Kay Ellis

Love-hate relationships are difficult for me to understand, as are people who let themselves be completely led by their emotions. The two come together in Jack, the main character and narrator of this short story. The result is a tornado of angry and frustrated man who, on top of everything else, doesn't want to admit to the feelings he has developed for his best friend, Aaron. And once he admits them to himself, he refuses to tell anyone else (hurting Aaron and himself in the process) because he is afraid of being ridiculed. I have no idea what made him fear not being accepted so much or why he thinks he has to be a "tough guy" all the time; something in his past must have caused it, but from what we find out about his parents and friends, it could not have been them.

Jack has a lot of issues. The list of "can'ts" mentioned in the blurb is long, and he is extremely unhappy. He "can't" even see how much his friends, his coach, and his parents want to help. And even if he did, I doubt he'd want to accept their support. He is too tough to do so. Jack seems to me to be the product of a macho culture gone wrong.

Aaron, the captain of the hockey team Jack loves to play in, loves Jack right back, but for the longest time it looks as if there is no way they can ever be lovers, not "in secret", and definitely not out in the open. I have no idea what makes him see anything in Jack, the man certainly hides it very well. And once Jack does open up, he proceeds right back to hurting Aaron by being unwilling, or unable, to come out.

If you like stories full of explosive emotions between two men, if you enjoy reading about a man who is driven entirely by his gut, his feelings, and his fears, and if you're looking for a read full of passion despite all of that, then you will probably like this short story.



NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.… (altro)

A Hearts On Fire Review

TWO & A HALF STARS--Kay Ellis' is a new author that introduces a friends-to-lovers themed short story titled "Ice Heart" as a contribution to Dreamspinner's Make a Play sports themed anthology. The sport featured in this tale: Hockey!

Set in the UK, Jack and Aaron are friends who socially play on a hockey team. Aaron is out and proud, hockey team captain and seems to have everything he wants except the man he's been crushing on... his straight friend, Jack. Jack is temperamental, renowned for being the 'bad boy' of the team, sleeps around with plenty of the hockey groupies (ladies, of course) and has no problem throwing punches, so much so it gets him in trouble...a lot.

The story starts with a bang and a punch being thrown between the two friends. Why? Let's just say drunken hook up. But the two resolve the issues off the ice and between the sheets. There's one problem, Jack is known as a ladies man and had issues with publicly being in a relationship with another man. In less that 50 pages, Jack makes a decision, or I should say an influenced one - Aaron involves another man (no cheating!) to make Jack see the errors of his ways.

The setup might sound great but there was something that just did not work for me. I don't know if it was Jack's wishy-washiness, Aaron's doormat and conniving ways or the quickness of these two declaring their feelings. The story doesn't span for over a week.

Here's what did not work for me: when adults play games in order to force a person's hand to their favor, in this case start a relationship. Aaron dealt with Jack's issues - the main one being he's straight aka never been with a man aka I'm-in-a-closet-now? Not so sure-I-want-out sort of issue too easily and just took whatever crumbs Jack deemed worthy for him. Jack was kind of a jerk and he didn't even come off as being sincere when seeking forgiveness. Jack knew Aaron would forgive him no matter what he did. I was not a fan of Mr. Jack. Plus Jack just diving straight into the receiving end of anal with no hesitancy...meh...I dunno about that.

Did I hate the story? No. There were parts that weren't as defined as I would have liked it such as the sex. Or maybe Aaron just forgiving Jack so easily when Jack did not prove he was even worthy of forgiveness.

The story has some serviceable elements, the story had potential. I would give this author another shot in the future."… (altro)