The Healing of Idrys

by T.N. Tarrant

Idrys Barber is a lonely, closeted man, whose life is completely ordered and controlled by his parents, until his sister files a complaint with the DA. Add to that, Reilly Lucas invades the dreams that plague him, along with Hadrian Merkel. Hadrian and Reilly meet over a pair of Boston Terrier puppies and a black kitten, dating each other and now they want to include Idrys, but will they convince him it's not a crime to be together with them, or will Idrys' further destroy any chance they have for a good life together?

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Menage, Abuse, M M M, Contemporary, Polyamory

131 pages, Kindle Edition

First published March 2, 2013

About the author

TN is a hardworking single mom living in the wilds of Wyoming who enjoys embarrassing her child with bright red lipstick prints to the forehead. When she isn't embarrassing her child or hunting, killing and dragging groceries home through the snow, she loves to write romantic stories with hot lovers.

Reviews

[Deeze · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe my expectations are too high, but I’m afraid I was left disappointed by this one.

The story line is right up my street. I love an angsty hurt comfort read, but sadly this lacked any real connection to any of the guys.

The way they spoke quickly started to annoy me. There are 3 different men in this book and yet they all spoke in the same way, it became hard to tell just who was who.

As for the big psychotic parents theme, that felt far to easily solved. After years and years of brain washing and conditioning to do as he was told, and all the thoughts we hear in Idrys head when ever he even thought of disobeying them, we then get him stand up to his father after just a few days(week?), without batting an eye. The first time he sees his father after finally making a break and there is no hesitation or second guessing, no traumatic flash back. I’d of maybe assumed he would at least falter a little.

The final scene with the evil mum was way over the top for me and then the way the bitch sister came into it at the end acting exactly like the parents despite her being the one to snitch on them? total over kill.

The animals were cute, if a little too well behaved for their ages, and I did love the idea of the Kitten thinking she was a dog lol.


So while the subject matter was the kind I like to read about. this failed in the telling for me.

[Mandy*reads obsessively* · Rating 4 out of 5]

A ménage and puppies and kittens! Oh boy! :)
ETA, not the story I was expecting, a good story, but not the sexy hot ménage with pets I thought was coming.

The title of this book is very well chosen, Idyrs is definitely in need of healing.
He is an animal control officer and as such comes to the no-kill shelter that Hadrian works at as a vet tech regularly. Hadrian is a flirt but even though he has wanted to get closer to Idrys for years, Idrys is very obviously uncomfortable about his sexuality and so Hadrian leaves it at friendship.
Reilly Lucas is getting over a bad relationship and has decided to finally give in to his long held dream of having dogs. He works shifts and decides it's better to have at least two.
He finds not only two cute puppies with a very attached kitten in need of a home he finds Hadrian. Reilly and Hadrian start a relationship, but within a very short amount of time things in Idrys's life take a drastic turn. Both Reilly and Hadrian find Idrys very attractive and he is also attracted to them, but afraid of what that means for him.
Idrys has been abused, brainwashed, physically and mentally mistreated, stalked and is under constant surveillance by his parents. I would like to believe that this was all over the top and doesn't really happen, but I'm actually pretty sure such things occur, so I went with it.
His parents beat him while quoting bible verses of the evils of homosexuality to him at 15 and had him sexually assaulted in college. They still monitor his phone, his banking and Internet usage, even though he is an adult and has a successful career but due to their treatment of him over years he doesn't even know how to attempt an escape from their clutches.
As I mentioned things take a drastic turn, but it allows him to start freeing himself and seek treatment. Idrys has a lot of baggage and it's not glossed over, no magical healing dicks, he needs therapy and he knows it. It takes time, this isn't like the usual ménage stories I read, no sex fest here, there are some sexual scenes but few and far between.
All three get a POV, but Reilly and Idrys have such sad backstories, hard to read at times, I liked that Hadrian was so shocked at how they were treated by their parents he actually sent two gift baskets to his parents as a thank you.
While there was a love story and a romantic relationship is formed between the three men, I found it to be more of a healing and moving forward for Idrys from a dark place with the support and understanding of his men and therapists.
If you are looking for a big hurt-comfort story with three really nice guys, a few furbabies, evil families causing drama and then getting their due, and a very hopeful happy ending, this might be the one to get.

