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REVIEW: Christmas Homecoming by L.A. Witt
The Christmas Angel: Christmas Homecoming by L.A. Witt
August 1939. Roger Miller and Jack O’Brien have been close since childhood. By the time they realize there’s more between them than friendship, Jack is leaving their sleepy Iowa town for college. But they console themselves knowing he’ll be home for Christmas. Right?
It is Christmas before they see each other again, but that Christmas comes six years and a world war later. Aged, beaten, and shaken by combat, they’re not the boys they were back then, but their feelings for each other are stronger than ever.
Neither know the words to say everything they’ve carried since that peacetime summer kiss, though. Even as they stand in the same room, there’s a thousand miles between them.
But maybe that’s some distance the little angel in Roger’s rucksack can cross.
The Christmas Angel series books are standalones and can be read in any order.
I love historical MM stories set during the wartime periods. They are especially poignant and bittersweet usually ending with me blinking back tears.
Christmas Homecoming is part of The Christmas Angel series, where a carved wooden angel worked its magic to bring people together throughout the years. This novella is the only one in the series I’ve read so far.
The story starts in 1939 when Germany was about to invade Poland. Roger and Jack were two childhood friends. Jack was about to leave town for the city. Roger was doesn’t know what to do with his life yet but he is sure that he doesn’t want to be a farmer and marry a girl.
On the day before Jack was about to leave, the two friends decided to take a swim together for the last time. That was when they realized the feelings between the two of them evolved into something else. They shared a kiss. They didn’t see each other again for 6 years.
This is a beautiful love story between two men at a time when such love was not yet accepted. It is full of yearnings and sweet stolen moments made more precious because it’s taboo. I wanted to hug them and give them their safe space.
The war tore the two men apart. L.A. Witt deftly inserted details that portrayed the life of soldiers at war-time and after. It made what would otherwise be a sweet but simplistic fairytale more complex and nuanced. The survivors had to deal with PTSD. Roger and Jack were not spared. They each carry with them complicated memories of bombs and the men who kept them company in the lonely nights. My heart went out to Oskar, the spy and Floyd, the pilot. The story did a good job drawing me to these two secondary characters who existed only in memories. I wanted their stories too.
Admittedly, the middle part did drag a bit but as the story slowly eased its way to the resolution I found myself enjoying it even more. I liked how the author gave Roger a way out of the prescribed path his parents laid out for him. I liked how they found a way to be together. I even found myself interested in the two old codgers who inspired the boys that it’s possible.
Christmas Homecoming is a touching holiday story I recommend. For a book its length, it’s filled with many interesting characters and intense emotions. It captured the small-town atmosphere, the post-war melancholy and the fervent longings of forbidden lovers. It didn’t make me cry but it did warm my heart.
P.S.
L.A. Witt books here
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: You’d Be So Nice To Come Home To
Artist: Dinah Shore
Album: -
REVIEW: Is It Over Yet? by L.A. Witt
Is It Over Yet? – L.A. Witt
Rhys Powell and Derek Scott are divorcing. Mistakes have been made, lines have been crossed, and there’s no going back. Both men are exhausted and ready to move on.
But their daughter is getting married soon. In the name of not putting a damper on her wedding, Derek and Rhys agree to keep the divorce on the down-low and show up as the happy couple everyone still believes they are.
And between a roller coaster of a road trip and the love and joy surrounding the wedding… Derek and Rhys just might remember why they fell for each other in the first place.
Are they only kidding themselves? Or can a rekindled spark really light the way to forgiveness?
Most romance novels I’ve read go out of their way to avoid cheating. I automatically DNF a book when there’s cheating involving the main couple. So a story that revolved around the issue of cheating and divorce? I don’t think so.
But this is L.A. Witt we’re talking about here and she specializes in making her MCs go through rings of fire before giving them their HEAs. This is as tough a hurdle as it can get. Despite myself, I was really intrigued. How is she going to convincingly pull off a happy ending for a premise like this?
Is It Over yet? is about two married men about to split up but hesitated to tell their daughter because they don’t want to ruin her upcoming wedding. The cheating part is off-page and happened months before the story started. I appreciated that the author spared us the details. We only know that this happened when Rhys was at a low point and their marriage was on a rocky patch at that time.
