REVIEW - HIS HEART'S DESIRE

Author: Penny Brandon
Reviewer: Lucy HEARTS ON FIRE REVIEWS
Publisher: Loose ID
Genre: MM Paranormal
Rating:   FOUR STARS

Summary: As the keeper of a magic mirror that shows those lucky few their one true love, Simon dreams of the day it will show him his, but he never dreamt of a punk-assed kid with ripped jeans and rainbow colored hair. Devastated, Simon tries to push Alex away, refusing to tell him they were fated, but Alex keeps coming back, showing all the signs of a man drawn to his soulmate. Realizing he’s made a terrible mistake, Simon figures the only way to fix it is to be the man Alex wants because Alex is the man Simon needs if he’s ever to have a future.
Never before has Alex fallen so hard for a man who obviously doesn’t like him, but Alex is sure there’s a passionate man beneath Simon’s prickly exterior. Peeling away Simon’s layers is like ripping off a bandaid, but it’s worth it when Alex finally has Simon in his arms. The problem is, though he may have Simon’s body, he doesn’t have his heart, and that’s the part Alex wants most. Until he finds out Simon has lied to him.

Review: Simon is a pretty unhappy, fairly judgmental man who for ten years has been the keeper of the mirror. A special mirror, one that shows people their soulmate, the one they are destined to fall in love with. He’s been waiting ten years for the mirror to show him his own soulmate but it never does. He is starting to get sick of it all when a young man dressed in grunge with rainbow hair is too casual around the antiques in the store and asks why he has seen Simon in the mirror. Oh boy. Simon is so quick to judge Alex based on his clothes. He is also in a snit because he has always wanted the mirror to show him the soulmate, not the other way around.

The whole of this story is Alex and Simon, with the mirror as a background supporting character. At times it is difficult to connect with Simon because he is so very bitter about the mirror showing Alex and he definitely takes it out on Alex, even to the detriment of himself. It was funny to me that Simon treats Alex so atrociously, pushing him away, being rude, refusing to talk, yet if Alex did anything Simon considered poor behavior he was immediately offended. And Alex kept apologizing!

Simon does begin to come around, of course, and we get more of the backstory of how he came to be the keeper of the mirror, really the slave to the mirror at this point. The problem continues in that Simon doesn’t actually tell Alex what the mirror does, so even as Alex is courting him and Simon is beginning to believe, there is that fear in the back of Simon’s head of what will happen if Simon finds out.
This story is very character based and we get to know Simon very much. A little less of Alex, who is drawn to Simon by the mirror and I couldn’t help but wonder at times, would he have wanted Simon without that? There is the issue of Colin, a man who is sees his soulmate in the mirror and definitely is not impressed. This causes yet more questioning on Simon’s part.

I found the story very interesting and I felt for Alex – he feels the pull but doesn’t really understand why. As for Simon, he has a difficult past and has been literally bound to the mirror’s place for ten years, so you can understand things will be difficult.

I would like to thank Lucy from Hearts on Fire Reviews for this wonderful review!

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