Reviewed by Valerie

TITLE:  My Brother’s Enemy

SERIES:  First and Forever Stories #8

AUTHOR:Alexa Land

PUBLISHER:  Self Published

LENGTH:  185 pages

RELEASE DATE:  March 16, 2023

BLURB:

I never planned on falling for my brother’s mortal enemy

When I first met Marcus, I had no idea he was the gangster who’d been waging a turf war with my older brother. He was just this gorgeous, sexy guy who was there for me when I needed a friend. By the time I found out the truth, it was too late—I’d already fallen for him.

But my family doesn’t just hate him—they’re actively trying to hunt him down, and so are some mobsters from his past. How long can we keep our relationship a secret, and what’s going to happen when all is finally revealed?

My Brother’s Enemy is a dual point of view, opposites attract gay romance with a dash of Romeo and Juliet and a guaranteed HEA. It’s set in Alexa Land’s Firsts and Forever universe, and it can be read as a stand-alone.

REVIEW:

My Brother’s Enemy is a wonderful opposites-attract romance told in Alexa Land’s signature style. Never has a title been more accurate. Never has a man loathed another as much as Adriano, Romy’s older brother, does his enemy – and Romy’s new love interest – Marcus (also known as Mario). In the  previous book, The Thief and the Gangster, Marcus’ men targeted Adriano’s family by smashing up their mother’s bar and then kidnapping Adriano. Now, Adriano is focused on vengeance toward the very man Romy is falling in love with.

Romy is a sweet guy who’s a touch naïve, wanting to see the best in others. His trusting nature and terrible instincts have resulted in a string of bad relationships. He has a history of becoming too clingy and dependent on the men he dates. Romy doesn’t know who Marcus is before they meet in the bar. Romy is morose, feeling left behind by his brother and mother, both recently engaged and spending less time with him. After an unusual night where Romy cries on his shoulder, Marcus feels protective toward Romy. Their quickly developing feelings toward each other are effortless. Neither has felt such a strong connection with someone before. Marcus must maintain his anonymity but of course that catches up with him. You can imagine the fall out when Romy discovers the truth and Adriano finds out.

Marcus wants out of gangster life. He’s tired of having to maintain the persona of a tough guy to earn the respect of his thugs and his enemies. That’s not his true self. He’s alone in the world with no family, friends, or other loved ones. He now sees his life before Romy as meaningless, just a pursuit of money and power at the expense of others. Romy is his salvation.

I love the involvement of Adriano’s brother, Dante Dombruso, in this story. There’s a particularly enjoyable scene at the end with Dante and his husband, Charlie, Adriano, Jack, Romy and Marcus playing poker together. I delight in their camaraderie.  It’s so much fun when Alexa pulls characters from her Firsts and Forever series into this series. Of course, no book would be complete without Nana. She and her friends are integrated in a most unusual, hilarious manner in a most unexpected place. The crew from the Pink Victorian make an appearance in the book, too.

Unlike most of Alexa’s books, this one is told with dual first-person points of view which I enjoy because we get more insight into both Romy and Marcus’ thoughts and motivations. The books in this series all exist in a shared world with character crossover but can, for the most part, be read as standalone books. However, I feel you would gain the most pleasure from reading the whole series in order for more background on the characters. This is particularly true for this book, in my opinion. Alexa recaps the pertinent events from The Thief and the Gangster but I think you’ll enjoy My Brother’s Enemy more with the greater insight you’d gain from reading its predecessor. And why not read them all? This is a fantastic series by a very talented author. Highly recommended.

RATING: 

BUY LINK:

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