Reviewed by Dan

 

TITLE: Bad Joey

SERIES: Mayberry Protectors Book 3

AUTHOR: Rhys Everly

PUBLISHER: Self-Published

RELEASE DATE:  December 6, 2022

BLURB:

Joey

The whole world is against me.

Everyone’s turned their back on bad, evil Joey.

They all believe the lies.

Until him. Santiago.

The man I can’t stop thinking of.

He believes me and in me.

He doesn’t care a damn what the world thinks.

And when he finds himself in danger the only one that can protect him is me.

Santiago

He’s what nightmares are made of. He’s the stuff crime documentaries warn you about.

But that’s not the real Joey.

The real Joey craves one thing and one thing only.

To be loved.

And to save me from the awful people I’ve gotten mixed up with.

So even though all signs tell me to run as far away from him as possible, I can’t.

Because I want to love him just like he needs me to.

Welcome to Mayberry Holm, a small island in the Atlantic full of crime, secrets and happily-ever-afters, and the ex-Navy SEALs that come to deal with them all.

 

REVIEW:

I knew from reading the previous book in the series, Mother Parker, that I enjoyed this writer’s style, so I was more than happy to pick up the review when Dani asked me.

I honestly can’t remember which character we met first in the story. Their two stories meshed so quickly that I can’t remember whose voice I heard first, and it doesn’t matter, because I liked both characters a lot.

Santiago is a young Hispanic man living on the small island of Mayberry Holm off the coast of Massachusetts. All transportation to and from the island is either via a ferry or private boats, including fishing boats. Santiago is a reporter, if you want to call him that since he is relegated to writing obituaries and other ‘fluff’. He feels his boss and coworkers don’t take him seriously. He recently did an in depth expose piece on the protection racket crime in the Mother Parker story, but his boss swept it under the rug and refused to print it.

One night while down by the harbor researching something else (I think turtles, but don’t quote me), Santiago stumbles onto a drug smuggling operation operating from a small fishing boat. He gets closer and sees the white powder they are off loading, but he makes a noise, and the bad guys look up and then give chase. He escapes but wonders if maybe he was seen and recognized.

Because he doesn’t trust the local police to help, he contacts a shadow group offering assistance on the island. Little does he know he has contacted a group of retired US Navy SEALS. If you’ve read the previous book, you’ll be familiar with the characters. There is a new member of the team though, or former member as it were.

Joey has come to Mayberry Holm at the invitation of his former commander. Some very bad stuff happened to Joey, and the rest of the team despises him for the crime he supposedly committed which got him a Dishonorable Discharge. We know that he didn’t actually commit the crime and learn the details of it as the story goes on.

Joey volunteers to be the point person on Santiago’s case and after some misunderstandings in the beginning, the two start to interact. And how! I enjoyed the pace of the story, and it kept me reading up until way past my bedtime last night.

No more spoilers, I loved this book as much as the first and I’ll be looking for book three to come out.

I highly recommend this one if you’re into contemporary m/m fiction with an opposites attract theme. Pick it up today!

 

RATING:

BUY LINK: 

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