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Muscle Bound
Unlike so many of his gay buddies who fantasized about finding a dream lover, Chase Hyde had no plans to settle down. Being in top shape allowed him to cruise West Hollywood for exhilarating muscle sex with one hot bodybuilder after the next. A devout, self-acknowledged "roamosexual", his foremost objection to settling down was that having a partner would take him off the market. So even if love was never in the air, lust was always just around the corner. Chase expected to continue his carefree lifestyle until, through a correspondence in cyberspace, he met Hunter Rowe, an up-and-coming Madison Avenue advertising executive and fellow bodybuilder who pined for a long-term relationship. Driven by their passion for muscle, the two men form an instant, powerful connection and dive into an intense, long-distance love affair.Neither Chase nor Hunter can imagine the twists of fate that await in Muscle-Bound, a passionate tale about the turbulent pursuit of sexual conquest set against the world of muscle obsession, gym addiction and steroid abuse.
- GenresM M RomanceFiction
364 pages, Paperback
First published January 30, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
October 16, 2010
Warning—CONTAINS SPOILERS
Chase Hyde is a forty-nine year old bodybuilder, in perfect physical condition, who fancies himself as a “roamosexual”. Unapologetically he seeks other muscular sex partners for one-night stands which focus purely on the physical, painstakingly avoiding all emotional attachment. Chase has been twice-burned in the romance department, and he remains very guarded of his feelings. When he meets Hunter Rowe through an online muscle-worship website, he’s under the impression that their connection will be nothing more than a casual sexual rendezvous.
Hunter Rowe is a thirty-something advertizing executive from New York. Highly emotional and a self-identified sexual submissive, Hunter is seeking a long term relationship with a dominant, muscular Daddy. Hunter is himself a bodybuilder, in perfect shape. When he and Chase hook up for the first time, he rather quickly falls head-over-heels, and he embarks upon pursuing his dream lover.
As the trans-continental relationship begins to heat up, both men become increasingly more serious about each other. Eventually they vacation together in Hawaii on a dream getaway where they profess their devotion to one another and establish a pseudo-matrimonial covenant. Almost immediately, things begin to go south for the couple as they start to realize their honeymoon is over. Once they begin noticing characteristics within each other that are irritating and annoying, they each start to question the degree of their commitment. Eventually they must decide if the relationship is worth fighting for, or if it had been mere romantic fantasy.
The writing: David Marlow writes a flourishing, eloquent prose which is rich with intelligent, colorful vocabulary. His descriptions are vivid, peppered with rare superlatives and countless polysyllabic modifiers. My initial impression of this verbosity was that he was either an exceptionally brilliant linguist with an enormous vocabulary, or I was just plain dumb. Being an avid reader myself, I was surprised at how frequently I had to stop and look up the meaning of his often grandiloquent adjectives. Although I enjoy tackling a challenging read from time to time, the constant and unnecessary use of such anomalous and verbose vocabulary grew tiresome. I wondered exactly who his target audience was while writing this novel. College professors, perhaps?
There is no question that his verbiage is remarkable. Not only is his vocabulary expansive, but he employs a kaleidoscope of colorful verbs which seem to flow together naturally and compel the action of the story ever forward. Marlow is a gifted writer, certainly neither lacking intellect nor talent. Perhaps my quibble with his loquacious dialogue has more to do with my own limitations as a reader. Certainly there is an educational benefit to reading his work. (I now know more words than I did before I began reading this book!)
The most interesting aspect of Marlow’s writing style is the manner in which he uses the third person omniscient narrative. Most books today which are written in third person use a limited point of view to describe the thoughts and feelings of a single character during any particular scene. This has become so common, in fact, that when an author deviates from this practice he/she is generally said to be guilty of “head hopping”. Third person omniscient allows an author to explore the thoughts and feelings of all characters as they interact with one another.
My initial reaction to these constant point-of-view shifts was to bristle. I have become so accustomed to reading stories in which point-of-view is rigidly contained to the mind of one central character, that it felt foreign to me. However, based upon Marlow’s writing credentials, I had to surmise that he chose this descriptive method quite deliberately. Once I was used to it, I didn’t feel it was in any way confusing, and I wish that other authors would be so bold as to follow his example. It just makes more sense to me that an author would know the thoughts and feelings of all his characters and would want to express them while the action was occurring.
The Sex: The romantic and sexual scenes within the book are arguably the book’s strongest asset. The erotica was sizzling hot, and at times it seemed to veer into the classification of a “one-handed read”. I have no complaints about this whatsoever, for in my opinion the only thing better than delicious erotica is well-written delicious erotica. And believe me, this was a tasty treat!
