Reviewed by Donna
TITLE: Undercover Blue
AUTHOR: Hayden West
PUBLISHER: Twisted E-Publishing
LENGTH: Short Story
RELEASE DATE: March 27, 2017
BLURB:
Justin Sanders is a detective working undercover to avenge the death of his partner and bring down one of the largest crime families in the country—the Morettis. Hard to get inside and harder to bring down, he’s ends up a low-level dealer who develops a thing for a man higher up the chain, Damon Jackson.
Justin’s unaware that Damon’s real job is with the ATF. He’s undercover in the Moretti family, doing what he could to bring them down. Sure, there were things he hated doing while undercover but one thing he learns to enjoy is Justin. It bothers him to know when the family goes down, so would Justin— however, he isn’t about to let that stop him from doing his job.
Theirs could have been a real relationship except for the lies between them. After the operation ends, Justin shows up where Damon works and the truth comes out. Can they progress forward from there?
Or will it turn out to be something undercover never sees the light of day?
REVIEW:
We join this story at a point when our two main characters have been in a relationship for several months. ATF agent, Damon and detective, Justin are both working undercover to bring down a violent crime family. Neither is aware that the other man is also law enforcement, and they are already battling feelings that they know are not a good idea. When the story begins, both men are aware that they might be spending their last night together, because both assume that the other will be carted off to jail along with the rest of the bad guys.
I was impressed that the author managed to hook me into this story so quickly, something that really is necessary with a good short story. The story is told from the point of view of both men, and I was immediately cheering for both of them. It’s a romance, you know that they’re going to end up together, but that doesn’t mean I can’t worry about what might happen to them on the way. And this plot had so much potential for damage, both physical and emotional.
I think the author did a great job in deciding what to include and what to leave to the reader’s imagination. Yeah, I would have liked to see this scene, or that scene, or even discover what happened next, but that’s part of the sting when reading a short story. The words are limited, and you can’t have it all. I would have liked the story to be longer, not because the tale was incomplete, but because I just loved the characters. I have I feeling that I’d be saying the same thing even if this were a full-length book.
What cinched the rating on this one were the sex scenes. Again, the author did a great job including plenty of sexiness in so few pages. Usually too much sex in a short story can be to the detriment of the plot, but even when these two men aren’t in bed together, the author creates great sexual tension between them.
If you’re looking for a quick read that will leave you happy rather than unsatisfied, then this is a good story to try.
RATING: 
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