Blog Tour Stop: A Walk Through Fire by Felice Stevens + Review

Title: A Walk Through Fire

Author: Felice Stevens

Genre: Adult, Gay Romance

Publish Date: November 25, 2014

Years after running away from an abusive foster family, Asher Davis still inwardly struggles with the guilt of leaving his foster brothers behind. He’s climbed to unimaginable heights as a ruthless, high-powered attorney, creating a life of power and control. He takes whatever and whoever he wants.

Blaming himself for the death of his parents, Dr. Drew Klein retreats into a shell of loneliness, merely going through the motions of life. After a disastrous, short-lived marriage, Drew decides to leave his lucrative medical practice to set up a clinic for abused young men and women. The decision has more repercussions than Drew could ever imagine when the dark and sensual Ash Davis volunteers to help.

Although Drew isn’t gay, Ash is inexplicably drawn to him. He vows to simply bed him and forget him like he's done with every other man. However, Drew's sweet and caring nature and unexpected passion stun and frighten Ash, who questions his right to any happiness at all. And when Ash befriends an abused young man who unwittingly draws the clinic into danger, threatening Drew’s safety and that of his beloved grandmother, Ash discovers that there is nothing he won’t sacrifice to protect the love he never thought he’d find.

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“Have a drink, Drew, and tell me why you’re here.” Ash sipped his vodka and stared at him over the rim of his glass.
“No, thanks, I’m driving. But I do want to talk to you.” The man was a study in contrasts. Drew couldn’t think of a time he hadn’t seen Ash perfectly dressed, every hair in place, looking like he’d stepped out of a men’s fashion magazine.
Tonight however…well he looked off-kilter. Though he still had on his clothes from earlier, that white button down shirt and black slacks, the shirt was wrinkled and unbuttoned lower than he’d ever seen. Dark stubble shadowed along his jaw, and his hair lay unkempt and disheveled. Drew shifted on the sofa. “Look, I know this may sound stupid, but my grandmother was concerned about you, so she asked me to stop by and check up on you.”
“And of course you do everything your nana says.”
Drew’s face flamed. “Fuck you, Davis.”
A tiny smirk hit the corner of Ash’s lips. “What’s the matter, Doc? The truth hurts?”
The bastard. After all the nice things his grandmother had said about him, how she’d worried about him, this was his response? To act like the snide sarcastic son of a bitch he was at their first meeting? How dare he treat her concern as if it were nothing? And to think he’d actually thought they were friends. “What the hell do you know about the truth, huh? No one knows anything about you; you have no friends, no lover.” He stood, ready to leave. “No wonder you’re all alone. No one cares about you. You aren’t worth it.” Shit, he’d never spoken so cruelly to anyone. But then again, no one had ever gotten under his skin like Ash Davis.
Like a snake uncoiled, Ash jumped off the sofa and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Take that back.”
“What’s the matter, Davis? The truth hurts?” He mimicked Ash’s earlier words to him, and saw a flare of anger gleam in those colorless, glittering eyes.
“You fucking bastard. Who are you to say I’m not worth it, that no one cares about me? I have friends. People like me. Don’t you ever say I’m not worth it. I matter goddamn you. I fucking matter.”
Ash tried to grab onto him, but Drew wrenched away and took off for the door, speaking over his shoulder.
“People don’t like you, Ash, they want to fuck you because you’re beautiful. That’s not liking. That’s not a friendship. How many relationships have you ever had with another man? You’ve never even had a boyfriend or a permanent relationship have you, because you have to have a heart. You have to care about someone. How can you value someone else in your life when you don’t even value yourself?”

 

I have always been a romantic at heart. I believe that while life is tough, there is always a happy ending just around the corner. I started reading traditional historical romances when I was a teenager, then life and law school got in the way. It wasn’t until I picked up a copy of Bertrice Small and became swept away to Queen Elizabeth’s court that my interest in romance novels became renewed.

But somewhere along the way, my tastes shifted. While I still enjoys a juicy Historical romance, I began experimenting with newer, more cutting edge genres and discovered the world of Male/Male romance. Once I picked up her first, I became so enamored of the authors, the character-driven stories and the overwhelming emotion of the books, I knew I wanted to write my own.