[Heller · Rating 3 out of 5]

This would have be a much higher rating for me if the story hadn't gotten so melodramatic near the end. I felt incredibly bad for Idrys, he really went through hell with his family. I liked how Reilly and Hadrian helped him and got help for him. There was great sexual chemistry between all of them and I could really see them in a long term loving and healthy relationship because they worked hard to make that happen.

[Karen · Rating 2 out of 5]

Let's talk about things that are flat...

or we could just talk about this book.

So this was the book blurb:
Idrys Barber is a lonely, closeted man, whose life is completely ordered and controlled by his parents, until his sister files a complaint with the DA. Add to that, Reilly Lucas invades the dreams that plague him, along with Hadrian Merkel. Hadrian and Reilly meet over a pair of Boston Terrier puppies and a black kitten, dating each other and now they want to include Idrys, but will they convince him it's not a crime to be together with them, or will Idrys' father destroy any chance they have for a good life together?

Sounds good right? Well I certainly thought it did so I was expecting a story that would knock my socks off. The potential, oh my god!!! What more could you want kittens, puppies, hot sexy men who love and want to protect those kittens and puppies, only to discover they also want to love and protect each other especially Idrys because HOLY-HELL-IS-HIS-FAMILY-FUCKED-UP!!!! I'm talking seriously dangerous crazy.

Now all I needed to make this work were characters that made it past being as flat as the ones in this book. I just didn't feel it. This book should have been drowning in feels and emotions and for me they just weren't there. I so wanted to feel the rage at Idrys's family and towards the system that failed not only Idrys but Reilly. I wanted to love Hadrian because he should have been cute and adorable with a surprising spine of steel when it came to his lovers and the animals he cared for. In my head I'm sure this is the type of person that the author wanted us to see, I just didn't feel it in my heart. Honestly I didn't feel any of the justifiable anger and rage or the excitement and passion and compassion that this book seemed to be trying to elicit from the reader.

So at the end of it all I was left with 2 1/2 stars for this book 1 because I did finish reading it and 1 more because as I said earlier the concept was good and 1/2 star because did you see that cover the puppies and kitten alone were worth the 1/2 star but what really got the 1/2 star from me was the fact that I could look at that cover and give a name to each of the men because they fit the physical image the author gave me of the story's MCs.

[Vfields Don't touch my happy! · Rating 3 out of 5]

Missed Chances This is a book I'm not going to knock hard. Why because I think T.N. Tarrant had some good ideas. Three men come together at an animal rescue center. The story is propelled around the adoption of three 'furbabies' - an incredibly over used phrase. Two Boston Terriers and a kitten. Sounds good so far but Tarrant needed to make one serious decision. Was this book going to be a warm & fuzzy read or a hardcore, deep developing tale. The subject matter screamed for a serious heavy story about a broken man who is healed by these two other men. It just got silly and weak and was overwhelmed with wasted opportunities. Keep writing and stay simple.

[Thomaidha Papa · Rating 4 out of 5]

4 Hearts

Review written for MM Good Book Reviews

http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com/

Reilly is a lonely man. After a bad breakup he is left in a big house all alone and needing to fill his life with creatures that would love him unconditionally he decides to adopt two dogs. What he finds in the animal shelter though is much more. During the process of adopting two gorgeous pups and a kitten he falls for the flirtatious vet tech Hadrian.

Hadrian has an instant lust experience with Reilly but what hits him more is the image of being sandwiched between Reilly’s and Idrys’ arms. Idrys is an animal control officer that has captured Hadrian’s heart for years, but his closeted life in utterly unapproachable. As much as Hadrian fantasizes the three of them together he knows that will not happen.

