Right up front, I need to admit that I read only 36% of this book, not because it wasn't good because it was, but because I wanted to move on to other things. My comments are based on the 36% that I read, and I make them because The Walls Between Hearts is actually a pretty good book.
The book is no more than escapist M/M Romance filled with a lot of graphic sex, but even the most serious book reader needs some of that kind of book on occasion..
There were many things that first attracted me to the book. In the part of the book I did complete, my expectations were met and even exceeded.
I liked the idea that the book dealt with an attraction between two people, who happen to both be men, even in the years of their lives after age 40. In this, the book did not disappoint. People of any age become attracted to each other, desire sex and actually fall in love and form long relationships. This book tells a story about one such relationship.It explores more deeply, however, further by chronicling the passion, desire and wantonness that can and does accompany relationships in mature people. (Frankly, only children believe 40 is old. I'm not old yet and I am 70).
The characters drawn in this novel are made believable because of the challenges they face which are real and familiar to all of us. These include : the loss, through death, of loved ones; the end of relationships through changing times and desires in life; the pain of watching someone we love suffer through cancer; the burdens of financial challenges, the impact of aging on what we can and can no longer enjoy and other real world problems. Each of the primary characters in this novel confronts several of these challenges and the portrayal of this confrontations gives credibility, plausibility and a sense of reality to the book as a whole.
As people age, they may not want as much sex as they once did (or maybe they do), but passion does not die, the intensity of sex within a meaningful relationship does not die, the fulfillment we find in another does not die. People who have lived past 40, or 50, or 70, 80 or more, may not be satisfied with the "quickies" of their younger years, may not find the old techniques and positions as satisfying as they once were and may want to introduce various new approaches to love making, but the drive to join in the most intimate way with another does not die. Probably the only real change is the evolution of the desire of the people from being purely for the excitement and joy os sex to the desire for a richer, more meaningful relationship that also includes sex.
I loved that his book addressed all these things, but in the end, it really is no more than a pretty escapist bit of reading, focused a lot more on the developing relationship and the frequent sex involved with it than on an engaging or complex plot. The writing is skillful and competent, something each of us should demand in a book, but I have simply become ready to turn to more engaging books, some with stronger plots, more literary writing and more opportunities to feel the impact of stories that reach beyond bedrooms and lusty moments. ( )

Right up front, I need to admit that I read only 36% of this book, not because it wasn't good because it was, but because I wanted to move on to other things. My comments are based on the 36% that I read, and I make them because The Walls Between Hearts is actually a pretty good book.
The book is no more than escapist M/M Romance filled with a lot of graphic sex, but even the most serious book reader needs some of that kind of book on occasion..
There were many things that first attracted me to the book. In the part of the book I did complete, my expectations were met and even exceeded.
I liked the idea that the book dealt with an attraction between two people, who happen to both be men, even in the years of their lives after age 40. In this, the book did not disappoint. People of any age become attracted to each other, desire sex and actually fall in love and form long relationships. This book tells a story about one such relationship.It explores more deeply, however, further by chronicling the passion, desire and wantonness that can and does accompany relationships in mature people. (Frankly, only children believe 40 is old. I'm not old yet and I am 70).
The characters drawn in this novel are made believable because of the challenges they face which are real and familiar to all of us. These include : the loss, through death, of loved ones; the end of relationships through changing times and desires in life; the pain of watching someone we love suffer through cancer; the burdens of financial challenges, the impact of aging on what we can and can no longer enjoy and other real world problems. Each of the primary characters in this novel confronts several of these challenges and the portrayal of this confrontations gives credibility, plausibility and a sense of reality to the book as a whole.
As people age, they may not want as much sex as they once did (or maybe they do), but passion does not die, the intensity of sex within a meaningful relationship does not die, the fulfillment we find in another does not die. People who have lived past 40, or 50, or 70, 80 or more, may not be satisfied with the "quickies" of their younger years, may not find the old techniques and positions as satisfying as they once were and may want to introduce various new approaches to love making, but the drive to join in the most intimate way with another does not die. Probably the only real change is the evolution of the desire of the people from being purely for the excitement and joy os sex to the desire for a richer, more meaningful relationship that also includes sex.
I loved that his book addressed all these things, but in the end, it really is no more than a pretty escapist bit of reading, focused a lot more on the developing relationship and the frequent sex involved with it than on an engaging or complex plot. The writing is skillful and competent, something each of us should demand in a book, but I have simply become ready to turn to more engaging books, some with stronger plots, more literary writing and more opportunities to feel the impact of stories that reach beyond bedrooms and lusty moments. ( )

Right up front, I need to admit that I read only 36% of this book, not because it wasn't good because it was, but because I wanted to move on to other things. My comments are based on the 36% that I read, and I make them because The Walls Between Hearts is actually a pretty good book.
The book is no more than escapist M/M Romance filled with a lot of graphic sex, but even the most serious book reader needs some of that kind of book on occasion..
There were many things that first attracted me to the book. In the part of the book I did complete, my expectations were met and even exceeded.
I liked the idea that the book dealt with an attraction between two people, who happen to both be men, even in the years of their lives after age 40. In this, the book did not disappoint. People of any age become attracted to each other, desire sex and actually fall in love and form long relationships. This book tells a story about one such relationship.It explores more deeply, however, further by chronicling the passion, desire and wantonness that can and does accompany relationships in mature people. (Frankly, only children believe 40 is old. I'm not old yet and I am 70).
The characters drawn in this novel are made believable because of the challenges they face which are real and familiar to all of us. These include : the loss, through death, of loved ones; the end of relationships through changing times and desires in life; the pain of watching someone we love suffer through cancer; the burdens of financial challenges, the impact of aging on what we can and can no longer enjoy and other real world problems. Each of the primary characters in this novel confronts several of these challenges and the portrayal of this confrontations gives credibility, plausibility and a sense of reality to the book as a whole.
As people age, they may not want as much sex as they once did (or maybe they do), but passion does not die, the intensity of sex within a meaningful relationship does not die, the fulfillment we find in another does not die. People who have lived past 40, or 50, or 70, 80 or more, may not be satisfied with the "quickies" of their younger years, may not find the old techniques and positions as satisfying as they once were and may want to introduce various new approaches to love making, but the drive to join in the most intimate way with another does not die. Probably the only real change is the evolution of the desire of the people from being purely for the excitement and joy os sex to the desire for a richer, more meaningful relationship that also includes sex.
I loved that his book addressed all these things, but in the end, it really is no more than a pretty escapist bit of reading, focused a lot more on the developing relationship and the frequent sex involved with it than on an engaging or complex plot. The writing is skillful and competent, something each of us should demand in a book, but I have simply become ready to turn to more engaging books, some with stronger plots, more literary writing and more opportunities to feel the impact of stories that reach beyond bedrooms and lusty moments. ( )