REVIEW: 'Goodbye to the Jungle' by Wayne Mansfield
Title: Goodbye to the Jungle
Author: Wayne Mansfield
Published: January 13, 2018
Publisher: JMS Books LLC
Genre: Historical Romance; Historical Fiction; Erotic Romance
Length: 68 Pages
Tags: Gay; M/M; Interracial; May/December; Novella; HEA; CW: Sexual Slavery, Non-Con, Kidnapping, Taboo
About Goodbye to the Jungle
Jahl lives with his people, the Hamica, in the jungles of a nameless world. They live at one with nature. It’s a simple existence, centred around family and community.
One day all this is snatched away when Jahl is captured by slavers. But he’s a proud man from a proud people, and he never shows his fright or anxiety, despite what he feels inside. They take him through the jungle, through swampland and farmland, to a town that has seen many like him come before.
In a strange, wooden building in the middle of the town square, Jahl is put into a harness, naked and spread-eagle for all who have gathered there to see. It’s humiliating and degrading, especially when the bidding starts.
For the first time, Jahl is truly frightened. Who will purchase him? And for what purpose?
4 HEART READ
REVIEW:
How is one to feel when they are hunted, captured, stripped bare, trussed up, and sold to the highest bidder?
Jump into Goodbye to the Jungle by Wayne Mansfield and find out.
Jahl is proud and noble living happily with his very small tribe of Hamica people. Out hunting one day he makes a poor decision ultimately leading to his demise and capture by the white man. Outnumbered by five men he is stripped naked, bound, and transported to be sold into slavery. Undergoing the degrading process of being displayed, touched, and violated Jahl is sold to a man named Brocknor for a hefty price.
As a landowner and farmer, Brocknor is a fairly wealthy man in the community. However, he is ultimately a lonely, kind man. He has purchased Jahl for use as a servant, as his companion, and for his enjoyment of Jahl’s slender, athletic, tanned and hairless body.
As Jahl performs his light duties he befriends Brocknor’s house servant, Mari (from the Arari tribe), and “comforts” Brocknor when requested. However, he isn’t letting go of the day he can escape and return to his people. He has heard the stories of punishments bestowed on slaves for attempting to escape but is confident that he will be successful and wishes Mari to join him.
As time passes the connection between Jahl and Brocknor shifts and suddenly there are feelings muddying the water. Something more than slave and master is going on.
Brocknor proves to be the best of a horrible situation for Jahl and Mari when he makes a decision that will change the lives of these three forever.
Goodbye to the Jungle starts off with content that is sure to be a trigger for some with free will taken away. As the journey unfolds there is a love story that emerges and human kindness wins out. In the end there is a presumed HEA for Jahl, Mari, and Brocknor.
An enjoyable, quick read Goodbye to the Jungle would have been 5 hearts for me if only the questions left hanging at the end were answered. One has to make assumptions about the outcome and even though there is little doubt, you leave with a niggle that, darn it, you want confirmed. Okay, so maybe that is the point because the story sticks with you long after the cover is closed.
A copy of Goodbye to the Jungle was provided to Kimmers’ Erotic Book Banter, by Wayne Mansfield, at no cost and with no expectations in return. We offer our fair and honest opinion on behalf of our readers.
Fore more historical romance from Wayne Mansfield catch Jay’s interview with Jacob from Across the Sea and get a glimpse at the excerpt. Jay gives it 5 HEARTS!
Meet the Author
Wayne Mansfield was born and raised in rural Western Australia. As a boy, Wayne and his family moved around quite a bit and he attended two different kindergartens, three different primary schools and two high schools. He graduated from university as a primary school teacher and also has a Diploma in Counseling. He currently resides and works in Perth, Western Australia. The bulk of his books, novellas and stories have been published by JMS Books ("The King's Consort", "The Hiding Place", "Cool Blue", "Six Numbers" and "Changelings"). Always at the top of his English classes, Wayne first began as a published writer by contributing poems to the local community newspaper when he was in high school. Throughout university he wrote for fun, including "an awful Jackie Collins-type novel set in places I'd only read about or seen in movies". Some time after graduating he began writing short horror stories, a few of which were published in the types of magazines "...only purchased by the people who were published in them and their friends". He then progressed to writing gay erotica and was more successful . Most of his stories and novellas of the past six or seven years have combined his love of horror, science-fiction and fantasy with gay erotica / romance. Occasionally, he also writes more mainstream romance. He enjoys the books of Neil Gaiman, Michael Crichton and Clive Barker. Facebook; Goodreads; Tumblr; Amazon
For more from Wayne be sure and visit his website!
