Reviewed by Anna Lynn
TITLE: By His Side
SERIES: Reset #2
AUTHOR: H.L. Day
PUBLISHER: Self-Published
LENGTH: 290 pages
RELEASE DATE: October 3, 2024
BLURB:
Probation officer Darien Quinn prides himself on being good at his job, but his new client is about to test his professional and personal boundaries to their limits. Felix Church is sexy, clever, and too damn manipulative for his own good. And as for his background… that’s dark enough that even Darien will struggle to look past it.
Seven years is a long time to preach your innocence to those who don’t want to listen, including Felix’s own mother. With release imminent and his future uncertain, he’s in dire need of a distraction. If anyone deserves a bit of fun, it’s him, and seducing his new PO is going to be a blast.
When an outburst of public hate brings them closer, Darien’s determined to get to the bottom of what really happened between Felix and his boyfriend eight years ago. Has his desire to see the best in people left him blind to Felix’s true nature? Or is Felix a victim in more ways than one?
Finding the answer could cost him everything. His job. His friends. And his heart.
By His Side is a steamy hurt/comfort MM romance featuring a kind hearted probation officer who doesn’t just rip up the rule book but sets it on fire, and a man with every right to be bitter who needs someone by his side, come hell or high water. Although, By His Side features characters from In His Corner, it can be read as a standalone.
Content warning for past discussion of murder and domestic abuse.
REVIEW:
This is Book Two of the Reset series by H.L. Day. It features a Probation Officer, Darien Quinn, and a soon-to-be ex-Convict, Felix Church.
Felix Church claimed his innocence from the very beginning but no one believed him so when his new Probation Officer came and started to get to know him, he was bitter enough to rile Darien. His own mother didn’t believe him so why should he make it easy for his PO right?
Darien prides himself as a by-the-book kind of PO but somehow when it comes to Felix, he is willing to go above and beyond in order to prove his innocence no matter the cost.
Felix was imprisoned because of an abusive ex who accused him of a crime he didn’t commit. He has resigned himself to his fate although he has always claimed his innocence. When he met his new PO somehow their attraction towards each other started a series of events that would change them forever. Darien is putting everything on the line, his job, his personal safety, his beliefs.
The times these two spent together, especially in bed, were steamy enough to burn the sheets and other things, they are so hot together, and I can totally understand the attraction. We always get attracted to bad boys, even if that bad personality was only a result of what he went through. But what Felix went through in the past seven years made him bitter enough so that when someone showed an interest in what he is claiming, that he is innocent, wouldn’t you grab that lifeline too but remain wary because after all no one ever believed you before?
Congratulations H.L. Day! Another book that will surely attract those who love steamy and really hot scenes between two men who are on opposite sides of the law but whose attraction to each other surpasses anything they have ever experience before.
RATING: 
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