REVIEWED by Jay V.

TITLE: The Hitman’s Guide to Making Friends and Finding Love

AUTHOR: Alice Winters

Series: The Hitman’s Guide #1

PUBLISHER: Self Published

LENGTH: 343 pages

RELEASE DATE: July 30, 2019

BLURB:

Leland

Being a hitman has its perks, but I never thought getting an accidental mooning by an attractive PI while he’s caught on a fence would be one of them. While it’s not exactly love at first sight, he’s captured my interest and won’t let go.

Suddenly, I find myself caught in a game of cat and mouse, determined to attract the attention of Jackson, the PI who should be my enemy. He pretends like he’s not flattered by my flowers and the mentions of my totally-not-fictitious blow-up doll Randy (or was it Dandy?), but I know better. Why else would he be teaming up with me to bring down Hardek, one of the city’s most ruthless criminals?

Jackson

Even though the cops are telling me that the hitman is a notorious contract killer, I can’t help but admit that I’m drawn to him. He’s funny, charismatic, and attractive. There’s no way this ridiculous man can be the person the cops are after.

But when Leland ends up at my doorstep injured, I’m faced with a tough choice. It’s my duty to hand him over to law enforcement, but my heart has other plans. I want to keep him. To protect him. To be with him.

Though one question remains: why in the world does the man have so many d*mn guns?

REVIEW:

Jackson has no idea what he’s gotten himself in for. He’s working on a case when suddenly things start to get strange – he’s getting notes, presents, and items are getting shot close to his body.  It’s an odd form of flirtation from a mysterious hitman, who turns out to be named Leland. When trouble happens, Leland turns to Jackson as a last resort. Can they make it together?

Alice Winters has a great sense of humor. It is quite unbelievable the things that come out a Leland’s mouth sometimes and the antics he pulls. The guy has no filter plus he’s very clever, which is deadly, but not in a ‘dying’ sort of way; he just puts everyone in awkward states.  If he wanted you dead, well, you wouldn’t be reading this review as he is a talented hitman. Jackson is a perfect foil to Leland. The former is calm, well-healed, and pretty steady, while the latter is, well, unpredictable, somewhat antsy, and volatile, but not in a ‘bang you up’ violent way, but more in an explosion of out there words and actions. The story is well crafted and moves beyond just the meet and great in to a continuing adventure the two of them get themselves involved. The book has a nice mix of mystery, action, and romance.

The only reason I’m knocking this down slightly is you do have to have some suspension of disbelief – suddenly a guy who’s eternally been a hermit just opens up his heart and starts gushing feelings all the time. It feels like there needed to be an adjustment period that didn’t quite happen (or it happened off page), though it might have created even more hilarious scenarios if they had to try harder to make things work.  Jackson is a saint to deal with Leland, and it’s a testament to his character that he doesn’t just hit the guy in the back of the head sometimes for the antics that occur. Humor can be the key to a man’s heart.

You’re definitely going to walk away remembering these characters. Winters has created what likely will become an iconic character in the MM romance world. Any time someone says Leland, we’ll all know the wacky, unfiltered guy they’re talking about (i.e., if I said Dex, Bear, Jory, or Jazz, you’d likely instantly know who I was referring to). I will be anxiously awaiting what is next for these two, as I’m sure the sequel (or sequels) will have them getting in to more trouble and Leland digging in to get them in even deeper trouble.

RATING: 

BUY LINK: 

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