Jericho's Boys is a spinoff of the author's Necessary Evils series and revolves around the "strays" Jericho Navarro (and by marriage, Atticus Mulvaney) has taken under his wing. The first book follows Arseny Lebedev - mechanic, gamer and sometimes killer - as he finds more than expected on his most recent murder job; a grown human being who has been kept in a cupboard - Ever.

This is very similar to the Necessary Evils series but with feelings - from both love interests! So similar that not everyone will be able to overlook it, but generally if you loved that series then you'll love this. For me, it was just enjoyable - an easy way to relax with a story I know is going to deliver with humour, steam, feels and a little bit of murder.

In terms of needing to read Necessary Evils first - you could probably get by without but I wouldn't particularly recommend it. The romance and most of the plot stands up but there's a lot of character backstories and in jokes that don't really make sense without Necessary Evils. Some of it is explained but most of it isn't. It undoubtedly makes the narrative stronger if you have and frankly - much more enjoyable.

Arsen was a loveable giant who just wanted to take care of Ever. Ever was a mix of Noah (#1: Unhinged) and Arlo (#3.5: Damaged). A small hurt and slightly damaged pixie of love and sunshine with a tiny savage side. His jealousy was very amusing and I loved that Arsen was a bit oblivious to the attention he got. To be fair I was always going to love Ever - he's a book addict. There's just something about voracious readers you have to love. Especially ones that are named after Happily Ever After.

As for the romance, Arsen and Ever were super sweet together and the sex burned hot. Arsen made a few missteps in confronting trauma but I appreciated that he was doing his best and that he was willing to ask for help when he mucked up. I loved that all Jericho's Boys were invested in spoiling Ever and helping him try out all his firsts. The breakfast at the diner with all the random diners buying their favourite breakfast foods for Ever to try was heartwarming. Sometimes it's nice to be reminded that the world isn't all full of bad people and terrible deeds.

Unlike the Necessary Evils series this was fairly tame on the violence. The large majority of the book is hurt comfort romance. Towards the end though the violence starts with an appearance of Avi, Asa and Atticus Mulvaney. But even then it wasn't quite as vicious, the large majority happens off page.

So a slightly dark, but generally pretty tame, morally grey romance with lots of hurt comfort and a bunch of wacky characters. Was it perfect? No. Did I enjoy it? Hell yes. 4.5 stars, rounded to 5. ( )

I have avidly read the Necessary Evils series and have waited patiently for Paladin, the first of the new series, Jericho’s Boys. I also freely admit to having a strong bias in that I love Onley James’ writing style. Paladin did not disappoint me.

The characters are richly developed and the context they are set in is vibrant. I was just starting to feel like an element was missing in chapter 14, when, with fantastic pacing, Onley deftly inserted the next twist in the story and that feeling was washed away as the plot developed even more.

In addition to the fact that Onley’s writing is not only entertaining, and her attention to detail creates a world we can immerse ourselves in, her subject matter is incredibly thought-provoking. Read the following quote and then tell me - how would you answer the question given?
“Killing was wrong. But Ever had met a lot of bad, wrong people since Jennika bought him and Arsen didn’t feel bad about what he did to her. None of them felt bad. Even if they did bad things. But was it really bad? Killing Jennika had saved him. Arsen had referred to her as a horrible person. And she was. The worst kind of person. So, what was the real sin? Allowing an evil person to keep hurting innocents or wiping out the evil to protect others?”
Onley, I eagerly await Rouge and the next step in Jericho’s Boys.
Interested in a more in-depth review? Check me out at https://meanderingthoughts6.ca/ ( )