Reviewed by Carissa

TITLE:  November Rain

SERIES:  Fire and Rain #4

AUTHOR:  Daisy Harris

PUBLISHER:  Samhain Publishing

LENGTH:  140 pages

BLURB:  

A single bullet could take them both down.

 Detective Joe Klamath is used to guys falling on their backs at the arch of his commanding eyebrow. Yet he can’t seem to get a read on a cute, department-store sales guy. The vagrant who just walked in, though? He’s easy to read. He’s dangerous.

Joe’s training kicks in, but as he wrestles the gun-wielding man, he gets shot.

Raised in a conservative Ethiopian community, Elias Abraham keeps his natural attraction to men under wraps. But Joe’s heroism moves him to care for the man who saved his life. After all, Joe is hurt. Chances are slim he’ll demand the types of things boys in college always wanted. Sex acts Elias wasn’t—and possibly never will be—ready for.

Gradually, Joe’s easy confidence softens Elias’s resistance. But as Joe’s healing progresses too slowly for a man of action, and trouble brews in Elias’s family, Elias begins to wonder if he can handle the pressure. Because though he hasn’t given all of his body, he’s already given all of his heart.

REVIEW:  

 Joe was perfect, all the more so because being injured, he wouldn’t want the things boys at college had wanted from Elias. At least not right away. Joe needed help and could offer kisses. He was safe.

Joe only wanted to buy a damn shirt and flirt with the sexy sales-guy. He did not want to get shot. On the list of things he wanted to do, in fact, getting shot was pretty far down the fucking list. But there he was, wrestling a crazy dude to the floor in the middle of the department store, and totally not making the first impression he was going for, on that sexy sales-guy.  And getting shot. Don’t forget getting shot.

Luckily it only grazed his leg.

Elias has no clue what he wants. Ok, that’s a lie, he knows what he wants, he just has no clue how to go about having it. Because no matter how much he wants to kiss the hot cop flirting with him, he can’t get past the feeling that to have Joe will mean he is going to lose his family. Then Joe gets shot…and Elias finds himself wanting to take care of the grumpy, wounded man. Even if the cost may be too high in the end.

Well, I certainly wasn’t expecting to get all hot and bothered by a sponge bath, but dear me, that was hot. And wet. And so very very slick…

(Sorry, that scene has a way of sticking with ya. In a very good way.)

I adore this latest book in Harris’ Fire and Rain series. They are usually low angst, with hot guys and interesting stories, so it makes a great way to spend my Sunday nights (especially when I am avoiding having to do the dishes that have piled up all weekend). Plus I was pleased to see one of the characters had an Ethiopian background, since that is not something I had read about before. Even if Elias was raised in the states, it was cool to see a little of his culture in this story.

While Joe can be a bit of a dick, I really liked how confident he was. Yes he needs to work on his people skills, but then again, if I had been shot I would probably be the worst patient ever, so I think I can cut him some slack. He is not perfect–and he is more than willing to admit it–and I liked how he had to struggle with himself to make sure the more idiotic parts of his brain didn’t ruin what was coming to be a very important relationship with Elias. I have a real thing for characters that don’t automatically do the ‘right thing’ at every turn. Granted I don’t want them to be complete dunderheads, but seeing that you are being you are being prejudiced (even if it is unintentional) and then having to give yourself a mental slap down is something I understand quite a lot about.

This was just pleasant, if sometimes extremely hot, read. Elias and Joe clicked with me quite a bit. Elias’ shyness and Joe’s certainty were a great fit, especially as they get to know each other better. Shyness becomes strength and certainty falters a little in face of what is rapidly becoming love, and I like how the characters fit each other even when they were still trying to find their way in this relationship.

If you haven’t read any of the other books in this series, this one is a pretty good stand-alone. There was a few mentions of characters in the other books, but if you haven’t read the other books, it barely matters. Though, I did enjoy the others in the series, so I would recommend you check them out if you like this book. Which I did. Quite a bit.

RATING:  

BUY LINKS:

Samhain

Amazon