Reviewed by Anna Lynn
TITLE: 33 Degrees of Separation
SERIES: Legacy Book 3
AUTHOR: Rain Carrington
PUBLISHER: AAS Publishing
LENGTH: 353 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 22, 2019
BLURB:
I’m Ian, and this is my story. Like the others, I have a legacy. I was raised with the best of everything, one of the riches kids I knew. That isn’t the legacy, however. That is to be a part of something I didn’t want, and never asked for it’s tearing me apart, but I can fight it. With some help, I can fight it.
Meeting Pat Castaldo, the hot, muscled FBI agent was the beginning of a life I thought was ending. I am terrified I’ll get him killed, and others, if I can’t stand up to my father and the other men that make up the terrible secret society. My family has been members for hundreds of years, and it was supposed to be passed to me. I don’t want it, but I took it, and I took it to end them once and for all.
In the middle of all this, I am falling in love. That was a surprise, and one that possibly terrifies me more than the Gilded Grail. This could hurt, and I could get this beautiful man killed, along with a lot of others if I fail. My money may be able to solve some of my troubles, but there is much more that it can’t.
I’ve never had to be brave or fight for anything. This is my fight, though, and I will win. I’ll win it for my friends, for humanity and, maybe most of all, I’ll win it for Pat.
Raised in wealth most could only dream of, Ian Andrews III didn’t know another way of life existed until he went to college and learned about the world. There he met friends and came down from his palace to try to be like everyone else, but he had too much money to achieve that.
When he was set to finish graduate school, his father took him on a trip to learn the destiny that had been chosen for him. He would become a member of the Gilded Grail, a secret society that had members whose families had been a part of it for hundreds of years.
He was a legacy, and there was no choice for him. He would become a member, or he’d die.
Learning about this secret society, hearing their ways and goals, then going through the initiation, he was terrified and ran off to hide away from them and everyone.
His best friend worried when he’d been gone for days, his phone left in his room, not a word from him. Calling in help, it came in the form of an FBI agent in town on business. He was doing a favor, checking up on the missing college student, and right away smelled trouble. When he saw Ian’s computer history and the name Gilded Grail, he knew he had to find Ian.
Once he did, he learned the secrets that no one outside the order knew. Together, they decided to try to stop them from a horrible goal they’d set, one that threatened every man, woman and child in the world.
Falling in love with one another was easy but keeping that attraction at bay to try to save everyone a horrible fate, Ian and Pat struggled. Pat called for more help, and Javier Duran came, an old lover of Pat’s, and one of the world best mercenaries.
Sparks fly and jealousies ignite. Saving the world and falling in love at the same time wasn’t easy on any man. It could tear them apart or make them more determined to have the other in their lives forever. That was considering if they could stop the Grail and there was a forever…
REVIEW:
An FBI agent, Pat Castaldo, was asked by a friend of a friend to look into the disappearance of a young man from campus. To help his friend, he went about asking questions of the roommate and his hook-up who happens to go to the same school. With his friend backing him up, Pat is being officially “borrowed” from his office and able to use FBI resources, albeit secretly, to look into things.
Ian, the young man who disappeared, is the son of one of the wealthiest family in the city. He does not have a good relationship with his family. He goes to the university and shares an apartment with a friend/schoolmate/best friend.
Mystery, action, romance, you got me! I love these kind of stories. I know that sometimes the focus is no longer on the romance aspect but more on the mystery though it is not always like that. I have read numerous books where everything was balanced and it made the story greater and more engaging in the end.
The story started on a high note, almost frantic even as they are looking for Ian. But then it slowed down, when they had to stay hidden, to execute their plan for Ian fulfilling his part of the charade. This time with just Ian and Pat, it gave them the chance to learn more about each other because they have to be convincing with the next part of their plan.
I felt like the story dragged pm a little longer than necessary, but also there were some instances when the pacing was just right. There were sections when the focus was more on the point of view of one of the MCs, and I think it slowed the tale a bit more. Because of this, the reader might feel that the timeline is longer but actually it is not, just that a lot of thoughts went into a day. Also, the depth of Pat’s feelings toward Ian developed fast, but this might be because he is already looking for that special someone to be his lifetime partner, finding Ian at the right time just seem like an added incentive to pursue this case and solve it, thereby freeing Ian.
Overall, the story line is really good, the trope falls between Protector-Protectee/Daddy kink/BDSM, you will recognize it in the different parts of the story. There are a few twists and turns that makes the ending a bit unexpected. If you are like me, then this book is for you!
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