Review by Macky

TITLE: Loving Luki Vasquez (Book #1)
SERIES: Vasquez & James
AUTHOR: Lou Sylvre
BLURB: Reclusive weaver Sonny Bly James controls every color and shape in his tapestries, but he can’t control the pattern of his life—a random encounter with Luki Vasquez, ex-ATF agent and all-around badass, makes that perfectly clear. The mutual attraction is immediate, but love-shy Sonny has retreated from life, and Luki wears his visible and not-so-visible scars like armor. Neither can bare his soul with ease.

While they run from desire, they can’t hide from the evil that hunts them. After it becomes clear that a violent stalker has targeted Sonny, Luki’s protective instincts won’t let him run far, especially when Sonny’s family is targeted as well. Whether they can forgive or forget, Sonny and Luki will have to call a truce and work together to save Sonny’s nephew and fight an enemy intent on making sure loving Luki Vasquez is the last mistake Sonny will ever make.

REVIEW:

This is a bit confusing for me because I was certain that I’d read this when it was very first released but as I got into the story I started to get a weird feeling that I’d only read the sample chapters because I remembered  the intro to it but as I read on it got less and less familiar, so it looks like my brain was playing tricks. Time’s passed and I’ve slept since then, so I think it will forever remain a mystery. 😉

Anyway to get to the review! This has the sort of storyline that I really love. Crime, mystery, suspense and of course the sexy love story to bind it together with two very interesting, flawed characters. Luki is actually scarred inside and out! So I was expecting great things and at times I got them but I also had early moments of disconnect. For the first half of the book I found myself having to really concentrate to keep myself in the zone  because I was finding it hard to get that connection with Luki and Sonny that usually (for me) happens from the word go. I admit to a little moment of panic where I thought It wasn’t going to happen at all.

Lou Sylvre writes beautifully, there’s no doubt about that, but it didn’t always have that easy flow and I felt the chemistry and sexual tension that I thought  should have been jumping off the page when they were together, suffered for it. Although, there are some very nice love scenes that make up for that,  so its there but just not consistently.

I liked Luki and Sonny but I wanted to LOVE them and it was frustrating because something was stopping me from doing that. I honestly think that this is one of those books that will either be love at first read or a slow burner for most readers. It was a slow start for yours truly.

But…then came the Hallelujah moment when the two of them hit a very rough patch in their relationship. It was my favourite part of the whole story, when Luki makes a terrible rash decision and then realises he’s made a massive mistake with Sonny that he can’t get out of and they have a very intense scene together that really touched me and made me realise that at this point they did truly love each other. This was my epiphany and it was like turning on a light… I finally felt the connect.

” Is that how you see…saw me? You thought I was beautiful?” “yes,” Sonny said, and then he sighed. His voice had lost it’s edge, melodious and rich again. ” That’s how I see you. I think you’re beautiful.”

” I never cry” He tried to smile, to pretend it was a joke. Sonny turned around to face him. ” yes Luki,” he said. ” You do. You’re crying most of the time, and everyone knows it but you.”

From then on the book took off and I got pulled into the story, especially as at this point the crime/ suspense thread in the plot moves up a notch as well. So I sighed in relief and got stuck in till the final showdown, which is nail biting enough to make you sit on your hands.

Overall thoughts… Apart from the initial stutter, I did end up enjoying the book but it didn’t quite reach the level of greatness I would have loved to have wowed about but its good and having finished it I’d now like to see more of Luki and Sonny’s journey so I’ll definitely carry on the series. I’m hoping that as the series progresses I’ll get to know the characters a lot better. I’ve got a feeling this will start to grow on me more with each new book…I really hope so. One thing I do love are the covers for this series, Done I think by Reese Dante. Stunning and very classy to match Lou’s writing style!

This would have been a 4 star rating but the connection came just a bit too late in the game to fully warrant that so I’m pitching it just below at 3.75.

Macky’s Rating:  [3.75 stars]

BUY LINK: Dreamspinner Press  ||  Book Store

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