My knee-jerk reaction to this was to hate the cheater. I was even prepared to do so. But I couldn’t hate Rhys. He didn’t justify his actions. Derek didn’t catch him or even suspected. He confessed voluntarily. Since then, he was beating himself up for his mistake. It was very significantly pointed out that he was sorry for what he did, not because he was caught. I knew his heartfelt apologies were sincere.
Derek was hurt and angry as to be expected but it was pretty obvious that they still love each other. The ‘romance’ here is certainly different. The USTs have a different vibe from what I’m used to. Not exactly love/hate because I didn’t feel they hated each other. So how do you describe that thing where you want nothing more than to separate from your cheating husband because if not you will end up killing each other but you still find him attractive as fuck?
The story is a journey to forgiveness. Witt takes us on this very bumpy, highly emotional road trip complete with a playlist and drunken motel sex. I liked both MCs and I was rooting hard for them. They didn’t make it easy for themselves though. They tried truces after truces but always end up at each other’s throats.
How they finally reach their destination, that of forgiveness and a new beginning, was satisfying and more importantly, convincingly done. I liked that the epilogue was a realistic portrayal of lessons learned and making it work.
Cheating is still a hard line for me but Is It Over Yet? did a great job making me not only read a book about a broken relationship but also making me enjoy the story. It made me sympathized with the characters. I felt each heightened emotion. I was cheering when they finally danced at the wedding. I have no doubts Rhys and Derek will eventually have their HEA.
I wouldn’t say I recommend this because this might not be everyone’s cup of tea but do give it a try if you are looking for a second chance romance where the head wants to go but the heart wants to stay.
P.S.
L.A. Witt books here
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Everything Else Has Gone Wrong
Artist: Bombay Bicycle Club
Album: Everything Else Has Gone Wrong -
REVIEW: Hostile Ground by L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov
Hostile Ground – L.A. Witt & Aleksandr Voinov
After the deaths of three undercover cops investigating a drug ring in a seedy strip club in Seattle, Detective Mahir Hussain has been sent to finish the job. He joins the club’s security team in the hopes of finding enough evidence to bust the operation before the men in charge find a reason to put him in a shallow grave.
To protect the strippers, only gay men can work the club. Ridley, the cold and intimidating head of security, knows exactly how to test potential new hires-including Mahir. From the minute they meet, Mahir and Ridley engage in a dangerous dance of sex and mind games. Mahir needs to find his evidence before Ridley figures out he’s a cop-and before they both grow too close to betray one another.
As the game goes on, Mahir burrows deeper into the operation, where he learns there’s much more happening than meets the eye . . . and why every cop who made it this far has been silenced with a bullet.
Two of my favorite authors collaborating in what promised to be explosive and intense. I know many people gave high ratings and loved it but this one falls between like and love for me.
There are many elements present that I have come to expect from LAW and Voinov so that might be one reason why some parts were predictable such as Kinza’s involvement, Ridley’s real name, what happened to the boys they used as couriers, etc. This was probably one of the few LAW stories where the surprises were not so surprising. What I was surprised with was that the connection between Mahir and Kinza was not utilized to the max. That was something the authors would normally do to up the ante. I thought Lombardi would recognize those gazelle eyes anywhere OR maybe he just thought all Middle Eastern people look the same. Still, he should have known, he was supposed to be astute. Also, there were too many sex scenes that didn’t do anything to the story and we can only hope Ridley’s office was sound proof what with all their conspiratorial talks and out of control moments in there.
Those niggles aside, I greatly enjoyed Hostile Ground. Mahir is a detective, assigned to an undercover mission in Lombardi’s strip club which was a front for something more sinister. Mahir who went by Saeed in this mission, is a muslim which makes him a target of racists jokes while his family grudgingly accepts the fact that he is gay. There were many derogatory terms in the story, so be warned but I liked the way Mahir handled these issues like a boss.
