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A review by kaje_harper
A Midwinter Prince by Harper Fox
5.0
4.5 stars. This book was released in what seems to have been the author's first year of publication. (Just three years ago - wow, she's done so much good writing in such a short span.) It is a little less crafted, less layered with the gorgeous language that makes a Harper Fox novel something unique, but there are flashes and moments that are stunning. The basic story is a classic, of the rich boy who has material wealth but nothing else good or real in his life, meeting the poor boy who changes his world.
Laurie is an interesting character, a young man with talent and intelligence but who has learned a passive approach to life around his overbearing and volatile father. He's a little absent, feeling colorless when we meet him. The only thing that rouses him to effort and real engagement is protecting and nurturing his younger sister, to whom he is brother and father-figure both. But one cold night he spots a homeless man just about his age, huddled in a doorway, and has a moment of connection that becomes an epiphany. A few days later he tracks Sasha down, and takes him in for the night. And in turn, Sasha unlocks Laurie from the fog of distance in which he is living his life and makes him feel real, urgent and necessary passion within himself, for someone new.
But Sasha is an illegal immigrant with a shady past, and Laurie's father is a bigot and homophobic. Being together isn't simple in any way. The story plays out with a fair bit of drama and unexpected moments of hard-won joy. The plot is eventful, the resolution sweet. Like almost everything this author writes, I read this in one sitting, and will come back to it. Not my favorite Harper Fox, but that bar is very high indeed. Still going on my favorites list, and a reread.
I won a free copy of this book on the M/M group, but I'd been searching for it and would have bought it anyway. I'll read anything Harper Fox cares to write.
Laurie is an interesting character, a young man with talent and intelligence but who has learned a passive approach to life around his overbearing and volatile father. He's a little absent, feeling colorless when we meet him. The only thing that rouses him to effort and real engagement is protecting and nurturing his younger sister, to whom he is brother and father-figure both. But one cold night he spots a homeless man just about his age, huddled in a doorway, and has a moment of connection that becomes an epiphany. A few days later he tracks Sasha down, and takes him in for the night. And in turn, Sasha unlocks Laurie from the fog of distance in which he is living his life and makes him feel real, urgent and necessary passion within himself, for someone new.
But Sasha is an illegal immigrant with a shady past, and Laurie's father is a bigot and homophobic. Being together isn't simple in any way. The story plays out with a fair bit of drama and unexpected moments of hard-won joy. The plot is eventful, the resolution sweet. Like almost everything this author writes, I read this in one sitting, and will come back to it. Not my favorite Harper Fox, but that bar is very high indeed. Still going on my favorites list, and a reread.
I won a free copy of this book on the M/M group, but I'd been searching for it and would have bought it anyway. I'll read anything Harper Fox cares to write.