Book Reviews: Heartaches: Bad Boy Vibes by H.M. Irwing

Trigger Warning: The subject of this review, Heartaches: Bad Boy Vibes by H.M. Irwing, depicts detailed sexual scenes and rape. If you are under 18 years of age, are triggered by such depictions, or otherwise wish to avoid them, proceed with caution.

I’m just going to say this now, over the next few days I’ll be bombarding you with several book reviews. I’ve been sick over the last week—I’m still sick, in fact—and so I’m a bit backlogged. C’est la vie, what can you do? Anyway, three of the books I’m reviewing today, including the one for this post, are part of a romance trilogy called Heartaches: Bad Boy Vibes by H.M. Irwing. Fittingly, that is also the title of the first book in the trilogy, which is at the heart of this review.

Anna Walters-Simmons has just lost her stepfather. For her and her mother, it’s no big loss; the abusive bastard had been nothing but trouble for the past eleven years. Unfortunately, his death has brought another trouble into their lives: Brian, Anna’s stepbrother who, for reasons still unclear, murdered his own father. When one of the few shimmers of goodness in Anna’s life—her boyfriend, Matt—rapes her, how will she survive the darkness these problems stir within her?

Rafe Brown has just returned from his post in the Australian Army in Syria. While glad to be home with his aging dog and Aunt Bella, many disturbing memories weigh heavily on his heart from both his military days and his childhood. He seems lost, trying desperately to not be sucked into the black abyss by these memories—and then he meets her. Anna Walters-Simmons, the daughter of his aunt’s best friend. He sees in her the same turmoil he sees in himself, and he is bound and determined to help her where no one would help him. But can he help her? Will she let him? And what will become of these two damaged souls when they come together?

I’m not going to lie, this book was not what I expected when I read the title. Don’t worry; that’s a good thing. It’s much deeper and more emotionally-complex than I had thought from a title with the phrase “bad boy vibes” in it. Honestly, whenever I see “bad boys” in the title of a romance novel, I assume that it will just be about a young woman falling in love with a “bad boy” that breaks her heart, a trope which I’m personally tired of. Fortunately, Irwing did not pursue that path with her work.

The variety and psychological complexity of the characters really took me by surprise. My favorite characters are, predictably, Anna and Rafe, although Anna’s future best friend Pat comes pretty close. These three characters are all outcasts but in very different ways, and they each have tortured pasts with which I could easily empathize. I didn’t find any character really like me in this novel, but for once I didn’t need to in order to connect with and care about the outcome. It’s very rare that a book can make me care so much about characters with which I have very little in common.

The plot had more twists and turns than I usually find in romance novels. (Although, I must admit, I’ve been finding more and more books in the romance genre that have surprised me in this way.) Of course, some of these twists took on the feel of a soap opera at points, the coincidences being a little hard to bear. Regardless, the development of Rafe and Anna’s relationship overrode this strain on my suspension-of-disbelief enough for me to continue with the book.

The subject of this novel—namely, rape—will be hard for some readers to handle. It is vividly depicted, as are the conflicting emotions which follow. As with most books covering this subject, readers might disagree with how rape victims are depicted. Still, each victim in real life is affected differently by their experiences, and I think that Irwing does well in capturing two kinds of rape victims, the confused/unsure and the determined.

I am personally not very comfortable with how the writer describes the effects the date rape drug had on Anna–i.e. made her enjoy it–or her own admittance that there are times when she’s turned on by the men who raped her. It really made the feminist in me rage, declaring that a woman would not feel that way and that it’s victim-blaming. However, Irwing also describes the psychology behind these claims, mostly that Matt was the first man to ever make Anna feel wanted. Irwing also goes out of her way to make sure that Rafe, at least, lets Anna know it was not her fault and that what the Prestons do is wrong, so my feelings on the entire matter are mixed.

What I think sets this book apart from other fictional books about rape—about romance, even—is that it’s not only a woman who undergoes such torment. A male character does as well, although I won’t say which one to avoid spoilers. Still, I think that is important for me to mention because I think that modern readers will be just as interested by that angle as they are by the angle of female struggles following tragedy.

At around 278 pages, this book isn’t a short read. I also found it necessary to take many breaks as Anna’s and Rafe’s inner struggles—and their struggles with each other—got to me. (Side note: this book might be hard for those with big hearts as these characters go through a lot, both individually and together.) However, as with a lot of good fiction in this genre, the writing allows the reading experience to be quicker than one would suspect from the page length.

A word of warning to my American readers: this book takes place in Australia and Irwing writes in the Queen’s English. Therefore, American readers might not be familiar with some of the minor grammatical conventions and idioms used throughout the book. Frankly, I was thrown off at some points as I tried to decide if something was actually a proofreading error or just a difference between Queen’s English and American English. Overall, these differences aren’t too obvious and so should not be too distracting for American readers; I just want them to be aware of possible differences ahead of time.

Still, not all of what I thought to be errors could be brushed off as changes between two regional forms of English. Some are just proofreading errors. Nevertheless, these errors are not so frequent as to detract from the overall quality of the writing. A little more proofreading would just help polish the writing.

All in all, I really enjoyed this book. It sometimes lagged at the beginning of the book, but these dips were soon counteracted by tension and emotional action. Some readers will be uncomfortable with the topic, but that’s the risk we take when we write about something so real. Suffice to say, if you’re looking for a romance which is more than a romance, which about kindred spirits finding each other, you’ll want to read Irwing’s book.

You can buy Heartaches: Bad Boy Vibes by H.M. Irwing as an eBook or in paperback on Amazon. Don’t forget to check out Irwing’s website for more information on this series, her other works, and her blog.

Do you know of a book I should read? E-mail me at thewritersscrapbin@gmail.com and let me know!