The Story: The plot pretty much had me from the beginning, as I sort of have a thing for dominant, muscular guys who are a bit cocky. Chase Hyde is exactly that, and essentially this book is the story of Chase. Although his arrogance and narrow-minded viewpoints concerning gender roles and simply the mere definition of manhood were moderately annoying, these attitudes seemed befitting of the character. In the beginning, the author described how Chase was solely attracted to other muscular guys, and when one of his friends got off on being worshipped and admired by less-buff admirers, Chase found this extremely unappealing.
Initially I expected that the story would delve into the Dom/sub nature of Chase and Hunter’s relationship, but as it turned out, this seemed to be more of a sexual fetish than an actual lifestyle. The irony was that in many ways it was Hunter who proved to be more dominant. He’s the one who aggressively pursued Chase. He lavished Chase with attention and gifts and even funded a dreamy (and expensive) getaway vacation to Hawaii. Hunter seemed to be trying to manipulate his mature lover to play a role which would satisfy Hunter’s wildest fantasies.
The plot of the story is strangely interrupted by a one-hundred-forty page flashback of the previous relationship of Chase and his former lover Christian. Obviously this back story is intended to provide a history for Chase and to flesh out exactly who this character is and why he has become the “roamosexual” that he is today. Honestly, though, this back story could easily have been a book of its own, and it felt to me more like a tangent. I didn’t really care about Christian’s childhood or marriage to his first wife, nor about the strange and creepy relationship that he had with his former sugar daddy. All of these sub-plot elements occurred prior to Christian even meeting Chase, and their relationship of course occurred prior to Chase and Hunter. Basically the book contained a main story, a back story, and a back story of the back story.
So what began as an extremely captivating read for me, became somewhat confusing and unfocused. When the story eventually returned to the main plot, I had all but forgotten the affection and admiration that I initially had felt for the central characters because I had been reading so long about an entirely different relationship. It was at this point that I just wanted to return to the romance between Chase and his boy, but instead this is when everything went sour for the couple. They began fighting with one another and had a series of squabbles followed by a very inappropriate instance of infidelity.
Ultimately the story concludes not with a reconciliation but rather a revenge fantasy. Chase is so devastated by how horribly Hunter has treated him that he crafts a masterful plan to exact retribution. My sincerest hope was that both of the characters at some point would have an epiphany and see how shallow their obsession with the physical really was, and that they would ultimately realize that love is worth fighting for.
So then when all of my expectations and hope for a happy ending are cruelly dashed, I still cling to a sliver of hopeful possibility. Perhaps Chase will find the happiness which I yearn for him to have. Perhaps he will reconcile with Christian, and in so doing this huge “tangent” within the midst of the book will at least have had a genuine purpose. Chase and Christian do meet again, but it is all for naught. Chase chooses his egocentric muscle obsession over a relationship. WHAT???!!
The message: My sincere hope is that the author wrote this story not as an attempt to glorify hedonism and carnality, but rather as an expose’. I hope that his message is that the character within an individual is far more attractive and significant than the packaging. Honestly, though, I’m not entirely sure if this is what he believes. Perhaps it is up to the reader to draw his/her own conclusion.
One could argue that Chase chose his own sense of worth over the entrapments of a traditional relationship, but I never got the feeling that he’d actually realized why it was that his relationships had always gone off track in the first place. Chase seemed to be more concerned with the fear that his sex partner would grow love handles than that he might not ever connect in any long term, meaningful way. I wanted him to love and embrace his passion for physical fitness in a healthy and positive way, but to not allow this obsession to become an elitist form of exclusion in which he constantly judged others.
Well, right or wrong, that is the message I gleaned from the story. I know it may seem cliché, but I sincerely believe that beauty is skin deep, or in this case … muscle deep?
It’s an interesting book, and I encourage you to read it. Great sex and amazing writing… just be wary of the fact that it is not guaranteed to provide you the typical HEA ending.
Chase Hyde is a forty-nine year old bodybuilder, in perfect physical condition, who fancies himself as a “roamosexual”. Unapologetically he seeks other muscular sex partners for one-night stands which focus purely on the physical, painstakingly avoiding all emotional attachment. Chase has been twice-burned in the romance department, and he remains very guarded of his feelings. When he meets Hunter Rowe through an online muscle-worship website, he’s under the impression that their connection will be nothing more than a casual sexual rendezvous.
