the relationship.  I felt like it came out of nowhere. Yes, Hunter is bossy and kind of supernova, but it seemed like he appreciated the different dynamic he had with Steve at the beginning of their relationship. And Steve surely gave me no inclination he might like to be a sub. He's never even bottomed before.

Maybe it's just that the whole dom/sub thing is not my bag, but I really didn't get a whiff of this between these two until *BAM* Steve is gagged with a tie and shoving his ass in the air in the limousine.   I didn't like this development and it was made worse for me because I didn't see it coming.

This is book six in the Men of Holsum College series --and we've seen Hunter before-- but this would work easily as a standalone.

Rating: C

*ARC provided by author for review

Pride and Politics

by Daisy Harris

Release Date: August 25, 2012

Publisher: Siren