DAY 9
Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: Mens Rea
AUTHOR: Brooke Edwards
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH:
BLURB:
James Carter is forty-five and has been a police officer most of his life. He married young, lost her young, and his life revolved around his work and his son. Young is a recurring theme in his life, he thinks, when he meets the considerably younger AUSA Derek Moore on a case and finds himself ruled by the whims of his heart.
The road to love between a hotshot lawyer and a veteran cop was never going to be smooth, not in the real world, but there are criminals, misunderstandings, and a lack of communication standing in their way too. Both are so stubborn and convinced their interest is one-sided that it takes a murder case, exhaustion, and an adjournment for them to get their act together. They move fast after that, but they both know there’s no guarantee for tomorrow.
REVIEW:
You know, at first I was thinking this started out too slow but as the story went on I found the pacing perfect for how short this story was. These two men didn’t just jump into bed together then the next thing you know, insta love. They worked through attraction, miscommunication, and missed clues to build something that was quite real, sweet, and totally believable.
James Carter is the Chief of Police. Protecting and serving, enforcing the law, and solving crime is what he’s good at, it’s what he knows. After losing his wife, he’s raised his son into adulthood and lives his job. Crime in his city brings him into constant contact with hot shot lawyer Derek Moore. He is immediately attracted but he doesn’t know where Derek stands and he’s under some false impressions.
I really enjoyed watching these two work together. I loved how this author implemented so many little facets to show these men being able to work together. Showing how compatible they are, and by doing that proving that they are indeed a good fit.
This push and pull leads to a coming together that is quite explosive and even though there was no “real” sex I wasn’t left wanting anything. I loved the constant touches, the hand holding, and the sweetness of it all.
This is a new author to me and I thought she did such a good job of making this story incredibly believable with such a short book. I would absolutely LOVE to read more about James and Derek even going as far as to hope for a more full length novel.
I definitely recommend this super sweet, super short nice little story.
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Thank you for the review. It sounds very promising and who doesn’t love a second chance at finding love.
Cop and a lawyer, sounds perfect!
I am not sure how pages this book has, but the author appears to have crafted a short story that shows the developing and difficulties of a relationship without it being insta love. Another story I would love to read and another story that has great potential to be longer. Thank you Amber for your helpful review, I wonder how man of these stories will re-written to novel length, quite a few I hope? 🙂
I’ve got the same thing with cops as i do with firefighters 😉 No need to read the rest i want it and i want it now LOL
Thanks for reviewing.