Hunter Rowe is a thirty-something advertizing executive from New York. Highly emotional and a self-identified sexual submissive, Hunter is seeking a long term relationship with a dominant, muscular Daddy. Hunter is himself a bodybuilder, in perfect shape. When he and Chase hook up for the first time, he rather quickly falls head-over-heels, and he embarks upon pursuing his dream lover.
As the trans-continental relationship begins to heat up, both men become increasingly more serious about each other. Eventually they vacation together in Hawaii on a dream getaway where they profess their devotion to one another and establish a pseudo-matrimonial covenant. Almost immediately, things begin to go south for the couple as they start to realize their honeymoon is over. Once they begin noticing characteristics within each other that are irritating and annoying, they each start to question the degree of their commitment. Eventually they must decide if the relationship is worth fighting for, or if it had been mere romantic fantasy.
The writing: David Marlow writes a flourishing, eloquent prose which is rich with intelligent, colorful vocabulary. His descriptions are vivid, peppered with rare superlatives and countless polysyllabic modifiers. My initial impression of this verbosity was that he was either an exceptionally brilliant linguist with an enormous vocabulary, or I was just plain dumb. Being an avid reader myself, I was surprised at how frequently I had to stop and look up the meaning of his often grandiloquent adjectives. Although I enjoy tackling a challenging read from time to time, the constant and unnecessary use of such anomalous and verbose vocabulary grew tiresome. I wondered exactly who his target audience was while writing this novel. College professors, perhaps?
There is no question that his verbiage is remarkable. Not only is his vocabulary expansive, but he employs a kaleidoscope of colorful verbs which seem to flow together naturally and compel the action of the story ever forward. Marlow is a gifted writer, certainly neither lacking intellect nor talent. Perhaps my quibble with his loquacious dialogue has more to do with my own limitations as a reader. Certainly there is an educational benefit to reading his work. (I now know more words than I did before I began reading this book!)
The most interesting aspect of Marlow’s writing style is the manner in which he uses the third person omniscient narrative. Most books today which are written in third person use a limited point of view to describe the thoughts and feelings of a single character during any particular scene. This has become so common, in fact, that when an author deviates from this practice he/she is generally said to be guilty of “head hopping”. Third person omniscient allows an author to explore the thoughts and feelings of all characters as they interact with one another.
My initial reaction to these constant point-of-view shifts was to bristle. I have become so accustomed to reading stories in which point-of-view is rigidly contained to the mind of one central character, that it felt foreign to me. However, based upon Marlow’s writing credentials, I had to surmise that he chose this descriptive method quite deliberately. Once I was used to it, I didn’t feel it was in any way confusing, and I wish that other authors would be so bold as to follow his example. It just makes more sense to me that an author would know the thoughts and feelings of all his characters and would want to express them while the action was occurring.
The Sex: The romantic and sexual scenes within the book are arguably the book’s strongest asset. The erotica was sizzling hot, and at times it seemed to veer into the classification of a “one-handed read”. I have no complaints about this whatsoever, for in my opinion the only thing better than delicious erotica is well-written delicious erotica. And believe me, this was a tasty treat!
The Story: The plot pretty much had me from the beginning, as I sort of have a thing for dominant, muscular guys who are a bit cocky. Chase Hyde is exactly that, and essentially this book is the story of Chase. Although his arrogance and narrow-minded viewpoints concerning gender roles and simply the mere definition of manhood were moderately annoying, these attitudes seemed befitting of the character. In the beginning, the author described how Chase was solely attracted to other muscular guys, and when one of his friends got off on being worshipped and admired by less-buff admirers, Chase found this extremely unappealing.
Initially I expected that the story would delve into the Dom/sub nature of Chase and Hunter’s relationship, but as it turned out, this seemed to be more of a sexual fetish than an actual lifestyle. The irony was that in many ways it was Hunter who proved to be more dominant. He’s the one who aggressively pursued Chase. He lavished Chase with attention and gifts and even funded a dreamy (and expensive) getaway vacation to Hawaii. Hunter seemed to be trying to manipulate his mature lover to play a role which would satisfy Hunter’s wildest fantasies.
The plot of the story is strangely interrupted by a one-hundred-forty page flashback of the previous relationship of Chase and his former lover Christian. Obviously this back story is intended to provide a history for Chase and to flesh out exactly who this character is and why he has become the “roamosexual” that he is today. Honestly, though, this back story could easily have been a book of its own, and it felt to me more like a tangent. I didn’t really care about Christian’s childhood or marriage to his first wife, nor about the strange and creepy relationship that he had with his former sugar daddy. All of these sub-plot elements occurred prior to Christian even meeting Chase, and their relationship of course occurred prior to Chase and Hunter. Basically the book contained a main story, a back story, and a back story of the back story.
