Reviewed by Vicki
TITLE: Love is Heartless 
SERIES: Love Can’t Series #2
AUTHOR: Kim Fielding
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 254 pages
RELEASE DATE: January 13th, 2017
BLURB:
Small but mighty—that could be Detective Nevin Ng’s motto. Now a dedicated member of the Portland Police Bureau, he didn’t let a tough start in life stop him from protecting those in need. He doesn’t take crap from anyone, and he doesn’t do relationships. Until he responds to the severe beating of a senior citizen and meets the victim’s bow-tied, wealthy landlord.
Property manager and developer Colin Westwood grew up with all the things Nevin never had, like plenty of money and a supportive, loving family. Too supportive, perhaps, since his childhood illness has left his parents unwilling to admit he’s a strong, grown man. Colin does do relationships, but they never work out. Now he’s thinking maybe he won’t just go with the flow. Maybe it’s time to try something more exciting. But being a witness to a terrible crime—or two—was more than he bargained for.
Despite their differences, Colin and Nevin discover that sparks fly when they’re together. But sparks are short-lived, dampened by the advent of brutal crimes, and Colin and Nevin have seemingly little in common. The question is whether they have the heart to build something lasting.
REVIEW:
Opposites do attract, and Nevin and Colin could not be more opposite. Nevin was abandoned as a child and grew up in foster care. He has a tendency to fuck anyone, anywhere, anytime, of either sex. He’s had no family, no relationships, and has only a couple of close friends. He’s had limited income and has worked hard for everything he has. Colin has come from a loving and close family. He had a health scare as a child, further cementing his relationship with his parents. He’s well-educated and has plenty of income. He works for his dad. He’s had a couple of boyfriends. He’s open, happy, and trusting. Nevin is a detective for the Portland Police, Colin is a property manager/developer. Nevin drives a purple muscle car. Colin drives a conservative car. Colin wears bow ties and bright clothing, Nevin wears suits. You get the picture, total opposites!
While they are trying to decide if they’ll have a relationship or not, things are happening in Portland. Several senior citizens are murdered, and Nevin and Colin are somewhat involved. This brings the two together, and is the background to their story. At the same time this is happening, we see a bit of the story of Jeremy and Qay, from Love Can’t Conquer, the first book in this series. I liked seeing Jeremy through Nevin’s eyes, even though we didn’t actually see Qay, we are able to follow their relationship as Nevin sees it. We also see more of Detective Frankl, who we met in the first book as he helped Jeremy with his issues. And a glimpse or two of the folks at P-Town, Jeremy and Nevin’s favorite coffee shop. And we get new side characters in this book. Nevin’s best friend/brother Ford, and Colin’s family. All of these folks help flesh out this fantastic story. I want to go to P-Town and meet Rhoda and Ptolemy!
So one of the things I love about Kim Fielding’s writing is her character building. Her characters are so well described and detailed, I really feel like I get to know them. That was true in this book, Nevin and Colin are both so well written. I understood where each was coming from, based on their past lives and relationships. The perspective shifts so when bad things happen around them, we see in to their heads and understand how they feel and react. I love that. This book was not quite as dark and angsty as some of her books, especially Love Can’t Conquer. That one had some serious drama and I was quite concerned for Jeremy and Qay. Love is Heartless is not as dramatic, and although I did love it, I didn’t love it QUITE as much as the first book. I think if I had read this one first, or it was a solo book, I may have given it five hearts, but when I remember back to Love Can’t Conquer (which I just re-read) and how much I LOVED that book, this one comes in at a solid four hearts. I loved watching Colin and Nevin come together, but I was never concerned about the outcome of their story. They didn’t know where they are going, but I did. They were falling in luuuuuurve…
I really liked this book. We get great new characters in Nevin and Colin, I especially loved the opposites attract aspect. Oh, there is a cat too, loved him! I loved seeing characters from the first book, and how they all tie in together. Both of these books make me want to go to Portland. There is a message in this book too, about caring for LGBTQ seniors and I felt awful about the outcome of the mystery. This story made me want to go volunteer like Colin does. I loved the deeply developed characters, and the detailed plot. We also got some very lovely sex scenes. I loved that the first scene between Nevin and Colin was clearly a fuck, but the last was clearly love-making. The ending of the book was very sweet, and made me sigh in happiness.
You could read this book as a standalone, but you really should go get Love Can’t Conquer and read it too. They happen simultaneously, so you could read this one first. Then go read more Kim Fielding’s books, she’s become one of my favorite authors!
RATING: 
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