Reviewed by Valerie 

TITLE:  Temporary Partner

SERIES:  Valor and Doyle Mysteries #1

AUTHOR:  Nicky James

PUBLISHER:  Self-Published

LENGTH:  378 pages

RELEASE DATE:  May 16, 2022

BLURB:   

Can two rivals work together to solve a case?

When an infant is taken from his carriage in broad daylight, missing persons detective, Quaid Valor, must race against the clock to find the child and bring him safely home to his family. Unfortunately, Quaid’s partner isn’t available, and his team is spread thin. Begrudgingly, Quaid must accept the help from his rival, homicide detective Aslan Doyle, if he wants to get the job done.

Aslan is Quaid’s opposite in every way. He’s bold, outspoken, arrogant, and the office playboy. And much to Quaid’s chagrin, Aslan seems to have set his sights on Quaid as his next conquest.
Quaid doesn’t have time to deal with Aslan’s flirty behavior when he’s trying to solve a case and juggle his cheating ex’s incessant interruptions.

It doesn’t matter how attractive Aslan is or the undeniable chemistry they seem to have. Getting involved with Aslan would be a huge mistake.
But as tension with the case builds, Quaid keeps forgetting he’s supposed to hate this new partner. Maybe Aslan is exactly the kind of distraction he needs.
Temporarily at least.
Right?

REVIEW:   

What’s not to love about Nicky James’ fantastic new romantic mystery, Temporary Partner? It’s an enemies-to-lovers story with an engaging mystery involving a missing baby, loads of snark, banter, and flirting, and yummy sexual tension. And there are the stars: Surly McSneerface – Quaid Valor – and “I’m only in it for the orgasm” – Aslan Doyle. Quaid, a missing persons detective, has a reputation of being cold, standoffish, and following the rules too closely. He’s the grumpy one in this pair. His opposite – the sunshine – is arrogant, sexy, playboy Aslan, a detective in the homicide department. His favorite pastime is tormenting Quaid, much to my delight. It’s a relief to know up front that these temporary partners won’t be too temporary because this is the first book of the same-couple (yay! my favorite) Valor and Doyle Mysteries series.

The Toronto Police Services has two rival departments: homicide and missing persons. When a baby is kidnapped, it falls upon Quaid to find him. Because of a family emergency, his regular partner is unavailable, nor are any other MPU detectives. Naturally, his sergeant pairs him off with the only available person, enemy, Aslan, whose coworkers mock him: “Got stuck with the stiff, huh? I’ve seen dead bodies with more personality than Valor.”

If you haven’t read the short prequel to this series, Department Rivals, do so before moving forward with Temporary Partner. Not only will you be entertained by their initial interaction, you’ll experience the beginning of these guys incessantly antagonizing each other. And you’ll get their first kiss! The prequel is currently available on Prolific Works.

Ms. James strikes a perfect balance between the mystery and the relationship development. Since this is the first book in a same-couple series, getting to know the characters and building upon their dynamic will happen gradually. That said, Quaid and Aslan are already established as complex, multi-layered characters but with backstories still to unfold.

Aslan is an amusing, lovable jerk. He speaks his mind – often inappropriately – and continually harasses Quaid to dump his cheating ex-boyfriend, Jack (ugh, what a nasty piece of work he is). Aslan is an awesome foil for Quaid’s anal-retentive personality. He knows just how to push his buttons.

“Quaid, with his boy band good looks and cantankerous attitude, did it for me. The more he growled, the more turned on I got.”

As they work together, an undeniable chemistry builds. The men are wildly incompatible, though. Quaid is lonely and wants a husband and family, whereas Aslan regards commitment as messy and not worth the trouble. He sees nothing wrong with hooking up with Quaid; there’s no fallout to worry about because they’re just temporary partners, after all. When the case wraps up, Aslan will go back to homicide and won’t have to interact with Mr. Stick Up His Butt. He wears Quaid down, though, with his incessant flirting until Quaid thinks a hookup might be a decent distraction from the intensity of the kidnapping and his miserable life. It’s a delicious slow burn.

“I’d gotten so caught up in the steady rhythm of his thumb stroking the sensitive inside of my wrist and his fingers brushing along my arm that I’d been unable to pull away. That kind of tenderness was something I hadn’t felt in a long time.”

Quaid appears to take his work much more seriously than Aslan. Working in missing persons is a difficult career path. He takes his cases to heart and if he doesn’t solve one, he feels like a failure. This is in part attributed to wanting to carry on the work of his father, Abraham, a retired MPU detective. I love Abraham and hope to see his character broaden in future books.

As the kidnapping case evolves, there are numerous potential suspects, which had me questioning the whodunit until the end. The case is solved so there’s no cliffhanger, but there are multiple loose ends in the relationship and character backstories to keep me wanting more.

I adored this fun, compelling, low angst novel and I hope you do, too. I can’t wait for the next installment of the Valor and Doyle Mysteries.

RATING:

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