One man faces down his personal demons of guilt, but will it be in time to save the relationship with the love of his life?

Matthew Elliott and Kira Takeo Franco have been together for over a year now. Things seem to be going well with their relationship, but everything is about to change. Matt is going undercover to fight a narcotics ring, but he can’t tell Kira. As Matt struggles with living a lie, his relationship with Kira slowly starts to disintegrate.

This is the second book in the series, and it picks up with the same characters. The entire story is told from Matt’s point of view, and he still feels horribly guilty about Kira’s kidnapping. Matt has decided to accept an undercover assignment to discover how a large narcotics ring is working. This requires him to act as if he is leaving the police force to join the underground world of cage-fighting.

Unfortunately, I didn’t understand why Matt couldn’t tell Kira what was going on. Since Matt wasn’t hiding his identity, Kira wasn’t any safer not knowing what was going on. Instead, it created a huge trust issue in their relationship that lasted the entire story. This was not a romantic story, although there were a few sex scenes, nor was it focused on their relationship. The main plot of the story was educating the reader on the training that goes into preparing for cage-fighting, and the turmoil that Matt was going through internally. It also dealt with the aftermath of violence and guilt. Although it was interesting being inside Matt’s head while he deals with these different issues, it wasn’t the romance I was hoping for.

This story is for fans of Matt and Kira, who also enjoy reading about letting go of guilt and the dangerous world of cage-fighting.

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb

A friends-to-lovers romance between two young men trying to break into their careers.

Terrell Washington is black, gay, and unable to find a job with his college degree in journalism. He is also very bitter because of his lack of employment and events from his childhood. His best friend, coworker, and idol, Colby Meyers, is kind, fun, and seems to have the world on a plate, but he’s white. Terrell must determine if he can accept Colby’s apparent love for him.

This was a sweet, low-angst romance between two friends. The relationship develops while they are working together at a local restaurant. The loving sentiments that Colby expressed repeatedly were heart-warming. Watching Terrell finally believe that somebody could love him was beautiful. The time they spent together having fun and hanging out was also enjoyable.

Unfortunately, most of the humor didn’t make any sense to me. There were also so many exclamation points that it made it feel like the characters were forever yelling excitedly. Terrell’s constant reference to the fact that he was black and Colby was white became downright annoying. This story really needed Colby’s POV to even out the negative mood created by Terrell and his insecurities. Understanding where Terrell came from and how he was raised, was critical to understanding the story, but it was repeated so often that it became the focal point of the story. The murder mystery was interesting as a backdrop to the story until the ending which went over the top and didn’t quite make sense.

Overall, the romance was sweet and the mystery was acceptable as a backdrop to the plot, but the spirit of the story was just a bit too negative.

Originally reviewed for The Romance Reviews. Complimentary copy provided by author/publisher for an honest review.
Book Blurb