SERIES: The Way of the Yakuza #2

AUTHOR: HJ Brues

PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press

LENGTH: 336 pages

BLURB:

Sequel to Yakuza Pride

Ex-Navy SEAL Brendan O’Farrihy enrolls in kendo classes to investigate a Honolulu dojo acting as a front for a yakuza syndicate. Or at least that’s what Brendan’s client, Senator Harris, believes. Through his kendo instructor, the cocky, short-fused, gorgeous Kinosuke Yonekawa, Brendan learns the criminals who are supposedly using the senator’s son, Kenneth, to expand their activities into the US, seem to have severed any yakuza connections. The jaded, soul-scarred former soldier is captivated by the loyalty these gangsters show each other and the way they protect Ken like a tight military unit. Brendan wonders why the senator lied to him, and what the yakuza are shielding Ken from.

When Ken disappears, Brendan suspects foul play and decides to help the man he is falling for, Kinosuke, and his friends, find Ken. But when Kinosuke discovers Brendan has been on the senator’s payroll, all bets are off.

REVIEW:

(Note: If you have not read Book 1, this review will contain spoilers)

I was so anticipating Yakuza Courage. I remember really enjoying the first book, Yakuza Pride. It got five stars from me two years ago when I read it. I guess time does make a difference because I’m not feeling the love so much with this sequel.

I really liked the set-up…

The author, once again, shapes the story with an interesting look at island culture, this time Hawaiian. Book one ended with Shigure Matsunaga (leader of the powerful yakuza family, the Shinagawa-gumi), walking off into the sunset with his gaijin lover, Ken Harris, and followed by his loyal clan members: Kinosuke, Shinya, Tachibana, and teenager, Kotaro. The Shinagawa gang left Japan and yakuza life behind for a new start in the US.

Now they live together in a converted warehouse where they also operate a dojo, teaching kendo and aikido. One of them, Tachibana, has even married an island girl. So we get some martial arts training and the challenges of fitting in this strange new paradise. And Ken getting used to his role as bankroller for this new life. That certainly causes some tension between him and Shigure.

Enter the bigger conflict. Ken’s evil father, Senator Harris, continues his interference in Ken’s life and sends an ex-Navy SEAL, Brendan O’Farrihy, to gather intel on Ken and Shigure. Things get murky when Brendan begins to empathize with his marks. He was the CO of his own close group of SEAL operatives so he understands the tough training and loyalty of Shigure’s men. In fact, when Brendan calls on his SEAL friends for help (another boatload of characters to keep track of), it’s interesting to see how the two groups interact.

To complicate things, Brendan quickly becomes smitten with the beautiful Kinosuke. His attention wavers in that direction, and Kinosuke returns the same attraction. So the romantic aspect shifts from Ken and Shigure to this new couple thus setting up for even more confusion and mixed signals.

Things come to a head when the cute Kotaro gets into some teenaged shenanigans and makes some trouble for the group. I have to add that I like Kotaro– when we get his POV, full of sulky insecurity, we get a feel not only for his being the youngest, most inexperienced one in the group, and how that chafes, but also for some issues with fitting into a new culture.

So, what didn’t work…

The writing just doesn’t do it for me. All the good stuff mentioned is delivered with so much telling, so much interminable sketching out and explaining of actions and feelings that the story gets seriously bogged down with it. It lumbers along. Even when the shit hits the fan and the Senator moves in to interfere, once more, with Ken and his ex-yakuza, the action and the tension is diluted by too much freaking blather.

Another issue has to do with the three alternating POVs; we mostly see things through Brendan, Kinosuke and Kotaro’s eyes. The problem is that Kinosuke and Kotaro’s voices are so similar, both full of sulky, sullen sarcasm, which works for the teenaged Kotaro but not so much for the older, more experienced Kinosuke. I found this very distracting. More distinction between them, and an older, more fitting voice for Kinosuke would have helped me take him more seriously.

It’s been some years since I read book one; I don’t remember having the same issues there. I know that I really connected with the sheer joy of reading about a culture not often delved into in MM romance, and I dug that fiery passion between Ken and Shigure. But here, they are relegated to the sidelines. This is really supposed to be Brendan and Kinosuke’s story. Yet their romance is mostly about longing looks, misunderstandings and huffy spats that keep them apart for big chunks of the story as they become embroiled in thwarting the Senator’s evil tricks.

So, there’s some stuff to like but it’s thwarted by the delivery. There are a boatload of characters to keep track of (I didn’t even mention Brendan’s SEAL pals). Even Brendan and Kinosuke’s romance seems two-dimensional and limp. Not what you’d want in a M/M romance. Bah, I was hoping for so much more.

RATING: 

BUY LINKS: 

Dreamspinner Press

Amazon

ARe