REVIEWED by Jen B.
TITLE: Vice Enforcer
SERIES: Vice City #2
AUTHOR: S.A. Stovall
PUBLISHER: DSP Publications
LENGTH: 250 Pages
RELEASE DATE: April 3, 2018
BLURB:
Holding on to a life worth living can be hard when the nightmares of the past come knocking.
Eight months ago, Nicholas Pierce, ex-mob enforcer, faked his death and assumed a new identity to escape sadistic mob boss Jeremy Vice. With no contacts outside the underworld, Pierce finds work with a washed-up PI. It’s an easy enough gig—until investigating a human trafficking ring drags him back to his old stomping grounds.
Miles Devonport, Pierce’s partner, is top of his class at the police academy while single-handedly holding his family together. But when one lieutenant questions Pierce’s past and his involvement in the investigation, Miles must put his future on the line to keep Pierce’s secrets.
The situation becomes dire when it’s discovered the traffickers have connections to the Vice family. The lives of everyone Pierce cares about are in danger—not least of all his own, if Jeremy Vice learns he’s back from the dead. Pierce and Miles face a conspiracy that reaches the highest levels—one that will gladly destroy them to keep operating. As Pierce uses every dirty trick he learned from organized crime to protect the new life he’s building, he realizes that no matter how hard he tries, he might never escape his past.
But he’s not going down without a fight.
This book picks up where the exciting Vice City left off. Nicholas and Miles are now living different lives as they try to move on from their past. Miles is now training to be a police officer, and Nicholas is working towards getting his PI license. But it doesn’t take long to see that they haven’t put enough distance between them and their old life.
Nicholas is quickly pulled into the thick of things when the PI he is working under to obtain his required experience gets into some trouble and pulls Nicholas right into the middle of it all. He finds himself forced to tread in the same waters as Jeremy Vice when he wants nothing more than to keep off that man’s radar.
Meanwhile, one of Miles’ superiors is making waves and asking questions about Nicholas and their relationship sending up more red flags for them. The combination of things doesn’t help convince Nicholas that Miles isn’t better off without him, that Miles is with him out of some misplaced obligation, etc. Underlying it all though is the fact that Nicholas truly wants what’s best for Miles and wants him to be happy. This shows in many ways, one of which is how much he puts up with Miles’ siblings, who also make things difficult for Nicholas.
It doesn’t take long, however, for Miles to convince Nicholas of his feelings and need for him. There is much more to them than their shared past, and while this isn’t overly sweet or romantic, there are definitely some feelgood romantic moments. But, things pretty much follow the same path as the previous book in that regard, which is what had me so captivated about these two in the first place. Even though you can’t see a way for them to be together and be happy, they find a way and you find yourself rooting for them the whole time. You should definitely read Vice City to truly understand how these two built their relationship and how much they really mean to each other. I was not disappointed with this installment and hope to see more of them in the future.
Thanks for the review. I’m so happy this book has finally been released. Really loved the first one.
[…] via Release Day Review: Vice Enforcer (Vice City #2) by S.A. Stovall — Love Bytes […]