His nephew Kinza was recently outed which caused some conflict with his family. The boy ran away to live with Mahir, who was his favorite uncle. This couldn’t have come at the worst time, the detective was in the middle of his undercover work. Things got even more dangerous when the boy followed him to the club one day and was recruited by Lombardi. The interactions between Mahir and Kinza were some of the best parts of the story. Mahir adored his nephew and would do anything to keep him safe. He nearly panicked and blew the case when he saw his nephew walking inside the club but fortunately, Ridley talked some sense into him AND Kinza was awesome! Boy got nerves of steel. And super smart too! Where other boys would have broken down and panicked, he kept his head. He’ll make a great FBI agent one day.
Ridley is a man of many personalities. There’s the ice-cold psycho bastard, the man who made sure Mahir got home safe after making him inhale cocaine, the one who who can’t resist fucking the new recruit and more. The more time Mahir spends with the man, the more layers he uncover, even after the case was over.
The guy with the icy stare behind the dark sunglasses- he could shoot a cop and not blink. The one who’d left Mahir aching all over, and who had seemed just as unhappy as Mahir that they couldn’t continue things, wasn’t murderer. He couldn’t be. Could he?
Theirs was a romance between two men in a high stressed environment. It started with insta-lust where they used each other to blow off steam and it gradually evolved into something deeper, solid and more meaningful. The way the romance developed was convincingly executed and the authors happily provided an epilogue.
The case was a bitch to crack and the whole set-up reminded me of the HongKong movie, Infernal Affairs, where an undercover cop goes so deep he almost didn’t get out. Even though I knew what was coming, I could still feel the suspense. Every goon was keeping an eye on Ridley and Mahir, waiting for them to slip up. Lombardi got Kinza in his clutches. There’s more at stake than Mahir had bargained for. Things begin to escalate and then one day, the goons showed up at Mahir’s doorstep. Shit really hit the fan! Bullets flew, covers blown, and close calls that were too close as the story builds into to its heart-stopping climax. It was, overall, a fun ride with a satisfying conclusion. And although I want to keep them all safe, Mahir isn’t ready to retire just yet. As we speak, they’re preparing for another mission because as Ridley said
“I like it dangerous.”
So, a sequel please!
P.S.
L.A. Witt books here
Aleksandr Voinov books hereRating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: Acid Fight
Artist: Deaf Scene
Album: Chimera -
“I want you to remember that,” Ridley whispered. “That no matter what, you’ll do anything I tell you to. Because you will. Won’t you?”
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REVIEW: The Left Hand Of Calvus by Ann Gallagher
Former gladiator Saevius is certain Fortune’s smiling on him when a Pompeiian politician buys him to be his bodyguard. That is until his new master, Laurea Calvus, orders Saevius to discover the gladiator with whom his wife is having a sordid affair. In order to do that, Saevius must return to the arena, training alongside the very men on whom he’s spying. Worse, he’s now under the command of Drusus, a notoriously cruel—and yet strangely intriguing—lanista.
But Saevius’s ruse is the least of his worries. There’s more to the affair than a wife humiliating her prominent husband, and now Saevius is part of a dangerous game between dangerous men. He isn’t the only gladiator out to expose the Lady Verina’s transgressions, and her husband wants more than just the guilty man’s name.
When Saevius learns the truth about the affair, he’s left with no choice but to betray a master: one he’s come to fear, one he’s come to respect, and either of whom could have him killed without repercussion.
For the first time in his life, the most dangerous place for this gladiator isn’t the arena.
This novel has been previously published under the pseudonym L.A. Witt, and has been lightly revised.
INTENSE!
The Left Hand of Calvus is an extremely well-written and tightly woven story of a gladiator involved in “a dangerous game between dangerous men” against his will. Authored by Ann Gallagher, also known as L.A. Witt, it oozes USTs without the MC, Saevius, fully understanding what was happening and with nary a sex scene in sight. People might complain about the lack of steam but I am the type who can happily live off USTs alone so this novel is totally my jam.
And it’s not just tension of the sexual kind that is tight. There is constant threat to life and limb and Saevius was perpetually walking on razor’s edge. As a gladiator and essentially a slave, he had no choice but do anything his masters tell him to do. He was told to spy on his fellow gladiators both by Calvus and Drusus, albeit for different reasons. A slight misstep could get him killed by either masters and/or his fellow gladiators and he had to survive on fighting skills and wits. As a veteran fighter, Saevius was nothing if not a survivor and I enjoyed seeing him outwit and outlast hostile elements from his first person perspective.
