Keeping Karma

Title: Keeping Karma
Author: Tory Temple
Publisher: Torquere Press
Publisher URL: http://www.torquerebooks.com/
ISBN: 978-1-60370-680-3
Genre: Contemporary, M/M, Erotic, Paranormal
Rating: 4.5 Nymphs
Literary Nymphs Reviewer: Caen Nymph

Alex and his twin sister have a secret; they can hear animals talk. His powers come in handy whilst working at an animal shelter, but there’s also comes with a downside; the nasty migraines. One night, animal control officer Dylan comes in with an injured fawn but not only does he leave the fawn to the care of the shelter, he also leaves Alex his number.

Alex and Dylan soon follow into a comfortable pattern; both enjoying each other’s company. However will Dylan ever be ready to accept that Alex can hear the thoughts of animals?

I think people will find themselves having a hard time criticising Keeping Karma. The story is pure and utter fluff but one that is written well, with sweet heroes and even sweeter animals. One thing I find about stories that focus on animals is that they come off as pure and utter cheese. I’m an animal lover myself, but I don’t necessarily want my reading pleasure to focus on furry animals for oh-so-many pages. Luckily for me, Tory Temple not only makes her animals relevant, she also makes them original and hilarious. Usually when you think of secondary characters, they are always human; here the author manages to make her critters her secondary characters, and ones that I’ve come to adore completely.

The premise is sweet and undemanding and the prose moves at a lovely pace. However, I was left upset with the ending. The story finished rather abruptly and I found it a tad anticlimactic. This was a shame because if the author had just added another scene to break up the previous scene and the conclusion, it would have come together much better.

I found Alex to be a sweet, loving and tender character. I really would have loved some more back story on his “Dr. Dolittle” abilities because the author didn’t really delve much into his powers – other than him having this ability since he was young. It was rather evasive and I find that if the author puts a little more emphasis on that area, it would have helped build the paranormal element some more. Dylan was a mystery; I was attracted to him but the author never explained anything about him and, like Alex in the end, I knew nothing about him. Which brings me to another point, Dylan meets Alex’s sister, he even learns about Alex’s secret – however Alex (and the reader) know next to nothing about Dylan. This fact alone makes it hard to believe in their relationship.

Keeping Karma is a lovely story even though I did have some problems with the world building and the characterisation of Dylan. However, I think Tory Temple fans will enjoy this piece.