Book Tour & Review: Mending the Rift by Chris T. Kat

Author: Chris T. Kat

Title: Mending the Rift

Release Date: March 14, 2016

Pages or Words: 68,000 words

Categories: M/M Romance, Science Fiction, MPREG

Goodreads Link: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/5767496.Chris_T_Kat

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Cover Artist: AngstyG

In a future where man’s ability to reproduce is severely compromised, humanity has adapted to survive. Breeders—male and female—have become precious commodities, and they are strictly guarded and subject to limitations.

Luca Walker is a breeder. Though he knows what’s expected of him as the youngest son of the Northern Confederacy’s Vice President, he’s held out against the pressures of an arranged marriage because he longs to marry for love, not duty. But he’s been promised to Colonel Liam Smith and there’s little he can do about it, no matter that Luca is secretly in love with his bodyguard, Marcus Gray.

When Luca finds himself pregnant with Marcus’s baby, Smith is furious and vows to take what is his—by force, if necessary. Now Luca must fight for his life and the life of his unborn child… as well as the love of Marcus and the happily ever after he’s always dreamed of.

This is another book which left me with somewhat mixed feelings after reading it. I typically don’t choose books with cisgender (i.e., not transgender) male pregnancy*, but I like the author’s style and have enjoyed her previous work, so I thought I’d give it a shot. I’m glad I did.

I loved the world-building. Even though this is not a long story, I appreciated how well this dystopian future was woven into the plot rather than long, drawn-out explanations. I had a good feel for what was going on almost right away, and the complexities unfolded at a good pace throughout.

For me, the world they live in raised many more questions than answers, which I think is a good thing. For example, why bother genetically engineering cis men to become essentially intersex rather than working to resolve cis women’s infertility? What has happened to other intersex people and trans people? Are women able to have their reproductive cells extracted in order to impregnate men (or other women)? Do men impregnating other men create new combinations of chromosomes? I’m not sure this book was exactly equipped to answer all that, but it did get me thinking.

I found the treatment of breeders interesting because it played on the idea of reproductive freedom and what it means to have a body which can or cannot reproduce. That kind of control is rather horrifying to imagine, but it’s easy to see our current society already on the same path. That was really well done, in my opinion.

I did struggle a bit with a few things. It seemed like Luca was pretty quick to accept what had been done to him without his consent, and I find that troubling. I was also put off by the lack of women in a story about reproductive free will, given that it is women who are currently at the mercy of governmental control over female/female-assumed bodies. And the bits referring to pregnancy hormones as inducing “temporary insanity” really, really bothered me, both for the casual negative reference to mental illness and for supporting the idea that pregnant women are irrational and cannot make good choices. I think it’s probably not surprising given the other factors, but Luca (and Nicholas and Kyle) fell squarely in the category of “could have been replaced by women and had the exact same story,” including with the reproductive issues. And I also found it highly improbable that a society which could figure out how to genetically engineer men to have babies and clearly is fully accepting of same-sex relationships would still have some serious problems with social equality.

The other big issue for me was the various kidnappings. I think these might have been better combined into one event for a smoother plot and flow. Each one felt almost like a separate story, and I was confused on and off throughout about various players and their involvement. I did like the way the threads all came together at the end, though, and there were a few surprises along the way which I enjoyed.

Despite my hesitations with those few things, I really did find this to be an intriguing story. I was much more invested in the world than the characters, and with something as complicated as this book’s political climate, that’s a very good thing.

For a world which drew me in, a fascinating concept, and a lot to think about, 7/10 fountain pens.

*I specified cisgender here because I have no problem reading male pregnancy when it’s about a trans man.

amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Mending-Rift-Chris-T-Kat-ebook/dp/B01C89EZ6K/

All Romance Ebooks: https://www.allromanceebooks.com/product-mendingtherift-1989406-145.html

eBook: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7448

Paperback: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=7449

Marcus rappelled off and stepped onto the ground with a crunch of his boots. Pointing at the opening with the askew ladder, he asked, “Don’t tell me you seriously considered climbing down this way.”

Luca shrugged. “I’d have preferred spontaneous levitation, but it didn’t happen.”

He yelped when Marcus put an arm around his torso and lifted him to his feet, as if he weighed nothing. “Hey!”

Marcus silenced him with a glare, and Luca gritted his teeth while Marcus thumped dust off his clothes. “Your father is livid.”

Luca swallowed. He’d expected worried, maybe a bit mad, but livid? His father never got furious at him. Not for long, anyway. Being the baby of the family had its perks. “Why?”

“Why? Seriously, Luca, you have to ask why?” Marcus patted Luca’s behind more firmly than was strictly necessary.

Luca shifted, trying to get away from Marcus’s arm. When that didn’t help, he slapped Marcus’s hands away and stepped aside. He couldn’t think when he was so close to Marcus—when the man touched him, he sent shivers up and down his spine. He ignored the glower Marcus directed at him. “Yes, seriously. He knows I don’t want to marry Smith. I don’t want anything to do with all that shit. I want to decide what I’m going to do with my life.”

