Trowchester Blues (Trowchester Blues, #1) in Riptide Publishing

Feb 20, 2015 Kaje Harper rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: comfort-reread, favorites, signif-past-abuse, m-m

4.5 stars rounded up. I really enjoyed this - a flavorful story with originality, after a couple of competent but ordinary books I read.

Michael became a cop with the London Metropolitan Police to protect people, to do good work, and to be everything his emotionally abusive father wasn't. But time, and crime, with its impact on the innocent, have worn him down. He's seen more pain and suffering at the hands of criminals than he can stand. Then the death of his father, even though it represents th 4.5 stars rounded up. I really enjoyed this - a flavorful story with originality, after a couple of competent but ordinary books I read.

Michael became a cop with the London Metropolitan Police to protect people, to do good work, and to be everything his emotionally abusive father wasn't. But time, and crime, with its impact on the innocent, have worn him down. He's seen more pain and suffering at the hands of criminals than he can stand. Then the death of his father, even though it represents the loss of antagonism and not of love, sets him adrift. A new abused innocent pushes him past the breaking point, and when the smoke clears he's forced to resign from the force and start his life over.

Going back to his father's old house in Trowchester, now his, is a bit like pulling the scab off a festering sore. It's messy and difficult, it hurts, and the memories that leak out are the kind that stain his heart and churn his stomach. But if he can get past that, if he can exorcise his father from the house and his head, perhaps he can move on.

There have been changes in Trowchester since Michael last lived there, and one new establishment draws him in. It's a bookstore, but an odd one. The window displays only one volume, and the words on the glass are more challenge than welcome. Michael can't help being curious about what lies inside. What he finds is a treasurehouse of old volumes, odd curios, and the man who is at home among them.

Finn moved out of the city to escape a life spiralling down into crime. Five years ago, he lost his partner, and almost his freedom, and this new bookstore is his fresh start. He's self-sufficient, comfortable in his skin, and interested in the sad, sexy, tentative man who wanders in one day. But Finn's past isn't done with him, and Michael's police instincts may be as much hindrance as help. These two very different men each need an ally to make it through the weeks to come, and they fasten on each other with sudden and almost obsessive attraction. But trust doesn't come easy to either of them.

I really liked these characters, who are complex and flawed men, with quirks (like Finn's preferences in bed) that make them an imperfect fit. I really liked that. The story went places I wasn't expecting, and resolved in ways that surprised me. A couple of the developments perhaps pushed believability a little, and the relationship development was very fast, but nothing went over the top for me. I really connect with this author's writing style, which I'd so far only experienced in historicals. It worked equally well for me in a contemporary. I immediately bought the next book in the series. ...more

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Jan 02, 2015 Susan Laine rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: joyfully-jay-reviews

3.75 stars. This is not by any means light reading. Heavy issues are dealt with in these pages, such as a cop who has seen far, far too much and all but loses his mind over the horrors he’s seen. To Michael, every person in the streets appears as either a victim or a villain. Finn is bookshop owner who made mistakes in his reckless youth, which earned him a criminal record and a terrible need to bury the past for good. Not being able to cope with one’s life and desperately searching for a change ...more

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