Review of Velocity by Amelia C. Gormley

Amelia C. Gormley

Velocity (Impulse #3)

self-published | March 2, 2013 | 210 pages

Author’s website | Goodreads | Buy book here

Backblurb:
REACHING OPTIMUM SPEED

For Detroit handyman Derrick Chance and his lover, Gavin Hayes, the holiday season is filled with the promise of new beginnings. Gavin’s officially moving in, and after the New Year, they’ll begin house hunting. But they both know all the talk of gift exchange, whose holiday
ornaments go where, and what repairs and remodels will be needed to put Derrick’s house on the market is only a smoke screen.
Before the month is over, Gavin will have the final verdict on whether or not his dangerously delusional ex, Lukas, infected him with HIV. No matter how good Gavin’s chances appear with the three-month hurdle already passed, neither he nor Derrick knows what the future holds for them.
The holidays have always been a time of loss and mourning for Derrick, but now he has to stay strong as Gavin’s own fears and doubts assail him relentlessly. And when Lukas returns, unexpectedly penitent amid troubling revelations, Gavin has to ask himself whether he can offer Derrick the future he deserves, or whether these first few months of happiness are the best they will ever get.

Genre & Keywords: M/M Romance, Contemporary, Ex-boyfriend, Getting Tested, Building a Future, Living Together

~~~~~
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Heat level: 2.5 out of 3 flames
~~~~~

*Warning: this review contains spoilers for the previous books in this trilogy*

This final installment, Velocity, is a quiet climax of the Impulse trilogy in which Derrick and Gavin finally find out if they'll have a happy and healthy future together. I've been enjoying their extensive story for a while now and if there ever was a fictitious couple I was rooting for their total HEA then it was Gavin and Derrick. They've been through quite a difficult, long period of insecurities and in this third story of the trilogy it's still not over yet, until right up until the end. And I have to say that I've been not even mildly bored for a second during it all. On the contrary.

Gavin's ex Lukas shows up one more time to play mind games with Gavin. The way Gavin handles his ex this time shows his growth as well as the influence of Derrick's love. Still, there's a whole new reason for Gavin to be anxious about the HIV test introduced by Lukas' manipulations. For a minute there, I thought that Lucas maybe had more layers to him than we'd seen so far, but sadly he stayed a rather one-dimensional character after all.
What I loved is that in the end the outcome of Gavin's test won't have an influence on his and Derrick's romantic relationship anymore, whether it'll be positive or negative. The men have grown to love each other so much and learned to work through their issues together so well, that their plans won't change anymore no matter the verdict Gavin will get.

I found it rather admirable how skillfully this trilogy is written and how well the author managed to keep Gavin and Derrick's story interesting over such a long period of time, while the main plot arc didn't change that much during the three installments. She made her characters three-dimensional and their development multilayered, which ensured that I wanted to keep reading about these guys.

So, this trilogy is definitely a recommendation for readers who love character driven m/m romances with quite some angst and plenty of hot and meaningful sex scenes with some D/s tendencies. Derrick and Gavin will turn out to be rather unforgettable if you’re anything like me.

Related links: 
Review of Book #1 Inertia
Review of Book #2 Acceleration
~