Now this story is a little bit complex in the beginning. Honestly I couldn’t see how on earth the three men would come together the way it started. Hadrian is the over-exuberant type, Reilly is the guy that indulges him and always finds him cute, but Idrys is such a complicated character. While there is instant attraction between them all, the fact that Idrys past and present are horrible has everything standing by in cold wait.

It is Idrys’ life that left me with these great emotions of disbelief, anger, frustration and some more anger. This character has been abused forever from his family. His father beat him constantly for being gay while his mother read passages from the Bible. They not only brainwashed him into believing that being gay is evil and wrong, not only made their controlling his life seem normal, they literally destroyed every chance Idrys might have to happiness. The cruelty Idrys suffered is beyond my imagination. I had trouble believing that what is described in this book could ever be real, but then again there have been cases of more horror that have occasionally see the light, so I turned down my incredulity and kept reading.

What I read was a lovely love story between three men who cared for each other and stood strong and by each other’s side through some very ugly and disturbing events. While it took a wild turn toward drama the plot was intoxicating in a way that I couldn’t stop reading it. I loved how the author approached Idrys’ healing, I loved how everything was considered and not rushed. If you think this is your classic ménage with hot steamy sex than you couldn’t be more wrong. There are some very sensual scenes in the book but what marks this story are feelings and emotions.

In the end it is a very sad story with an amazing end and a great writing if not a bit dramatic. I strongly recommend it if you like contemporary romance. Grab a box of tissues and dive in.

Thommie.

[Cathy Brockman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hadrian is a vet tech that works in a no kill shelter he loves his job. He also loves Idrys the hot Animal control officer but Idrys is very closeted and has good reason to be. His parents are controlling and were abusive. Reilly has gotten out of a relationship and now can finally have a dog or two. He goes to the shelter and meets Hadrian and the two hit it off well and become involved. Reilly recognizes that Idrys has issues and knows what they are from experience and the three men become friends.
This story is so sad yet so beautiful. What Reilly and Idrys have went through was horrendous but the love that Hadrian has for them both is so sweet. The way the story is told weaving the friendships and the backgrounds with the mystery and intrigue helps pace the story and it has some humorous sides that help to keep the sadness from weighing you down. It’s a beautiful love story! I highly recommend this one.
Recommendations: If you like animals, Policemen, ménage, mystery, sad stories, sweet love and romance give this one a try.

[Marsha Spence · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! The MC's were easy to believe and I wanted to murder Idrys' family myself. Very well done!

[Kelsey · Rating 3 out of 5]

As some of you have figured out, I quite like reading ménage books. Especially well written ménage books. I was really hesitant about reading this because I find books where authors use dogs to lure people in annoying. Sort of like “I’ll put a cute puppy in here and everyone will like it better!” Except that’s not what happened in this. Thankfully. Although I was getting twitchy with the amount of “furbabies” there were. *gags*
I found the whole story, both the issues with Idrys’ parents and the relationship between Hadrian, Reilly, and Idrys a bit, ok a lot, far-fetched. Everything was too easily wrapped up in a neat little bow and everyone loved everyone by the end. I also had a hard time believing Idrys’ issues were so easily resolved. That being said, it was an enjoyable read but had the potential to be so much more. I think that’s more of a personal issue than a writing issue.

[Katy Beth Mckee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Idrys' story is so full of conflict. It was an emotional book to read. For someone to be so stunted by the actions of their parents and the betrayal of a sibling. I think the neatest thing was Hadrain's external reaction was to send his parents flowers because he suddenly realized how very lucky he was. Reilly is such a strong guy he'd been through so much personally and yet had so much to give. The three of them just really compliment one another and even though you didn't get to see I'm sure Hadrain's parents will end up loving on all of them.

[~RMG · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars - I didn't like Idrys much and thought he was a bit of a crybaby. I know, I know, he had familial trauma, but still, way too much of a crier. Sorry, but, although I like some vulnerability in the men I read about, Idrys's reaction to his past was a little too much for me.

[jules0623 · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars. Kind of bland with moments of over-the-top melodrama.

[atmatos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a whole hell of a lot better than I thought it was going to be!

Now off to go buy it!