Reviewed by Amber
TITLE: Compromised
AUTHOR: Bailey Queen
PUBLISHER: NineStar Press
LENGTH: 161 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 11, 2016
BLURB:
Murder in the country.
A one-night stand that refuses to end.
Ghosts from the past that return to haunt.
Special Agent Ben Diggs can’t stand what has become of his life, so much so that he hits the road one night, maybe to crash his bike, maybe to drive off into the night and never be heard from again. But he meets Tanner Bagley, a rancher from rural Pennsylvania in a hick dive bar, and sparks fly. For the first time since everything went to hell, he feels alive again.
Ben runs from his emotions as a rule, and he flees in the middle of the night, trudging back to his dreary life in Baltimore and his failing job as a FBI agent. But then his team is assigned to investigate a murder in that same backwater township in Pennsylvania where he met Tanner, and it’s a different set of sparks that fly when faces Tanner again.
As the bodies start to pile up, tensions flare, and Ben is stuck between teammates that question his every move and a devastatingly handsome rancher whose heart he bruised. The lies keep piling up, and Ben is forced to stake his career – and his very life – on the trembling hopes of his wounded heart.
Deep in the countryside, someone is hunting gay men in Middle Creek, Pennsylvania… Gay men all with ties to Special Agent Diggs’ one-night-stand…
REVIEW:
This is my first Bailey Queen story and I’m happy to report it will not be my last. The blurb for this book pinged all over my good book radar. I love the idea of small town meets big city and then sparks start flying. And that did happen here because this book started really great for me but it did sort of fizzle mid to end. I have to say the “bad guy” was pretty obvious from the onset BUT that didn’t take away from the fact that this book was enjoyable.
Ben is a very jaded FBI agent. Having spent the majority of his life protecting his country and enforcing the law he’s gotten weary over the process. Deciding he needs some down time he hits the roads and winds up at a whole in the wall bar. The last thing on his mind is a one night stand but that was before he met Tanner.
Tanner, a local rancher, is immediately attracted to the mysterious man at his local bar. They hit it off and wind up in bed together. But the next morning when Tanner wakes up, Ben is gone.
Circumstances arise that have Ben and Tanner’s paths crossing again. Tanner is very angry at Ben for leaving and I kind of thought that bit of the story was a little silly. It was a one night stand and Tanner was acting like they shared vows or something.
This is a romance/suspense/thriller/mystery and even though parts were cheesy and predictable I did enjoy the story and I’m eager to read other stories by this author.
Overall, an enjoyable story with an interesting plot.
RATING: 
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