Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Third Son
AUTHOR: Mickie B. Ashling
PUBLISHER: NinestarPress
LENGTH: 280 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 2, 2017
BLURB:
American Niall Monroe returns to Hong Kong—a city he calls home—after being away for eight years. He hopes to finally find happiness with Peter Wei, his closeted lover of fourteen years, but is disappointed to find Peter has been put in an untenable position. He must marry and produce the long-awaited grandchild or get cut off by his millionaire father.
James, Peter’s younger brother, has been Niall’s best friend since they were schoolmates. He encourages Niall to ditch his brother and move on. He encourages Niall to ditch his brother until he finds out Niall is thinking of dating Gerard Sun, a talented artist.
Gerard Sun, a talented artist, bursts back into Niall’s life after a one-night stand in Las Vegas. Circumstances force the men to deal with their attraction, especially when Niall’s firm considers Gerard to help promote tourism in the People’s Republic of China.
Coming home seemed like a great idea until it wasn’t. Niall finds himself a stranger in a familiar landscape, slammed on multiple fronts by broken promises, jealousy, intrigue, unimaginable deceit, and undercurrents of evil. As his dreams quickly turn into nightmares, Niall reaches out to new allies for support.
REVIEW:
I’m not really sure how I feel about this book. I was told there were a few errors as far as the language, but seeing as I really know nothing much about the Chinese culture, I can’t really say much about it. I can say though, that at first I was into the book, but then it started becoming like a soap opera for me or almost like being in high school at some points. The whole if I can’t have you no one will thing…..no. And normally violence in a book doesn’t bother me, I like shoot outs and bloody things, but when one of the main characters is almost raped twice by brothers because of jealousy and such, that leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
The story is Niall, returns to Hong Kong after being away for schooling and such. He was raised in Hong Kong so he feels at home here even though he looks American. Bright red hair and blue eyes, he tends to stand out. He’s hoping to pick things up with Peter, his on again off again lover, and make it more permanent. But pressures from Peter’s family cause the opposite to happen. They have a huge fight and things have ended for good this time. But not before Peter turns violent against Niall. During this, Niall runs into a fling he had while in the states, painter Gerard. It becomes a twisted thing. Peter is pissed about it, even though he’s sleeping with everyone under the sun and wants to keep Niall as his dirty little secret. Gerard knows there is something special between he and Niall and wants to see where things go. And to make matters worse, James, Peter’s brother is getting upset that Gerard has taken Peter’s spot in Niall’s life. Peter decides to come clean and out so they can be together, and dies in the process. James has become more evil than Niall can possibly imagine, trying to kill him several times. And the people Niall actually thought were his adopted family, truly hate him and blame everything including the reason Peter had to die on him. It’s a plot of twists, betrayals, murder and drama.
I don’t know where to start with the characters. I like Niall. To me he truly was innocent yet naive in this. He pinned his hopes and love on a selfish, spoiled rich boy, who really only wanted him at his beck and call for sex. Peter was a dick. He used Niall and when he didn’t get his way, he turned violent and almost raped Niall. James, was a sadistic bastard. He got tired of being Peter’s shadow, when he was the one doing all the work and calling all the shots. So when Peter died, he thought he finally got to have Niall. When that didn’t go his way, he tried to rape Niall and then tried to kill him repeatedly. Then he tried to kill Gerard, for taking the spot that should have been his. Gerard was the only one who really wanted Niall for Niall. But with all the drama it was hard to be together. It bothered me that they bounced so quickly into a relationship too. They had one fling in Vegas and then Niall came home. Gerard basically stalked Niall to find him to see him again. And minutes after Peter and Niall finally called it quits, Niall was in Gerard’s arms. A little too quick for my tastes. It just seemed like a soap opera gone wrong or an adult version of high school. The brothers were spoilt rotten brats who couldn’t handle being told no. If I was Niall, I would have told them all to piss off. From the beginning.
Some people really like this book, some don’t. Personally, I’m still flummoxed. It’s not one I will want to read again. Anyway. Happy reading!
RATING: 
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