The author did a great job with the historical aspect giving many interesting details about gladiator life in and out of the arena, one of which was that it’s okay for rich married women to bed these fighters but it’s a big no no for them to sleep with a citizen or free man. This fact was cleverly utilized in the story. I also liked how 78 AD Pompeii came alive without overwhelming the reader with tons of info.
The mystery sounds simple but executed with enough suspense and surprises to keep me glued to the book. Calvus suspects his wife was sleeping with somebody from Drusus’ ludus (house), who might or might not be a gladiator, and wants to put an end to the affair to save his reputation. Drusus, on the other hand, wants to find out who might potentially be another Spartacus. With both masters demanding complete loyalty, it was Saevius’ strange attraction to Drusus that tipped the scales.
Seen through the eyes of the gladiator, Drusus was, for the most part, a mystery but damn was he intriguing! He’s cold, cruel, calculating and something else. I totally get why Saevius was drawn to him without actually knowing much about the person. And while the book is not really about romance, the romance kind of sneaks up on you in that delightful slow burn way. Then BAM! came that big twist which I never saw coming. The best part of it all was that Saevius was super cool about the whole thing. What a sweetheart! The only problem with twists like this is that the hashtag is a spoiler so I’m not putting a tag on it.
I haven’t read that many gladiator stories but I think The Left Hand of Calvus is one of the best ones out there. The story is short, gripping and fast-paced. It just grabs you from the start and keeps you enthralled. If you like twisty historical stories about battle-scarred warriors grappling with impossible situations, this one’s for you.
P.S.
Other L.A. Witt books here
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Escape
Artist: 30 Seconds To Mars
Album: This Is War -
Review: Falling Sky Duology by L.A. Witt
I didn’t have much expectations when I went into this, other than it’s L.A. Witt. Her specialty is stacking the odds so high it seems impossible for the MCs to be together. Then by some miracle she brings them together in the most delicious way.
In the Falling Sky Duology, betrayal was what kept Liam Lansing and Daniel Harding apart. The need to survive and change the world was what bought them together. Everything in between was bullets, explosions, death-defying heights and one father hell-bent on having his son killed.
The books are a seamless blend of action, sci-fi and paranormal. They’re a great example of unputdownable reads that hit the ground running full speed. It’s pretty much guaranteed you’ll be picking up that second book right after the first.
1. A Chip In His Shoulder – L.A. Wit
“Contract killer” is a fitting job for a vampire, and it suits Liam just fine. Cast down from the wealth and status of the Sky for taking a human lover, Liam lurks in the poor and pollution-choked Gutter, killing to survive. Between his natural strengths and his Cybernetix mods, no mark has ever escaped him.
Liam’s ex-lover Daniel is the heir to Cybernetix—and its greatest threat. Horrified by people less man than machine and the exploitation of Gutter factory workers, he’d rather destroy Cybernetix than inherit it . . . if his father doesn’t destroy him first.
Years of anger and a heap of mods have kept Daniel and Liam apart. When Liam is hired to slaughter a man in his glass Sky tower, he walks right into a Daniel-shaped trap. Daniel’s father has betrayed them both, and only by working together can Daniel and Liam survive the coming day. They have no reason to trust each other, but as the dawn looms, a bargain that began with the simple urge to live soon reminds them of the love they once shared. Can they find each other again, or will the Cybernetix assassins find them first?
A Chip In His Shoulder is told from Liam’s POV. He receives a call from Daniel’s father contracting him to kill his son. Liam does not want to pass up on the opportunity to kill the ex-lover who betrayed him so he said yes.
The thing is, the blurb for the first book is spoiler-ish. I’m glad I went into this blind so the twists were quite effective. Obviously, had I known about the set-up beforehand I would have different expectations but I would still be curious how L.A. Witt would make it work since we all know Liam and Daniel would get back together again. It wouldn’t be MM if they didn’t.
I loved how she did it!
There was a standoff and words were exchanged.
“Oh, fuck you Daniel. Why don’t you come down off your goddamned high horse for a minute. I mean, do you have any idea what it’s like to be in hell and hold that person who fucked you over might give enough of a shit to at least try to save you?”