So what began as an extremely captivating read for me, became somewhat confusing and unfocused. When the story eventually returned to the main plot, I had all but forgotten the affection and admiration that I initially had felt for the central characters because I had been reading so long about an entirely different relationship. It was at this point that I just wanted to return to the romance between Chase and his boy, but instead this is when everything went sour for the couple. They began fighting with one another and had a series of squabbles followed by a very inappropriate instance of infidelity.
Ultimately the story concludes not with a reconciliation but rather a revenge fantasy. Chase is so devastated by how horribly Hunter has treated him that he crafts a masterful plan to exact retribution. My sincerest hope was that both of the characters at some point would have an epiphany and see how shallow their obsession with the physical really was, and that they would ultimately realize that love is worth fighting for.
So then when all of my expectations and hope for a happy ending are cruelly dashed, I still cling to a sliver of hopeful possibility. Perhaps Chase will find the happiness which I yearn for him to have. Perhaps he will reconcile with Christian, and in so doing this huge “tangent” within the midst of the book will at least have had a genuine purpose. Chase and Christian do meet again, but it is all for naught. Chase chooses his egocentric muscle obsession over a relationship. WHAT???!!
The message: My sincere hope is that the author wrote this story not as an attempt to glorify hedonism and carnality, but rather as an expose’. I hope that his message is that the character within an individual is far more attractive and significant than the packaging. Honestly, though, I’m not entirely sure if this is what he believes. Perhaps it is up to the reader to draw his/her own conclusion.
One could argue that Chase chose his own sense of worth over the entrapments of a traditional relationship, but I never got the feeling that he’d actually realized why it was that his relationships had always gone off track in the first place. Chase seemed to be more concerned with the fear that his sex partner would grow love handles than that he might not ever connect in any long term, meaningful way. I wanted him to love and embrace his passion for physical fitness in a healthy and positive way, but to not allow this obsession to become an elitist form of exclusion in which he constantly judged others.
Well, right or wrong, that is the message I gleaned from the story. I know it may seem cliché, but I sincerely believe that beauty is skin deep, or in this case … muscle deep?
It’s an interesting book, and I encourage you to read it. Great sex and amazing writing… just be wary of the fact that it is not guaranteed to provide you the typical HEA ending.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 24, 2010
I think I should start off by mentioning that this book has a lot of erotica. A lot. In between the back story would be wedged numerous sexual encounters between Chase and his “love” interests. Normally, I wouldn’t mind a few scenes here and there, but the thing with the sex scenes in this book was that they were blunt and vulgar. None of that “fading to darkness” stuff that young adult uses – it takes you for the entire ride. I had no idea you could say... certain words in so many different ways.
This book also deals with homosexuality. Chase, our MC, is a homosexual body builder and he enjoys hooking up with a lot of other muscular men. However, while the book has homosexuality in it, it doesn’t really deal with the emotions and uncertainty of homosexuality. The only time it did so was when one of Chase’s interests was questioning his sexuality – but Chase never dealt with it. He was certain of who he was and how he got there. Rather, the book focuses on the gay relationships revolving around the world of body building.
All of the characters were... interesting, to say the least. I couldn’t connect with most of them (most of them were obsessed with steroids and body building) on a basic level, but if you looked past their body building obsession, there are real emotions underneath. I enjoyed reading about Chase’s sexcapades and the diverse range of guys he chose to be involved with. Half of the time, the book almost felt like a drama or soap opera. (ex. Chase being involved, and loving, a married man who swore he was straight but loved Chase, also). There were so many issues and drama that could be applied to my own relationships, so I was able to connect with Chase through that outlet.
The book is divided into four different sections, named The Roamosexual Agenda, True Jock, Pumping Irony, and Muscle Bound. Each respective section deals with Chase in different areas of his life. The first is when he meets Hunter and starts a relationship with him. The second is with his sex partner turned close friend/brother, Kutchie. The third, and arguably largest section in the book, was with Christian, a married man who was Chase’s boyfriend. And the last is Chase and Hunter again. The way the book was cut up into sections was... I’ll leave it with the word “confusing”. Basically, the first book and the last book are about Chase’s relationship with Hunter. The second and third books are Chase’s backstory, giving an example of what or who shaped Chase to be the person he was today. While back stories are great, the third book was a huge chunk of the entire book. By the time we got back to Hunter and Chase in the fourth book, I had stopped being giddy about their romance and rather just felt sad about Chase and Christian.
