Review: Ridden Hard by Elizabeth Coldwell

I've read a few shorts by this author before and always liked her written style, so when I saw this book at X-cite, I thought, why not? The story tells of Jamie who's a struggling British actor. He manages to land a decent role in a British film about King Arthur and is very excited that he's managed to get a good part. Unfortunately, the only reason Jamie got the part is because he lied on his resume and said he could ride a horse. He can't. The filming is taking place in the Czech Republic and Jamie is rather nervous about being caught out in his lie. He manages to blag his way through the first 'meet the horses' session through sheer good luck, but still manages to catch the attention of Czech horsemaster, Andrej, who can see through Jamie's inexperience. Jamie begs Andrej to give him a few private lessons but finds he gets a whole lot more than he bargained for when he arrives for his first lesson that evening.

There was much to like about this cheeky D/s themed story. Firstly I found Jamie's narrative very engaging. He's a bit of a lad who enjoys a 'friends with benefits' relationship with a bisexual friend but doesn't have the time to commit to anything more. He's openly gay and like many actors he's a bit vain, but realistically so. He knows which roles are best for his looks and he's rather proud of the fact that he doesn't mind doing nudity and that he has the goods to show off! I also liked that he's open-minded and has a decent sense of humour, qualities which endeared him to me as a character.  When Jamie meets Andrej, he's attracted to him and quite open to a fling whilst filming is taking place. What he doesn't realise is how tuned in he is to Andrej's dominant style and I liked how Jamie just goes with the flow to see where it takes him. There's not a lot of soul searching on Jamie's part over why he gets off on being dominated, but that actually fit well with his open and accepting personality.

I also liked that there were little snippets which showed Jamie being an actor and what it's like on an film set. The few scenes where Jamie is performing or having conversations with his fellow actors added to the overall theme and setting, making the plot much more fleshed out than it would have been if the story had concentrated wholly on Jamie and Andrej. In many ways the switch between the film set and the stable highlighted the heightened emotions that Jamie feels when he's with Andrej. I certainly found those scenes compelling and the sexual tension between them is palpable.

I did have a couple of niggles. Firstly the bareback sex made me wince. I know that this is a particular bugbear of mine and some readers may not find it a problem, and also the lack of condom was used deliberately to show something of Jamie's trust for Andrej. Having said that it pulled me out of the story slightly as I thought "oh no, no condom" and spoiled what had been a very hot sex scene up to that point. Another niggle was that the end was a little too convenient, but I could also understand the need for it if the HEA was going to happen, so again that's just a minor point really. Maybe the end would have worked better if I had got some of Andrej's thoughts as well as Jamie.

Despite those niggles, this was still a really good story with a nice kinky twist. Those who like D/s stories are sure to enjoy it and it's certainly made me think I need to pull a few more stories out by this author. Grade: Very Good.

Buy this book HERE.