Review: Thief of Hearts: Tempted in Thailand by EM Lynley

I met EM Lynley when I was at Yaoicon. What a nice lady she is! We had a lovely chat about the difficulties of editing an anthology (which she was in the middle of doing at the time) and she also asked me whether she could send in her book for review. The book turned out to be this one.  It's an exciting mix between Romancing the Stone and Indiana Jones, and follows gay romance writer, Trent, as he's forced out of the comfortable rut he's in when his well meaning (and let's face it, a bit irritating) friends book him a holiday in Thailand.  Once in Bangkok, a mix up at the airport means that Trent accidentally gets himself embroiled in the shady goings of the very handsome and charismatic Reed Acton.  There's an obvious attraction between the two men, but Trent isn't entirely sure that he can trust Reed.

The best thing about this book was the Thai setting.  I know almost nothing about Thailand or Bangkok, but the author really brought the city and the culture alive through the eyes of Trent.  Everything is lovingly described from the food to the markets and streets.  Even the country  and small towns that Trent sees later in the book were vivid in the descriptions.  By the time I finished the book, I really felt that I'd learned something about that country - and not just the sights, as everything from the personality of the Thai people to the Buddhist religion had been interwoven through the narrative.  It was done so well that I never felt preached at or like I was reading a guide book because much of it is shown to the reader through Trent's eyes and we share his wonder at the diversity of the people and culture as he experiences it for the first time.

Another part which worked well was in the adventure plot.  As I said, it was a little like something out of Romancing the Stone and fans of that film will enjoy some of the sly winks that the book makes in terms of some of the events that happen to Trent who definitely plays the Kathleen Turner role!  Later the book takes a turn into Indiana Jones territory as priceless treasures are sought, and bad guys attempt to kill our heroes over a treasure map.  It was all jolly good fun, as well as quite tense and action-packed at times.  Trent fits perfectly into the clueless tourist accidentally caught up in events and it wasn't difficult to like him.  He's a nice guy who has retreated into the safety of routine, but was still able to cope admirably when thrown into dangerous situations.  Reed was your typical action hero, capable and protective of Trent (even when it's clear that Trent can look after himself).  The two engaging heroes complemented each other and I was pleased and satisfied with the romance that blossomed between them.

I did have a couple of niggles.  Firstly, I felt the book took a little long to get going.  There's a lengthy section at the beginning where Trent is with his friends and preparing for his surprise trip.  This dragged a little for me, mainly because I was impatient for him to get to Thailand and start his adventure, but also because I found Trent's friends really annoying.  They were the sort of friends who purposely interfere with another friend's life 'for their own good'.  I know they were supposed to come across as well meaning, but I just couldn't warm to them because I generally don't like these types of characters, and so couldn't wait until they were left behind and Trent could get on with his holiday. My second niggle was that when the two men were together and having a conversation, the dialogue was often broken up by paragraphs of internal angsting by whichever character was taking the narrative at the moment.  This had the effect of slowing the narrative down and those passages dragged a little too.  I wanted them to stop thinking and get on with the talking!  Or better yet, get on with some action scenes.  It's a shame really because most of the romance in the book happened during those scenes and I felt that far too often the characters were telling us how they felt through the internal thoughts, or worrying over their feelings, rather than showing us how they felt through action.

However, these were not serious enough niggles to spoil the book for me entirely.  In the end, I was left with the impression that this had been a very enjoyable read with engaging characters, an unusual setting and an interesting adventure plot and I'd recommend Thief of Hearts: Tempted in Thailand with a grade of 'Very Good' to those who have a yearning for an action/adventure romance.

Buy this book HERE.