“Probably feels a lot like finding out the man you still love is willing to fucking kill you.”
Bam! Crackle and zing all over the place!
And then Daniel shot Liam.
Thankfully, it’s didn’t end there. More shots were fired, a heart pounding car chase and suddenly Daniel found himself somewhere he thought he would never be.
This is a short book so things happened fast. The tension was tight from the get go and the suspense never let up. The world building flowed smoothly along with the action with just the right amount of details to feel complete and build the foundations for the next book. I was completely hooked on the story. Daniel and Liam’s second chance romance was a beautiful thing to witness and they’re now up there on my fave couples list.
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Falling Sky
Artist: Red
Album: Of Beauty And Rage
2. Something New Under The Sun – L.A. Witt
Liam Lansing is heir to a prominent family of bio-modified vampires. That is, until he chooses the wrong lover and is cast down to the Gutter to scrape for his life.
Daniel Harding is heir to Cybernetix and a prince of the corporate Sky. That is, until his ideology drives his father to put a price on his head, forcing him into the Gutter.
But Daniel and Liam won’t vanish meekly into the smog. Together, they plan to rip open the hidden corruption that runs the Sky—for vengeance, for justice, and for hope. They strike against the corporations in a daring raid. When everything goes wrong, Daniel must betray his core beliefs to save the man he loves and protect his dangerous secret. Only through courage in the face of death—or worse—might he and Liam change the world they live in and create something new under the sun.
Something New Under The Sun continues Liam and Daniel’s struggle to take down Daniel’s evil father. It picks up 24 hours after the events of the first book. Liam takes Daniel to meet his friend, Gizmo, the tech genius who gives him his mods and Daniel takes Liam to meet other members of his anti-mod movement, Venus and Felix. With their help they plan a strategy to obtain the UV mod and other evidence of Cybernetix’s corrupt practices.
The UV mod is something that can give vampires immunity to sunlight. The company is withholding its release in order to get more research funding from the vampires. They are also creating a virus that is harmful to vampires and then plan to create a solution to a problem they invented. All of these to bleed vampire wallets dry.
There is also the problem of unethical working conditions of workers from the Gutter who work in mod factories that the anti-mod movement wanted to stop. Since Cybernetix is one of the biggest tech factories, taking them down is the way to go.
This was as thrilling as the first book, perhaps even more so. The stakes are higher, the couple will need to infiltrate the company headquarters. They needed to sneak into Cybernetix not just once but a couple more times. First to steal the UV mod, second to get a passcode and third to rescue a hostage close to Daniel’s heart. It was one heart pounding moment after another and the close calls were too damn close.
I loved that this is written in Daniel’s POV because we can see how badass and cocky Liam really is. Daniel, who has fear of heights, struggled to keep up, but he came through 101% when Liam needed his help.
This was almost non-stop action from start to finish so their downtime was even more precious. I usually skip sex scenes but Liam and Daniel’s moments were short but beautifully written and you can really see their love for each other shining though. I like that their romance was compelling but didn’t take over the story.
Like most LAW stories, it felt like our MCs would never get peace, much less an HEA with all the explosions and mayhem she threw their way. But Liam and Daniel were nothing if not resilient and they manage to claw their way into a position that can bring Cybernetix down. It was one hell of a fight and the peace that followed made it all worth it.
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Begin The Begin
Artist: R.E.M.
Album: Life’s Rich Pageant -
REVIEW: Blood & Bitcoin by L.A. Witt
Criminal Delights: Organized Crime: Blood & Bitcoin – L.A. Witt
Chris Emmett has a talent for screwing up and landing on his feet. As a SEAL, he managed to evade bullets and court-martials alike. As an FBI agent, he dodged danger and disciplinary action—right up until he didn’t.
With his career and freedom hanging in the balance, he’ll do whatever it takes to clean the slate… including an off-the-books deep cover solo mission.
The objective: infiltrate the Hive, a complex crime syndicate operating on the dark web, and find out who’s trying to kill Piker, the organization’s enigmatic and strangely alluring Mob boss.
