Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Down and Dirty
SERIES: Cole McGinnis #5
AUTHOR: Rhys Ford
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 220 pages
BLURB:
From the moment former LAPD detective Bobby Dawson spots Ichiro Tokugawa, he knows the man is trouble. And not just because the much younger Japanese inker is hot, complicated, and pushes every one of Bobby’s buttons. No, Ichi is trouble because he’s Cole McGinnis’s younger brother and off-limits in every possible way. And Bobby knows that even before Cole threatens to kill him for looking Ichi’s way. But despite his gut telling him Ichi is bad news, Bobby can’t stop looking… or wanting.
Ichi was never one to play by the rules. Growing up in Japan as his father’s heir, he’d been bound by every rule imaginable until he had enough and walked away from everything to become his own man. Los Angeles was supposed to be a brief pitstop before he moved on, but after connecting with his American half-brothers, it looks like a good city to call home for a while—if it weren’t for Bobby Dawson.
Bobby is definitely a love-them-and-leave-them type, a philosophy Ichi whole-heartedly agrees with. Family was as much of a relationship as Ichi was looking for, but something about the gruff and handsome Bobby Dawson that makes Ichi want more.
Much, much more.
REVIEW:
What a great addition to the series!
This was a very different book compared to the others in the series. For one, it is mostly from Bobby’s perspective, and is just about him and Ichiro. There is no mystery to solve, no big plot. Just the building of a relationship between Bobby and Ichiro. If follows along at the same time as the last Cole and Jae book, we see glimpses of them, and see the things that happen to them through Bobby’s eyes. I was concerned about this when it started, but it worked very well for me.
Bobby is such a great character in the other books in this series, I’ve always wanted to get to know him better. He’s always there to help Cole, and we get little bits and pieces of his life, but we just really don’t know him. He was a cop, he’s gay, he’s althetic and fit, beats the crap out of Cole routinely, and fucks a lot of boys. He’s a good guy, a VERY good guy, but we just don’t have details. Until this book. I loved it! I love him even more. He’s such a bad ass on the outside, but deep in there is a scared, damaged, lonely man. Until Ichiro cracks open his shell and crawls in.
Ichiro is equally as interesting to me. The younger bother of Mike and Cole, he appeared very unexpectedly a couple of books ago. Cole was an ass to him, and I wasn’t sure we’d see much more of him. At the time I was indifferent to him, but he’s certainly grown on me in the last book or two. I love how he has made a home and wiggled his way in to Cole and Mikes lives, and become best buddies with Jae. I think they all needed him, he’s strong enough to hold his own amongst the stronger, established characters, and he fits in well. I’ve loved the flirty flirty thing he’s had going on with the bad boy Bobby, and that we haven’t really known his sexual orientation. Or every thing that happened to him before he left Japan. He’s been a bit reserved, he is Japanese afterall, and seems shy and unsure at times, with his new life in the US.
So Bobby and Ichiro make eyes at one another for some time, getting closer then pulling away. REALLY close at one point, but they freak out, realizing what a bad idea this is, and run! Both are hearing Cole warn them away from the other. Bobby is bad for Ichi, he’s a slut, he’s not a lover just a fuck buddy, don’t get attached or he’ll hurt you. Cole tells Bobby to stay away from Ichi, and tells Ichi to stay away from Bobby. But of course they can’t! And don’t.
There isn’t a huge big plot with with book, it’s just the developement of the two characters. And that was just fine. Nothing to distract from them. They talk, we learn so much about both of them, they make each other happy. The other characters gradually find out what is between them, one at a time really, until it all blows up with a major Cole tantrum. We learn how and why Bobby left the police department. We learn what lead to Ichiro leaving Japan, and why he hates his father. We see Cole through the eyes of Bobby, the brother of his heart, and Ichi, the brother he recently aquired. You need to read it to get the details, it’s all dramatic and perfect.
The physical connection between Bobby and Ichiro is as hot as you would expect, I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Rhys Ford writes some of the best sex scenes in this genre. Her characters don’t just fuck. By the time any of them make it to bed (or couch!), they are emotionally connected as well. She perfectly blends hot fucking with emotional love making. It’s not sappy, these are big, strong men, it’s all very physical and naughty, but there is emotion as well. I’ve always loved Jae and Cole’s sex scenes, Bobby and Ichiro’s are equally as good.
If you have read this series and liked it, you HAVE to read this book. It adds so much to the overall story of this family of men, it is wonderful. If you haven’t read the others, you really HAVE to. I love this series very much, and think they should be a requirement for all fans of m/m romance to read!
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Wonderful review! I love this series.
Wonderful review, and well deserved. I loved it, too.