Book Review: Arctic Absolution by Lynn Kelling

Reviewed by JustJen

Title: Arctic Absolution
Author: Lynn Kelling
Heroes: Dixon Rowe/Jaye Larson
Genre: MM Contemporary
Length: 240 Pages
Publisher: Forbidden Fiction
Release Date: December 16, 2014
Available at: Forbidden Fiction and Amazon
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb:  In the frozen expanses of remote Alaska, Dixon Rowe is a good man and a good cop who keeps finding himself in bed with the enemy. After he picks up a young ex-con named Jaye Larson for stealing food, Dixon gets seduced by the possibility of helping someone truly in need. Though he tells himself he’s assisting young Jaye out of the goodness of his heart, not because of how sexy Jaye is under all of the tattoos and defiance, the temptations of sin entangle them as their hostile environment threatens. Both of their pasts are filled with malicious ghosts that haunt every step, and while Jaye’s demons are less tangible that Dixon’s, they are all powerful enough to put both of their lives in danger.

Review: Have you ever been in a kind of reading funk where things just haven’t been hitting the right buttons in the right way? Then, you pick up a book that does, and it feels like a giant breath of fresh air? Well, this one did it for me. I absolutely love being pleasantly surprised like this and was doing the happy dance the entire time I read it.

Twenty-one year old sweet Jaye keeps getting bad breaks. During his two-year prison sentence, he basically became another inmate’s bitch in exchange for protection, which was basically the only relationship he knew. While most of their roughness/abuse was for show, it still happened nonetheless. Jaye has built up quite the façade with the tattoos and attitude.

Alaskan State Trooper, Dixon, 32, sees something in Jaye and wants to help him out. Their relationship is a tricky one, but they are drawn to each other as they become more involved.  Jaye, used to the way things were in prison, uses his body to negotiate a contract with Dixon. Jaye will be Dixon’s kept boy/whore, in exchange for Dixon’s protection and care. There is so much more to Jaye than his body though, and Dixon sees all of that as their relationship/trust grows.  They end up realizing they need each other way more than they first thought.

So, it would seem that Jaye is the one who needs saving here, but that ends up not totally being the case. There are two sides to this story, Jaye’s and his relationship/prison issues, and Dixon’s screwed up relationship with his ex, Marcus. They are somewhat similar in that both guys seem to experience some level of Stockholm Syndrome.  Dixon’s issues are much deeper, in my opinion, as he not only deals with his abusive ex but the fact that he somewhat enjoys much of that abuse. He knows Marcus is bad and he has to get him out of his life, but that pull is still very strong, and we get to see that struggle play out quite a bit.

Back to Dixon and Jaye – Whewwwww, do they have some hot kinky scenes! The intensity of their relationship rivals that of the whole story. They have an extreme amount of chemistry, made all the more intense by their poor decisions and miscommunications. Jaye learns there is more to sex than just bending over and taking it, and the two explore quite a few avenues as they work things out, including some toy and role play.

This is one fabulous intense read from beginning almost to the end. There are some tender moments here and there, and while there were a lot of heavy issues going on, there were sweet and happy times as well. These guys each struggle with their own issues, but together, they help each other get past them. I don’t remember thinking the age gap was any big deal, as these guys just really seemed to be a good fit for different reasons.

As I said, it was an intense story, which results in a very fast read. The descriptions and dialog fit very well and gave a total sense of the desolate landscape and life in Alaska. I was a fan of Ms. Kelling before, but this has officially moved her to my auto-read list, and I’m eagerly looking forward to her next offering.

Overall Impression: I loved it!

*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*