Man, this one's a rough ride (plot), but sooo satisfying (characters)!

So, yeah. Gonna read the rest. That's the good. The only real flaw is stupid bad guys. But, eh. I had male cousins. They really can be that stupid in groups. :) Sorry, guys. ( )

Sidney Bell is just spectacular. This is the second book of this author's that I've read, and if you like that gritty Cara McKenna or M. O'Keefe feel-like the flower -growing-in-the-concrete type of romances, then you will like these. The characters are hard, but trying to be good. Their lives are gritty and never easy.

It was such a treat to read the star-of-the-show Church paired with the gentle Miller (and again kudos to something that really really should weird me out and making it work!) as well as the intriguing cast that is no doubt going to come up in the next books (Ghost and Tobias) - a line from Tobias about made me sob. So good, so angsty and heavy emotionally and yet not oppressive. I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

If you want to read a raw romance about breaking cycles in multiple ways, well then, this is a treat. ( )

!Spoilers ahead!

Miller was 24 when he met Church, who broke into he's home in an attempt to clear the place out and take every valuable piece he could. He was one foot out the window with an old TV when Miller caught him. And what could a man do when he catches a 16-year-old thief? He gives him food and strikes up a conversation with him. Right then and there they formed a bond. Church visited Miller frequently. They ate together, watched TV, did mundane things, and became friends ... until Church fucked it up.

Church had anger issues. When he faced rejection from the one man who mattered to him, he ran and got into trouble, which landed him in the system.

After 5 years in the Woodbury Treatment Center, he vowed to walk a straight line (of course nothing went as planned, cue the mobsters), and leaned on Miller. They had an easy friendship, and after what happened, it was hard to find the way back to that.

Miller might've just placed himself on the top of my favorite characters list. He was in denial, and shoved down any feelings toward men, he didn't acknowledge it, and even convinced himself he's into women... actually he didn't even want to consider the possibility that he might like men. He's father always told him it was wrong and those people would burn in hell. He was confused and conflicted. He kept telling himself that feeling the way he feels is wrong.

But Church was beyond patient with him, and tried to hold himself back, somewhat successfully. :P I so loved the chemistry between them. They were so good together.

While in the treatment center, Church befriended 2 boys, who both were excellent secondary characters.

Ghost! Ohm'god! That boy is... complicated, and very, very intriguing. :D
Tobias is the sweetest, cutest, most adorable, most well-mannered boy I've encountered.

Every characters' personality is well developed, even the Russian meth dealers (or whatever they actually did). Especially Vasily, who acted very childish, and was throwing tantrums like a kid, and rebelled against his mother. He really wasn't fit to lead the empire. What I couldn't figure out is what were they actually doing if not selling drugs? Human trafficking? Pimping out young men and women? And why did Mama needed Ghost so desperately? The author deliberately evaded answering these questions, and filling in the gaps, so the story could continue. Mystery upon mystery. :)

Crime stories aren't really my thing, especially when the book is all about the romance until the last few chapters, when all of a sudden, without any warning, or even just a hint, they bring out the guns, and start killing. In this book however the possibility of that aspect was introduced early on, so I wasn't caught off guard, which in my book is a success.

This was a very enjoyable and fulfilling read. Highly recommended! :)


( )

Love and suspense

There was a lot going on in this book, maybe a little more than necessary, but it all came together in the end. I enjoyed the characters of bot Miller and Church and all they went through to be together. ( )