Review Tuesday: Blessed by Maggie Blackbird -- #ReviewTuesday #FirstNations #MMRomance

Blessed by Maggie Blackbird

‎eXtasy Books Inc , 2018

Emery Matawapit and Darryl Keejik grew up together on the reservation, roaming the woods, hunting and fishing, sharing bonds of friendship and later, physical passion. As they approach adulthood, though, their destinies tear them apart. The half-white son of a Catholic deacon, Emery feels called to the church, even though its doctrine tells him his desire for Darryl is a sin. After ten years of study and preparation, he’s now on the brink of taking his final vows as a priest. Before he does, however, he needs to reconcile with Darryl, to try to banish the bitterness that has grown up between them.

Darryl blames Emery for deserting the ways of the Objibway Elders and following the white man’s god. Underneath his anger lurks the pain and hurt of having been left behind by the one man he has ever loved. Over their years of separation, Darryl has acquired influence as a member of the tribal council, working to restore the native traditions ravaged by generations of government abuse, neglect and injustice. Now he’s tempted to use that influence to punish Emery and his father for what he sees as their betrayal of the tribe.

The reunion of the two men is anything but peaceful. However, despite their mutual animosity and confusion, their different spiritual beliefs and life trajectories, they’re still irresistibly drawn to one another. It will take courage, compromise and a willingness to listen to their respective inner voices to heal their rifts. Each one must learn that love means letting go and allowing the beloved to choose his own path.

I adored Blessed. The characters are vivid, believably flawed and sympathetic—even the apparently bigoted and dictatorial Deacon Matawit. The love between Darryl and Emery burns bright and true, finally enabling them to break through the barriers that keep them apart. Meanwhile the setting and background taught me a lot about the harsh realities that face First Nation people in Canada.

One of my biggest complaints about the romance genre is that the conflicts that drive the story are often trivial, not serious obstacles to a successful relationship. In Blessed, truly fundamental differences threaten to keep Emery and Darryl apart. Emery believes that Christ is guiding him. His vocation for the priesthood, his call to pastoral service, is something he feels deep in his soul. How can he abandon this, putting his personal happiness before the well-being of his future flock?

Meanwhile, Darryl is caught in the political crossfire between the Christians and the Traditionalists. He’s been taught not to trust the white man’s religion. Yet this religion governs the life of the man he loves. He wants to be a wise leader, which means opening his mind to the fact that there’s more than one path to truth.

I should mention that as an erotic romance, this book has some wonderfully steamy love scenes that any MM aficionado will enjoy. As the blurb says, this is an erotic book about a spiritual journey. Since I have always believed that the erotic and the spiritual are closely entwined, I applaud this aspect of the tale.

Overall, Blessed is a great read. If you like realistic MM romance with serious issues at stake, I highly recommend it.