-- MY THOUGHTS >
Judging a Book by it's Cover:
The eyes are automatically drawn to the cuffs and badge, as well as the word Vegas. Slowly, your eyes are drawn upward to a naked male torso on the upper half sort of blending into the shadows, but with just enough accent to define him. The synopsis was interesting and I love a man in uniform, so here's hoping it's a good read! ;)
Looking Deeper:
Third-person POV novella, originally released as part of the SUMMER BIGGER THAN OTHERS anthology. Reed's a Las Vegas cop, working the night shift. He'd recently quit a relationship in which he was cheated on and been angry and anti-social since. Grant's in Vegas to try to prove to his a-hole ex that he, in fact, is not boring and was worthy of love... not that his ex cares, the jerk's already moved on and is vacationing in Mexico! These two guys are loving and lovable, and deserve to be treated with kindness and caring. Often, in a novella this short, the couple have history to help support the quickie hookup, but this is not the case here. It all happens real fast, but somehow manages to feel real, believable, natural. Maybe it's the whole "trust him, he's a cop" thing that Reed has going on, I don't know, but I did not find myself questioning the speed of progression. The dialogue and interaction throughout also felt right and not forced. There was not a lot of depth and complexity to this little short story, but it flowed quite nicely and was over before I knew it. A few conflicts of minor proportion were introduced and handled expediently, however the biggest concern was the ending... it implies that there is a HEA, but the long-tern logistics are not worked out for the reader to feel secure in their future. Overall, it's a cute, fun, super quick read. I enjoyed it, but wished there'd been just a little more.
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Heat Level: 4 [R] ~ Score: 4.0 ~ Stars: 4
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