Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: Criminal Pleasures
AUTHOR: Darien Cox
PUBLISHER: Dusk Notes
LENGTH: 213 pages
BLURB:
When young attorney Brendan Burke opens his first law practice in a new city, he knows things are about to change in his life—though he never expected one of those things to be his sexual orientation. But when he meets Marcello, a sexy and mysterious stranger working at a restaurant in Providence’s Little Italy, he can’t fight his compulsion to pursue him. But while Marcello is willing to let Brendan into his bedroom, he’s stubbornly elusive about his past and his family. Fixated on discovering the truth, Brendan’s passion for Marcello turns out to be far more dangerous than he ever anticipated.
REVIEW:
Darien Cox, where have you been all my life?!?!?!?! This book was AWESOME!!!! The writing was fantastic, I loved the characters, the conflicts were engaging and the fast pace of it all really hooked me in from the first few pages.
Brendan Burke is a family law lawyer. He followed in his father’s footsteps and basically did what was expected of him. His father decides to expand the family business and send Brendan to Providence, RI to open a new law firm there. With a couple of his new employees Brendan takes them out for a nice dinner to celebrate the opening. At the restaurant Brendan is struck silent by the sight of his busboy, Marcello. There’s no way to deny the fact that Brendan is fiercely attracted to Marcello, but Brendan’s not gay. Or so he always thought.
Marcello DiPrieto is not what he seems. Working at his family’s restaurant he too is attracted to Brendan but he has a lot of secrets and wants to keep Brendan at a distance. Unfortunately he cannot ignore the pull he has for him and they spend a smoking hot night together.
Something that cannot be denied is how hot these two characters are together. This author was able to capture Brendan’s first time with a man so perfectly and in my mind made it damn believable. I loved these two together.
There’s tons of intrigue and mystery and things come about that separate Brendan and Marcello. When the secrets are revealed and it’s discovered people aren’t who they say they are, Brendan and Marc have to claw their way back to the surface and fight for their right to be together.
I really appreciated the fact that Brendan, from basically the onset of realizing he was into Marc, really embraced his new found sexuality. There was no real inner turmoil. I loved his confidence and character.
I don’t want to spoil all the little twists and turns of this story but let’s just say there are quite a few doozies.
This is an HEA story full of sweetness, hot sex, and beautiful emotion. I highly recommend!!
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