Marcus shook his head. “Smith is a good man. My brother Kyle worked for him. He said he always treated his people well. If you want I could try to get Kyle on the phone so you can talk to him. That is, if I can get a hold on him. Trust me, you’ll be in good hands.”

“You don’t get it! I don’t want to be in good hands!”

“No?” Marcus raised an eyebrow.

Luca huffed, a small smile forming on his lips. “Well, yes, of course I want to be in good hands. But I want someone to love me, and not just for my ability to become pregnant. I want… you.”

Luca’s heart thundered in his rib cage. There, he’d said it. The ball was in Marcus’s court. Sure, it had only been one night, and Marcus’s reaction afterward hadn’t been promising, but maybe he’d just been scared? Maybe he feared to lose his job? Nonetheless, there was more going on between them, and they both knew it. That one night had just been the last logical step. Luca regretted nothing.

For a moment Marcus seemed startled, and there was a softness in his eyes that was solely reserved for Luca. The softness vanished too quickly for Luca’s liking.

Instead, Luca was greeted with Marcus’s usual, scrutinizing gaze. “You don’t want me, and you better never mention this again. It was a mistake. Now get it out of your head and be a good boy.”

Chris T. Kat lives in the middle of Europe, where she shares a house with her husband of many years and their two children. She stumbled upon the M/M genre by luck and was swiftly drawn into it. She divides her time between work, her family—which includes chasing after escaping horses and lugging around huge instruments such as a harp—and writing. She enjoys a variety of genres, such as mystery/suspense, paranormal, and romance. If there’s any spare time, she happily reads for hours, listens to audiobooks or does cross stitch.

Twitter: http://twitter.com/christi_kat

GoodReads: http://www.goodreads.com/ChrisTKat

Blog: http://christikat.blogspot.com

Amazon Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Chris-T.-Kat/e/B008FQQH2Q

Today I’m welcoming Chris T. Kat to chat about writing, life, and their current project. Welcome! Let’s talk a little about Mending the Rift.

What inspired you to write this story?

When I started writing, I started as a fan fiction writer. One of my first stories, which turned out to become a whole alternate universe, was an m-preg story as well. I can’t explain why the idea of male pregnancies always appealed to me, it just did. After writing pretty much anything, I had the desire to go back to my roots, so to speak, and write another m-preg story. Thus Mending the Rift was born.

Is there a character you feel especially connected to? Why?

I like all the characters in Mending the Rift, but if I had to name a favorite it would probably be Nicholas, Luca’s dad. He’s a bit of a brat, but a handsome and intelligent one, who had the luck to find the perfect partner. I also felt connected to Luca, how he feels about arranged marriages, and having to do what’s expected of him.

What was the hardest part of writing this?

This might sound weird, but the hardest part was finding the right names for the main characters, Luca and Marcus. For a long time, they had different names. Even though I exchanged the names at one point, they still didn’t ring true and I was rather frustrated about that. Finally, I made a list of names, tried them out, and after that, writing the story was quick and easy.

Choose a favorite line or short passage. What do you like about it?

This is only a very short passage from the beginning of chapter two:

Marcus rappelled off and stepped onto the ground with a crunch of his boots. Pointing at the opening with the askew ladder, he asked, “Don’t tell me you seriously considered climbing down this way.”

Luca shrugged. “I’d have preferred spontaneous levitation, but it didn’t happen.”

Luca has run away and thought about the reasons for it when Marcus shows up. Even though he’s despairing about his situation, and the fact he can’t have the man he loves, he hasn’t lost his ability to joke. That’s what I like about that short part.

Tell us a little about any upcoming projects.

I’ve got a contemporary novella called Stained coming out in June or July this year. It’ll be my last published work, so no more upcoming projects.

Are there any types of scene you find hard to write (action, love, death, etc.)?

I really dislike writing death scenes, so I try to avoid them. However, that’s not always possible (for example in Secret Energy or Silver Lining) but I try to do it with respect, and keep the characters’ reactions realistic.

What do you do when you feel stuck (writer’s block)?

This might sound odd—after all I’ve written quite a lot over the years—but I’ve never had writer’s block. Sure, I had stories that veered off and left me scrambling to tie everything up in a satisfying manner but if that happened, I put the book aside for a while until I could see the story clearly again.

How do you handle a story that doesn’t go as you planned?

That depends on the story. Sometimes I follow the new curve and allow the characters to lead me. If the story runs into a dead end, or I can’t see how I can possibly tie everything together, I put it aside and do something else. After a few days, or sometimes weeks (sometimes even months—that happened when I wrote Bratty Angel) I’ll have an epiphany and know how to go on. After that, everything’s easy.

Word Sprints!