What if the last thing you felt was the kiss of a knife?
Rasputin’s kiss is lethal. He’s a ghost—killing and
disappearing into the night. With few leads and four bodies on his conscience,
Detective Inspector Alex Courtney and his team are running on empty and it’s
only a matter of time before Rasputin strikes again.
When Alex recruits a young detective to play the part of
his boyfriend and provide a tempting target for a killer, he knows he is taking
a huge risk. He doesn’t expect Conor Trethuan to be a perfect potential
submissive. When their mutual attraction becomes more, Alex has to face the
conflict between his possessive instincts and the need to push his young lover
into danger.
Investigating their feelings has to come second to
investigating the case. There’s no time to decide if what they feel for each
other is real. With Rasputin closing in, they may not live to find out.
In Rasputin’s
Kiss we meet Detective Inspector Alex Courtney and Detective Conor Trethuan
as they work together to catch a serial killer. Despite the gravity of the
subject, I found Alex’s recruitment process that eventually led him to Conor
quite amusing. The scene serves to set the mood of the book and strikes a great
balance between humor and seriousness and the author does an excellent job of
tempering the starkness of the investigation with humor.
While the relationship between Alex
and Conor progressed quickly, somehow it worked in this case. The emotional
connection was forged so early in their relationship that it bordered on
insta-love yet the author managed to keep it from feeling rushed or forced,
thus avoiding the insta-love feel. I believe that the D/s aspect of their
assignment may have hastened their bond due to the level of trust involved, but
again the speed of development felt right. In fact, when Alex asserted his
dominance over Conor during sex, the chemistry between the two men increased
and this made for some unbelievable sex scenes.
The romantic suspense angle was well
written and the reader is not privy to information that allows them to figure
out who the responsible party is. Actually the book seems to be written in such
a way as to insure that the suspense is experienced while withholding info that
would allow the reader to figure out "who done it?" However, for me
this resulted in there not being quite as much suspense throughout the book as
I would have expected for a police thriller, but the police standoff at the end
more than made up for it. Rasputin’s Kiss
was a terrific read and I’m looking forward to starting Evil’s Embrace next.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Never
underestimate the power of obsession.
After the trauma of the Rasputin case, Detective Inspector
Alex Courtney and his boyfriend, Detective Constable Conor Trethuan, are in
desperate need of a holiday.
The peace and tranquillity of Cornwall can’t eradicate
Conor’s nightmares, though, and the unbearable prospect of losing Alex drives
him to confess feelings that he isn’t sure are reciprocated. Alex responds in
the best way he knows how—by issuing orders and claiming Conor’s body as well
as his heart.
Prematurely recalled to work, they are thrown into a
dangerous trafficking case focused on a leather bar with a hardcore reputation,
Spikes. Conor is sent in undercover, not knowing that he is only a decoy. When
Alex learns that the motivation behind his team’s involvement in the case might
not be as straightforward as it seems, he realises that his actions might
jeopardise not just their relationship, but Conor’s life, too. A shadowy figure
from Conor’s past is about to step into the light.
Ms. Somerton has penned another great
installment in the Investigating Love series. Alex and Conor are back – kinda,
sorta. Evil’s Embrace begins four
months after Rasputin’s Kiss and Alex
and Conor are headed out of town on a two-week holiday before Conor’s return to
work now that he has fully healed from his injuries. I should note that while
you can read this book without having read book one first, you’ll have a better
appreciation of Alex and Conor if you read Rasputin’s
Kiss first.
During the first part of the book we
get to see the guys spending relaxed one-on-one time together away from work,
giving readers of book one a chance to see how their relationship has
progressed and continues to do so. From their interactions it is clear that
they have developed deep feelings for one another, cementing the relationship
that began in Rasputin’s Kiss. Their
chemistry is palpable and this ratchets up the sex scenes significantly. Taking
it up another notch is that Conor is learning more about his submissive nature
and the Dom in Alex is more than ready to teach his brat a lesson or two (or
three…). But even as their feelings grow and their relationship strengthens,
their work threatens to get in the way of their relationship.
