Review: Reckless Passion by Amanda Young

I've been eagerly awaiting this new release from Amanda Young's 'Reckless' series. Reckless Passion is the third book and follows on from Reckless Seduction and Reckless Behavior. In my reviews of the previous books I said that although I'd liked the stories between Dante and Cody, I was more intrigued by the character of Beau, Cody's uncle who had raised Cody when he parents had died. This book is Beau's story and I was eager to find out more about this elusive man. Did this book satisfy my questions? Well, yes and no.

The book begins with Beau lusting after his new personal assistant, Adam. It turns out that this lust is reciprocated and the two men fall into a relationship involving sex only on a semi-regular basis. As the months go on, Beau starts to feel that Adam is becoming much more to him than a quick shag but before he can begin to articulate these feelings to Adam, Beau discovers that there is another man in Adam's life.

The story mainly follows Beau and Adam and so there is very little space for other characters in the story - except for a brief scene between Beau and Cody. I didn't mind this so much because there are a number of issues which are dealt with in this short novella and in order to fit those around the sex scenes there wasn't really room for anyone else. I liked Adam a great deal. He wasn't shy in getting what he wanted from Beau, and was also rather resigned that their relationship was to be sex only. He's a little idealistic and naive in the way that he views life and I felt that fit well, given that he is only in his early 20's. I also liked that the reader is given more about Adam other than being Beau's PA. He has a difficult life and the sense of pathos that surrounds Adam when we get to see him outside of Beau's mansion house added an extra dimension to his character. The scenes with his son showed a caring side to Adam and his interactions with Johnny were realistic, paternal and tender. Johnny teetered a little over the line of 'nauseatingly cute' but that is more to do with my own feelings about the general portrayal of children in books than a direct criticism of the book. I'm sure many readers will find Johnny to be a lovable, sweet boy.

I was a little disappointed with the character of Beau. In the other books he came across as a stern father figure for Cody and also as someone who knew what he wanted out of life and set out to get it no matter what. Whilst the opening to the book certainly showed that side of Beau, Beau also spends an awful lot of time naval gazing, worrying about his relationship with Adam. For some reason I had expected that he would have been more direct in his dealings with Adam, rather than turn everything over in his head as much as he did and so after a while I got a bit annoyed with this. However, Beau's inability to articulate his feelings out loud, coherently, did fit well with his character as did his impatience with Adam's overly cautious attitude towards Johnny. In the end, I was happy for the two men and thought the closing scene rather romantic.

Overall, I enjoyed Reckless Passion. There are plenty of Amanda Young's hot and dirty sex scenes to satisfy those who like sex in their m/m books, but this book also had characters who were better fleshed out than I felt Cody and Dante had been in previous books. The story is just a focus on two men and their relationship, but that type of book always appeals to the romantic in me. This book may be the third in a series, but I felt it could be read as a stand-a-lone too as, aside for a brief appearance from Cody, the two stories between Dante and Cody/Beau and Adam are not mutually reliant on each other. I would recommend Reckless Passion, which gets a grade of 'Very Good', to those who, like me, have long awaited Beau's story, but also to those readers who are looking for a hot, tender romance.