Genre: Contemporary
LGBTQ+ Category: Gay, Bisexual
Reviewer: Maryann
Get It On Amazon
About The Book
When was the right time to tell someone that silver flames were shooting from their hair? And that your own tranquil green desired nothing more than to tangle with them, if only it could escape a malevolent orange flare hounding your every move?
Over-stressed businessman Charles Heyer is not like most people. With a rare medical condition that scrambles the senses, he experiences emotions as flashes of colour, giving them the power to disrupt, dismay, or delight. Alone in his over-vivid world, a devastating bereavement leaves him mentally scarred and recuperating on the picturesque French island of Ré where, through a chance encounter and a good deed, he is introduced to Florian, a flirty local salt farmer.
What with trying to protect the island salt cooperative from a corporate takeover and keeping a watchful eye on his errant grandfather, handsome Florian is not as carefree as he appears. Falling in love with this odd Englishman is as unexpected as it is welcome. Both exploring new feelings, the lazy days of summer stretch out for miles until a visitor from Charles’s London life throws their peaceful idyll into a kaleidoscope of chaos. And, all of a sudden, the island’s glorious palette of colour turns several shades darker.
The Review
Charles Heyer, at thirty-nine, has come to Loix, France to recover from the mental breakdown he had after the death of his mother. She suffered from synaesthesia, the association of colors with one’s senses, and it lead to a tragic ending. Charles knows how his mother felt – he has the same syndrome, and fears his ending will be the same as his mother’s.
He’s rented a house and lives alone, and is just trying to survive day by day. Living on Loix is good for him – his life and health are improving and he’s even started drawing again. The move also got him away from fast pace of London, his business partner Marcus, and a high pressure job.
Florian is in his late twenties, and lives with his Papi, (grandfather), Gilberte. Papi is eighty-two and is battling dementia, and at times it’s frustrating for Florian. They both lost the love of their lives, grandmother Beatrice. Florian has inherited the salt fields. Papi had started them as a very young man and the property has remained in the family for fifty years. It’s an everyday job for him.
In tourist season, he gives a little tour of how the salt field works, and also has little pouches of the best salt “flour de sel” available for a small donation. Florian is enthusiastic about his work and seems carefree, but he carries a heavy load of responsibility.
When Charles meets Florian, something sparks, and a relationship starts to grow between them. Florian finds himself caught in a dispute about SELCO’s proposal that could make salt farms a cooperative, turning the salt farmers’ work into a big business and threatening the freedom and the future of their families. Charles is a lifesaver – he’s a numbers cruncher, and gives some quality advice to Florian.
Charles starts to think he’s getting better, and with pressure from Marcus, he returns to London. The go go go world of London and the pressures of his job soon drag him back into a dark place. Florian has to make a decision that could help or destroy what he had with Charles. Is it all too late, or is there a way to get back what they had with each other?
The author immerses readers in Liox, a small island in France, and introduces us to the salt fields, salt pyramids, and how the finest salt is processed. It’s also clear that she did a lot of research into how cooperatives work, and the dangers that can arise from this business model. In simplest of terms, I got a French lesson, learned about the processing of salt, cooperatives, handling grief and serious medical conditions.
I also need to mention some important secondary characters: Jerome and Lea, who have there own life with new beginnings. The lonely policeman Julien, who has a crush on Florian. Then there’s Nico, who worked the families oyster beds. He always had a smirk for Florian and advice to give him. Nico is a mystery in and of himself.
It also fascinated me seeing how Charles’ synesthesia became a destructive force. The brilliant descriptions of Charles’ color senses were stunning and easy to visualize. There’s also Florian’s father’s dementia and the loss of a loved one, and how Charles deals with the loss of his mother. Florian is the silver spark who introduces Charles to a special romance, and changes his life in the process.
Hill has created a truly romantic, heartbreaking and uplifting novel in this book. Her writing superbly beautiful, and proves that French is the language of love and romance. I highly recommend Salt, the first outstanding novel in the “Island Love” series. I’ve read a couple of Fearne Hill’s books before, but this one is by far the most wonderfully romantic story, and it goes right for your heart.
Hopefully this summer, Hill will give her readers Nico’s story. I’ll be following the “Island Love” series!
The Reviewer
Hi, I’m Maryann, I started life in New York, moved to New Hampshire and in 1965 uprooted again to Sacramento, California. Once I retired I moved to West Palm Beach, Florida in 2011 and just moved back to Sacramento in March of 2018. My son, his wife and step-daughter flew out to Florida and we road tripped back so they got to see sights they have never seen. New Orleans and the Grand Canyon were the highlights. Now I am back on the west coast again to stay! From a young age Ialways liked to read.
I remember going to the library and reading the “Doctor Dolittle” books by Hugh Lofting. Much later on became a big fan of the classics, Edgar Alan Poe, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker and as time went by Agatha Christie, Ray Bradbury and Stephen Kingand many other authors.
My first M/M shifter book I read was written by Jan Irving the “Uncommon Cowboys” series from 2012. She was the first author I ever contacted and sent an email to letting her know how much I liked this series. Sometime along the way I read “Zero to the Bone”by Jane Seville, I think just about everyone has read this book!
As it stands right now I’m really into mysteries, grit, gore and “triggers” don’t bother me. But if a blurb piques my interest I will read the book.
My kindle collection eclectic and over three thousand books and my Audible collection is slowly growing. I have both the kindle and audible apps on my ipod, ipads, and MAC. So there is never an excuse not to be listening or reading.
I joined Goodreads around 2012 and started posting reviews. One day a wonderful lady, Lisa Horan of The Novel Approach, sent me an email to see if I wanted to join her review group. Joining her site was such an eye opener. I got introduce to so many new authors that write for the LGBTQ genre. Needless to say, it was heart breaking when it ended.
But I found a really great site, QRI and it’s right here in Sacramento. Last year at QSAC I actually got to meet Scott Coatsworth, Amy Lane and Jeff Adams.