The moment he’s pulled into the Hive, Chris enters a world where no one is what they seem, including the man he’s there to protect. Lines blur between moral and wrong, legal and criminal, ally and foe, and—as Piker’s seductive magnetism draws Chris in—straight and queer.
Chris is running out of time to stop a killer. He has dangerous feelings for a dangerous man, and the deeper he moves into the realms of modern day organized crime, the less he knows and the fewer people he can trust.
And that’s before he learns the truth about Piker’s assassin.
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This 104,000 word book is part of CRIMINAL DELIGHTS. Each novel can be read as a standalone and contains a dark M/M romance. For other books in the collection, please see: Criminal Delights ListopiaWarning: These books are for adult readers who enjoy stories where lines between right and wrong get blurry. High heat, twisted and tantalizing, these are not for the fainthearted.
L.A. Witt and Michael Ferraiuolo is my favorite author/narrator combination. With them at the helm, you’re almost always guaranteed a thrilling experience.
Blood & Bitcoin was one hell of a ride but one that didn’t go full throttle the way I wanted it to. This is by far, the lightest among the dark offerings of the Criminal Delights series. The characters make many morally grey decisions and ‘the end justify the means’ actions but as emphasized by Chris, it is for the right reasons. Which is all good because, yeah these are people we can root for but sadly not what was advertised in the blurb aka it needed more blood.
Also, there were moments where I just about had enough of Chris getting caught one too many times. And Piker forgiving him yet again and again and again. Oh, just shoot him already!
I absolutely love Piker! The man is lethal and mesmerizing as fuck. His effect on both men and women is palpable. I could definitely understand why Chris was so drawn to him. Michael Ferraiuolo’s Piker voice is really spot on and the slight exotic accent added to the crime lord’s enigmatic appeal. His past remained a mystery throughout the entire book. He’s so mysterious we don’t even get his real name.
Chris I liked less. He was too reckless. He was bumbling his way through the missions. I don’t know if he is just extremely lucky but his unorthodox methods worked somewhat. It helps that he got more chances than most people would dare ask from a Mafia boss. He and Piker play a dangerously exciting game of Golden Retriever & snake. Who bites who first? And for that matter, are we even sure who is the dog and who is the snake?
Although the chemistry and USTs between Piker and Chris were always a tantalizing hair trigger away from snapping, the romance needed a little more boost. Majority of the book, it was just mostly sex for them which is meh. But the last quarter of the book made up for the missing feels and convinced me their HFN would eventually be HEA.
The part about the bitcoin was info dumpy but did not majorly hinder the story. The Hive also got me intrigued about the dark web which I only learned from some hoaky Youtube videos. I’m hoping for a sequel where we get to learn more about Piker, his hacker friends who form The Hive and see if Chris learned to be circumspect.
Notwithstanding my complaint earlier about the book not being dark, in itself, Blood & Bitcoin is a very enjoyable suspense/thriller. It does not let up on the action and the twists and turns will keep your adrenaline running on high. There were many ever changing threads to unravel and identities to uncover. I had some inkling about Piker’s father but The Big Twist completely caught me off guard. That was, DAMN!
I recommend Blood & Bitcoin for those into stories about people with the right intentions doing it the wrong way.
P.S.
Other Criminal Delights books:
Only The Devil Knows (review here)
Devil Next Door (review here)
Wrong Way Home (review here)Rating:
3.5 Stars – that place between like and loveSoundtrack: In For The Kill
Artist: La Roux
Album: La Roux -
REVIEW: If The Seas Catch Fire by L.A. Witt
If The Seas Catch Fire – L.A. Witt
Sergei Andronikov was a child when the Mafia wiped out his family, leaving him with nothing but a hunger for revenge. Years later, through ruthless strategy and tireless patience, he’s a contract killer working for the three families ruling Cape Swan… and he’s nearly in position to bring them all down from the inside.
Domenico “Dom” Maisano is Mafia royalty, a made man… and a hitman. He’s caught up in a violent life he can’t escape, struggling to maintain an image he doesn’t want, and suppressing desires he can’t have.
A chance encounter throws the killers into each other’s paths. Though Dom knows he’s playing a dangerous game, he’s intrigued and keeps coming back. Sergei can’t resist him either—Dom is everything he set out to destroy, but he’s also everything he’s ever ached for in a man.
