THE DEVIL’S HEEL, Keta Diablo

There is a theme in my tag list that I’m not using often, but indeed it’s very popular, the “pirates”; pirates, like sheiks, cowboys and similar dream lovers were very popular among the women who knew about the world only through the books; pirates were of course always men with a noble soul (if not a noble birth) and the perfect lover for a damsel in distress. Of course when we have two men, the balance has to change a bit, but in The Devil’s Heel the change is minimal: Rogan Brockport, nobleman and pirate on the side, is an handsome rogue and he has a quest, to conquer again Drew Hibbard, former lover who dumped him to marry a woman. And also this is not an uncommon situation, in a story that is set at the beginning of the XVIII century, it’s even a common trend.

But Drew is not exactly your typical gay romance hero who surrenders to the society laws (and not only society…): Drew’s betrayal is a reaction to an act of the same nature, he is in love with Rogan, so much that for him is impossible to share. The first impression you have of Drew, from Rogan's point of view, is of an extremely handsome man with a mourning soul; I had the feeling he was also strong, and that Roger had a contendent of his same strength in him; I was building a story around a battle of wills with the winner who was uncertain. But when the reader has the chance to “meet” Drew, you realize that he is a completely different man from Rogan; he is very emotional, easy to take abrupt decision, not always right decision, and more or less a man that tends to be led by other men around him. If you add to this the fact that the sexual relationship with Rogan is a mix of rough and dominant behavior, it’s not surprise that this novella can easily be classify also a breeches ripper, and in this case you have also all the right to do that, since the breeches ripping actually takes place.

One strong point of the story is that, despite being only a novella, it ranges widely, from ballrooms to ships, from bedrooms to cabins, and it introduces also some nice supporting characters. It’s probably a story that is more suitable to the romance lovers than the real historical fiction readers, but as I said at the beginning, the pirate lover is one of the most common in the romance imaginery.

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