Reviewed by Donna

TITLE: Soul of Discretion

AUTHOR: Susan Mac Nicol & M. Tasia

PUBLISHER: Boroughs Publishing

LENGTH: 181 Pages

RELEASE DATE: April 29, 2018

BLURB:

CAN YOU KEEP A SECRET

Simon Bridgeworth believes in loyalty, and keeping things in-house. When he discovers his best friend, who has been running the Canadian division of Simon’s tech empire, has been skimming millions from the company, Simon flies to Toronto to get to the bottom of the theft and learns his friend has been murdered. Devastated and at a loose end, Simon knows there’s no way the company’s problems can be kept under wraps now. Imagine his surprise when he learns the Mountie investigating the murder is the first repeat Simon has allowed himself in years.

Sergeant Nick Cooper is a proud member of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. He’s served his country in the military, and now he’s protecting the citizenry of Toronto. But devotion to duty is no longer enough. On a whim, Nick hooks up with Aristocrat69 on crUIzer, and what started as one night of incredible sex turns into an attraction neither man can ignore. When a grisly mob murder sends Nick to the Breakforce corporation, he is shocked to discover his lover is none other than its CEO. When Simon’s life is threatened, ethical lines blur as Nick does anything to keep him safe – no cost is too high for the man who has become Nick’s everything.

REVIEW:

I’m not going to lie, I’m not a fan of that cover. Had I seen the cover before requesting the book, I might have given it a miss. And that would have been a damn shame, because this story was pretty bloody awesome.

Simon, aka the Earl of Stoneham, is a big old man-ho. So much so that he created his very own hookup app – crUIzer. He never sleeps with his hookups and he never fucks the same man twice. Being too nice just gives guys the wrong idea. When Simon discovers that his best friend and COO has stolen millions from the Canadian branch of his company, he personally heads off to Canada to deal with the mess. Only to discover that his friend has mob ties and has been murdered.

Enter Nick Cooper, aka the sexy Mountie who loves to be dominated in bed. Nick arrives at the Breakforce corp. offices intent on investigating a mob murder and is shocked to discover the company’s owner is the guy that he hooked up with from crUIzer. Needless to say, any sort of relationship between Nick and Simon, purely sexual or otherwise, would be deemed inappropriate by Nick’s employers. But when Simon is willing to break his own rule and suggest that they continue to see each other until he returns to England, Nick can’t bring himself to say no.

I really enjoyed the way these two authors wrote together. I’m going to assume that they wrote one character each as usually seems to be the case with co-authors, but the switch between the two men was seamless and the overall writing style constant. The plot was extremely enjoyable. Billionaires aren’t usually my thing but this didn’t read like one of the usual “ridiculously rich guy” stories. The action/investigation portion of the plot moved along at a brisk pace, though no element felt rushed. And while I liked what the authors did with that – the secondary characters were well developed and interesting, and there wasn’t any eye rolling TSTL moments – it was the relationship portion of the plot that I loved the most. In fact, the investigation wrapped up earlier in the story than is typical, and I can only say kudos to the authors for making that decision and allowing that extra time at the end to sort through the tangle that was Simon’s and Nick’s relationship. I think that’s where the story could have fallen apart for me, if the crime was solved and hey presto Nick and Simon are living their HEA. Instead our two hopeless MCs are too awkward and stubborn to “use their words” and that harder ending felt much more satisfying.

These men together were hot. Really. Sexy. Hot. I’m not big on sex scenes as a rule, but the ones in this book get a great big tick of approval. The chemistry between them was pretty intense. I loved that the big tough Mountie wasn’t shy about waving that ass in the air and Simon definitely wasn’t shy about demanding and taking what he wanted. And while pet names normally have me gritting my teeth in disgusted horror (I LOATHE CUTESY PET NAMES) I loved loved loved that Simon and Nick used their crUIzer handles as endearments. It was the perfect way for these guys, who were determined not to show any feelings, to have their own special name for each other without exposing their sappy sides.

Bonus points are totally added for the inclusion for Simon’s valet, Peter, performing an off key rendition of Whitney Houston’s Bodyguard. Actually, just bonus points for Peter. I loved that sassy bugger!

I highly recommend giving this one a read. I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Amazon

Boroughs Publishing