Melting Point

by Kate Meader

[EBookObsessed]

I was happy and disappointed with this novella. I was happy to see that Baby Thor and his grumpy bear boyfriend got their own story, but I would have liked more story that wasn’t just sex and the back and forth angst of will they or won’t they stay together.

When we left Gage and Brady at the end of Flirting with Fire, it seemed the boys were finally going to get together but as we start Melting Point, Brady had once again bowed out of any relationship with Gage. It is not an issue of Brady denying his homosexuality. It is more an issue of dark, brooding and scarred Brady can’t see himself holding onto the gorgeous, sunny, god-like Gage and he doesn’t want to get his hopes up and his heart broken.

As Melting Point starts off, Brady gets into a motorcycle accident trying to grab a peek at Gage’s hot billboard which is still up around the city. He dislocates his arm and has a concussion. The hospital won’t discharge him so he call’s his friend, Darcy to pick his up. Darcy, of course, calls her brother-in-law Gage to help Brady out of the hospital.

Gage is tired of chasing the hard-to-get Brady, but he won’t leave Brady to suffer when he can’t move. Gage also decides to give it one more try while he has Brady at his mercy. While helping Brady out of his clothes so he can shower, Gage shows him that his various scars from his capture in Afghanistan are not a turn off to Gage.

As we have learned from many, many stories sex doesn’t solve all problems but it can distract long enough to try and work through issues. Brady is not only concerned about his scars being a turn off, but he has nightmares about his captivity and he sometimes wakes up violently. Whenever Gage sleeps over, Brady won’t sleep because he is afraid he will wake up hurting Gage.

We also learn that there is more to Gage’s sunny disposition than the fact that he loves life. It is his defense mechanism which he developed from years of being tortured by his overly zealot mother who kept trying to save him and cleanse his homosexual soul. Gage always knew he was gay and would put on a the-hell-with-them attitude whenever anyone treated him badly because of it. Gage tries to always keep a happy face for Brady since Gage feels his problems are so beneath anything that Brady has suffered that Gage has no right to complain about things.

THOUGHTS:
Brady and Gage were stand out characters for me in the prior story. I wanted them to have a story of their own. I was glad they got it, but I would have liked to see more bonding between them other than just sex. If they weren’t having sex, there was just a lot of “we can’t be together,” “you’re too good for me” and “I can’t be what you need me to be.” How about more trips to the market together or watching football with the guys or just some more pages of everyday fun and getting to know you that didn’t involve angst or sex, just to round out their story some more.

I am sure we will see more of Brady and Gage, even if it is only in the background of the other stories. I just would have like to see them shine a little more while the spotlight was on them.