As with book one, Evil’s Embrace is a romantic suspense novel (which means fewer
specific details to avoid spoilers in my review). I felt that this one packed
more of a punch in the suspense department because Ms. Somerton laid a couple
of false trails as to which suspense element the guys were facing. I was
disappointed that the “trail” they encountered while on holiday wasn’t
revisited once they returned to the city, I can only hope that the author
returns to it because the potential plotline was compelling. Despite that minor
disappointment, Evil’s Embrace was a
great read. The storyline flowed and I found myself swept up in the action,
devouring the book in a matter of hours. Tarot’s
Touch, book three in the series, is next up on my reading list and I am
looking forward to finding out what is in store for Alex and Conor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Can truth be found in the cards?
DI Alex Courtney and his lover, DC Conor Trethuan are under
enormous pressure as their team investigates an arson case and a murder.
It soon becomes apparent that the two cases are linked and
the race is on to find a vicious killer. A tarot card is left with the first
victim and the detectives are left to interpret the clues it provides. When
Conor receives a note from the killer making reference to another card, the
whole team is shaken. Their worst fears are realised when a second body is
discovered, along with another tarot card.
Conor suspects he has been followed, then a hit and run
leaves him injured. Alex wants nothing more than to wrap his lover up in cotton
wool and protect him from the world. But is Conor the killer’s target or just a
pawn in a much more sinister game? As the clues come together it seems that the
motive for murder might be revenge.
In Tarot’s
Touch, Alex and Conor have settled into their relationship and seem to be
doing a pretty good job of keeping the lines drawn between their personal and
professional lives. Although the detectives in their division are very
supportive of their relationship (hilariously so), Alex has assigned Detective
Higgs to serve as Conor’s direct supervisor in order to avoid accusations of
favoritism. When evidence comes to light that the cases they are each working
on may be connected, Alex has to overcome his protective instinct and work hard
not to hinder Conor’s ability to work by mollycoddling him – a difficult task
for a man in love and the Dom inside of him. As their cases unfold and more
evidence comes to light, they learn that there is even more to the
investigation than they expected and an already dangerous situation becomes
deadly.
Ms. Somerton once again strikes a
wonderful balance between the suspense of the police investigations and the romance
between Alex and Connor. Although several months have passed since the previous
book, their relationship continues to develop and strengthen. The love and
trust they have for one another is obvious both inside the bedroom and out of
it. Alex continues to train Connor as his submissive and the introduction of an
assortment of toys and paraphernalia make their already hot sex life explosive.
The scene at the club demonstrates just how far their relationship has come and
the level of trust that Conor has in Alex. While a few of the sex scenes can be
considered graphic, they flow within the storyline. I think this works largely
due to the fact that the author is showing us both sides of the men’s lives –
professional and personal.
One of the reasons I enjoy being a
book blogger is that I get the opportunity to review books that I probably
never would have encountered otherwise and the Investigating Love series is a
prime example of this. As much as I enjoy reading romantic suspense novels,
it’s one of the genres I don’t read as much of as I would like to because I
have a hard time finding authors who strike the right balance between suspense,
romance and sex for my tastes. Ms. Somerton does this and does it well. Over
the three books she has developed Alex and Connor’s romantic relationship
gradually and the D/s relationship has followed a natural progression – rather
than Alex throwing Conor in the deep end of the submissive pool without any
training (which I have seen in books). That the suspense angle involves
multiple cases, as would occur in real life, makes the books that much more
believable and not predictable. I’m looking forward to the next book in the
series and can only hope that eventually the guys will make it through one
without a trip to the hospital.
She loves the English weather, especially the rain, and adores a thunderstorm. She loves good food, warm company and a crackling fire. She's fascinated by the psychology of relationships, especially between men, and her stories contain some subtle (and not so subtle) leanings towards BDSM.
Many thanks for hosting the tour and for Angela's lovely reviews :) LM xx
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