Then Sergei gets the contract he’s been waiting for—the hit that promises to bring the town’s Mafia to its knees.
But when a capo makes an unexpected move, Sergei must choose between dropping the hammer on the families he vowed to annihilate, and protecting the man he swore he wouldn’t love.
And the wrong choice—or even the right one—will destroy them both.
I picked this up because I specifically wanted to listen to Michael Ferraiuolo. I went in blind and came out awestruck . It was so good!
First of all, I was delighted to discover that the main characters were an assassin and a mafioso. I love stories with these kinds of antiheroes and double the thrill that this is a love story between the two.
Sergei and Dom met in less than ideal circumstances, parted ways then met again because Dom couldn’t stay away. At first it was just for sex then the arrangement became something of an emotional lifeline for the two men desperate to escape a situation where the only time you get out is when you are dead. The book painted a good picture of the struggle Sergei and Dom went through. It was pretty much gutwrenching. It was such a convincing no-way-out scenario that I half expected the ending to be tragic. The only guarantee this ends happily is this being MM.
Sergei saved the day with his resourcefulness and quick thinking. The man is deadly as fuck. Dom was the most reluctant made man there is. He had no choice because his uncle, the don, effectively traumatized him to submission. Dom was also his uncle’s personal hitman. Thing is, he is really just a gentle soul so even though he was bigger than Sergei, he could learn a thing or two about intimidating a target from the smaller man. They were supposed to kill each other but the chemistry between the two hitmen were off the charts. The enemies to lovers aspect was executed really well here.
If The Seas Catch Fire is a book about people with guns so violence and death are a given. It was described as dark, but although there were scenes of torture, I felt it didn’t cross over to the disturbing territory. However, the protagonists make morally gray decisions so if you are not comfortable with these kinds of characters, this might not be the book for you.
Author L.A. Witt impressed me yet again with her story telling. The twist and turns, the gritty atmosphere, the heartbreaking family situations and intense scenes all came together in a powerful emotional rollercoaster that I have come to associate with her angstier books. She makes her characters go through so much shit that I wouldn’t be surprised if they end up dead. How Sergei and Dom pulled it off was pure suspense. It was almost perfect but of course, something had to go tits up and there was a very close call so boy, was I relieved to see them miraculously survive!
I had a great time with this book. It’s a winning combination of good writing and outstanding narration so I recommend experiencing If The Seas Catch Fire in audiobook form.
P.S.
I also recommend other L.A. Witt books, the riveting Bad Behavior series, review here, and the fluffier, To My Future Number 1 Fan, review here.
Rating
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Slow Burn
Artist: David Bowie
Album: Heathen -
They spoke three languages between them, and there weren’t enough words to convey what they’d take to the grave, what they’d had a chance to taste before fate inevitably closed in.
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Bad Behavior: Romantic Behavior – L.A. Witt & Cari Z
Detective Andreas Ruffner is no fool—he’s found a man who loves him, puts up with him, and has stuck with him through hell and back, and it’s time to put a ring on it. Darren Corliss is the love of his life, and he wants the whole world to know it.
Now the fun part—the wedding!
Well, after the not-so-fun part of planning the wedding in between dealing with overbearing and impossible-to-please family members. With future mothers-in-law driving them both up a wall, the guest list growing out of control, and the wedding getting ever more complicated, Darren and Andreas have to wonder if they’re in over their heads.
But they’re going to make it to the altar if it kills them … and at this rate, it just might.
YES!!!
Andreas finally found the nerve to put a ring on it but the process of getting through the preparations was as tough as one of their cases. As long as it ended up with him and Darren being married to each other, neither of them tried to complain. Everybody is happy for the couple and Emily is excited to be the flower girl but Andreas’ mother is another story.
I am ecstatic they’re making it official! After what L.A. Witt & Cari Z put them through last time, I would riot if this doesn’t end happily. Luckily Romantic Behavior gave the boys their much deserved happy ending.
CONGRATULATIONS!
P.S.
Review of Bad Behavior books here.
Review of L.A. Witt books here.Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step away
Soundtrack: Milk and Black Spiders
Artist: Foals
Album: Holy Fire(source: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/36291125-romantic-behavior)