I live in New York City with my husband and two children and hopefully soon a cat of my own. My day begins with a lot of caffeine and ends with a glass or two of red wine. I practice law but daydream of a time when I can sit by a beach somewhere and write beautiful stories of men falling in love. Although there is bound to be angst along the way, a Happily Ever After is always guaranteed.

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***Copy provided in exchange of an honest review***

Tracy: This was an amazing read. These characters, especially Ash really do take A Walk Through Fire. 

Drew is lost, and lonely. He wants someone, to be with someone, but the people he chooses never make him feel whole. He feels alone in the world, even in a room full of friends and family.

Ash is angry, he can be a cruel, and heartless SOB. He uses men for sex, and then just tosses them aside after, but really he is also lost, alone, scared and a very broken man.

Drew and Ash meet when Ash turns out to be Drew’s soon to be ex-wife’s divorce attorney. Ash is immediately attracted to the seemingly straight, hot Doctor. Drew’s divorce attorney is a friend and old school mate of Ash’s. He asks Ash to help with a clinic that Drew is setting up for abused and neglected teens. This is a cause that hit’s close to home for Ash. Over the next few months Drew and Ash work closely together at the clinic and become friends. 

I have a very Love/Hate relationship with Ash. I could go from wanting to hold him, to wanting strangle him all in the same paragraph. It was difficult to be inside his head at times, he had so much anger, self-hatred and was so self-destructive. I wasn’t sure he was going to make it to the end of this book, at times. I applaud Felice, Ash had to be a very difficult character to write, but write him she did, and beautifully. 

Mari: I, on the other hand, fell in love with Ash from the start. Something about him resonated with me, and made me very vocally (just ask Tracy) be in his corner for the whole book. He was so broken, yes, and he could be ruthless, but he felt so damn much and made me feel it right along with him. I just wanted to cuddle him and make it all better and was so happy that Esther, Drew’s grandmother, grew to love him as much as she did.

I can’t say the same for Drew, though. For half the book, I wasn’t too sure I liked him all that much, but when he went to Ash for comfort and then stood up to his meddling friends and sister and fought for his man, it was then that I fell for him. 

Tracy: We watch Drew come to terms with being attracted to and eventually being in love with a man for the first time in his life. No other person has ever made him feel the way Ash does. No other person has ever awoken his body the way Ash does.

Mari: You’re so right, Tracy, I loved that even when he was feeling confused over his attraction towards Asher, he didn’t freak out about that as I’ve seen happen in other stories. I loved that he didn’t care all that much about labels, he cared about Asher and that was that. 

Tracy: We see Ash wanting for the first time in his life, to open up to another person, and let them in. We watch him heal and learn to accept the love he deserves, and love someone back.

Mari: And it was awesome to see him heal, and actually trust Drew enough to share most of what he had to endure growing up in a foster home, with an abusive bastard that ruined his life.

I loved the secondary characters, especially Drew’s grandmother, Esther, who was just about as awesome as she could be. Giving, loving and non-judgmental, loved that she was the voice of reason concerning Asher.

I hated Jordan, one of Drew’s oldest friends, with the fire of a thousand suns. Couldn’t stand him, wanted to slap him, strangle him or punch him so many times. Felice redeemed him in my eyes, though, even if it was in a soul-shattering scene that made me cry my eyes out.

Tracy: The end of this book was heart-wrenching, but Ash and Drew get their HEA/HFN. I would have loved an epilogue, but I have spoken to Felice and there will be a book 2 for one of the supporting characters. I am very much looking forward to his story.

Mari: This makes me really happy, since there are a few loose ends that aren’t tied up in the end of this book and that will love to have expanded on. 

Tracy: This is only Felice’s 2nd book, but I have loved both of them, and she is on her way to being a premier m/m writer. I look forward to more by her in the future!

Mari: I haven’t read Rescued, yet, but I’ll be reading it soon, because I loved Felice’s writing so much, I don’t want to miss out on it. This was truly a moving, emotional, fast-paced read. Even when I knew it would be angsty, I was still surprised by how involved I became in the story and how much it affected me. I think this is one of those stories that just stay with you for a long time and that you can’t help buy wanting to read over and over again. 

Mari and Tracy: This was definitely a 5 Stars read for us!!!

And don't forget to enter the Rafflecopter Giveaway for the chance to win this fantastic book here.