But despite all that, the writing was superb. I loved the way David wrote. His prose wasn’t the best I’ve read, by far, but you could tell he had a handle on the English language and he used a lot of huge vocabulary that made my inner geek really happy. I wasn’t too crazy about the alternating POVs in the same chapter. Or, heck, I would have been fine with it if it had just been two central characters, but almost every supporting character had a few sentences for their own perspective.
Going beyond the erotica, homosexuality, and confusion, Muscle Bound is a book about love, really. Well, okay, not just about love, but rather about how many different events can shape you to be who you are. Chase’s love life was a predominant aspect in the entire book, making him hopeful, crushed, and even bitter. Deep down, he didn’t know how to love because he was always so guarded and refused to submit to the idea of love. But taking chances, opening yourself up to hurt, is what life is all about. At least, that’s what I got out of it before the fourth book. Once the fourth book rolled around, that message pretty much went out the window. To be honest, I’m a little pissed at the ending and how Chase handled Hunter and Christian. The ending is definitely not happy and ended quite abruptly.
This book also deals with homosexuality. Chase, our MC, is a homosexual body builder and he enjoys hooking up with a lot of other muscular men. However, while the book has homosexuality in it, it doesn’t really deal with the emotions and uncertainty of homosexuality. The only time it did so was when one of Chase’s interests was questioning his sexuality – but Chase never dealt with it. He was certain of who he was and how he got there. Rather, the book focuses on the gay relationships revolving around the world of body building.
All of the characters were... interesting, to say the least. I couldn’t connect with most of them (most of them were obsessed with steroids and body building) on a basic level, but if you looked past their body building obsession, there are real emotions underneath. I enjoyed reading about Chase’s sexcapades and the diverse range of guys he chose to be involved with. Half of the time, the book almost felt like a drama or soap opera. (ex. Chase being involved, and loving, a married man who swore he was straight but loved Chase, also). There were so many issues and drama that could be applied to my own relationships, so I was able to connect with Chase through that outlet.
The book is divided into four different sections, named The Roamosexual Agenda, True Jock, Pumping Irony, and Muscle Bound. Each respective section deals with Chase in different areas of his life. The first is when he meets Hunter and starts a relationship with him. The second is with his sex partner turned close friend/brother, Kutchie. The third, and arguably largest section in the book, was with Christian, a married man who was Chase’s boyfriend. And the last is Chase and Hunter again. The way the book was cut up into sections was... I’ll leave it with the word “confusing”. Basically, the first book and the last book are about Chase’s relationship with Hunter. The second and third books are Chase’s backstory, giving an example of what or who shaped Chase to be the person he was today. While back stories are great, the third book was a huge chunk of the entire book. By the time we got back to Hunter and Chase in the fourth book, I had stopped being giddy about their romance and rather just felt sad about Chase and Christian.
But despite all that, the writing was superb. I loved the way David wrote. His prose wasn’t the best I’ve read, by far, but you could tell he had a handle on the English language and he used a lot of huge vocabulary that made my inner geek really happy. I wasn’t too crazy about the alternating POVs in the same chapter. Or, heck, I would have been fine with it if it had just been two central characters, but almost every supporting character had a few sentences for their own perspective.
Going beyond the erotica, homosexuality, and confusion, Muscle Bound is a book about love, really. Well, okay, not just about love, but rather about how many different events can shape you to be who you are. Chase’s love life was a predominant aspect in the entire book, making him hopeful, crushed, and even bitter. Deep down, he didn’t know how to love because he was always so guarded and refused to submit to the idea of love. But taking chances, opening yourself up to hurt, is what life is all about. At least, that’s what I got out of it before the fourth book. Once the fourth book rolled around, that message pretty much went out the window. To be honest, I’m a little pissed at the ending and how Chase handled Hunter and Christian. The ending is definitely not happy and ended quite abruptly.
April 3, 2015
This was a fun, fast paced story that takes you into the world of muscle training and muscle fantasy. The story does try to cover some of the complex issues of performance enhancing and party drugs, sexuality, marriage and religion/spirituality but it does not spend significant time on them. Detail is given to the grueling workouts, the planning and preparation needed to induce muscle growth and the discipline and desire required to achieve what so many try but fail to achieve...a pumped "jacked" physique. If you are a bodybuilder or strength athlete of any kind or have an interest in those sports you will enjoy and relate to the characters and themes in this book, in fact....it may describe you and your gym friends experiences perfectly. I read this on my Google Nexus 7 using the Kindle app, not in paperback as stated above. Enjoy !
August 5, 2010
It did go off on a bit of a tangent mid book... but for all that it brought the ending together wonderfully!
Read
December 24, 2010hi
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