Genre/Tags: Gay Romance, Detectives, Serial Killer, Murder/Mystery, Suspense, Humour

Author: Alice Winters

Story Rating: 4 Stars

Narrator: Greg Boudreaux

Narrator Rating: 5 Stars

Length: 11 hours & 23 minutes 

Purchase At: Audible, Alice Winter’s Page

Blurb:

Liam
Despite winning Gabriel’s heart, my trials are not yet over when I’m stuck competing with Gabriel’s cat for his affection (why is she only evil when he’s not looking?), dealing with coworkers trying to befriend me (I should have blackmailed more of them), and worst of all… meeting Gabriel’s parents (whose affection I will win with lavish presents).

Oh, and hunting down another killer. Though that’s the easy part.

But when a crime scene brings me face-to-face with someone from my past, I realize I might have to fight to keep my secrets hidden from those who would tear me away from Gabriel forever.

Gabriel
Tackling Liam’s foster sister to the ground outside of a crime scene is the last thing I expected to do. It’s clear she needs help, and Liam might be the only person who can assist her. People are turning up dead, but if we fail to find the connection between them before it’s too late, innocent people might end up taking the fall or piquing the serial killer’s interest.

Thankfully, Liam’s no stranger to challenges as he draws me further into his secretive world where the vilest of humanity reside around every corner. He’s opening my eyes and making me fall even deeper in love with every breath as I realize that his darkness isn’t driving me away but pulling me even closer.

This man who is willing to burn the world down for me doesn’t realize just how far I’d go for him.

Review:

I’m enjoying the shit out of this series. Why? Because Liam. He’s my antisocial man. He’s really Gabriel’s, but I’m living vicariously. Speaking of, Gabriel has stepped into Shady Grey Lane. Loving this look on him. He gets Liam. Knows he does what he does out of a sense of justice – because of the terrible nature of his parent’s death. My logic brain knows this is predominantly pop-troping, but I’m here for it. I like separating real-world-me from fictional-world-me. 

There’s a new cat in Paige/Hyde Land. Gabriel is guilted by the sweet, older cat lady running a cat café… thingy that one particular cat with attitude is not being adopted from. It may have to go back to the shelter. Oh no! It’ll be bye bye loaf. But Gabriel loves cats and this cranky kitty gravitating toward Liam means Liam must get it! Because Liam has Gabriel on the highest of high pedestals, and Gabriel is sooooooo happy this cat loves Liam, Liam buys the damn loaf cat. He refuses to name it for a while. But if it’s a loaf, Gabriel eventually reasons that Butter seems like a good name. And because Liam is contrary, he calls it Margarine. So now they have Gabriel’s Satan spawn, Lucy(Fur), and the new antisocial loaf – Butter/Margarine. 

Meanwhile, because this book is about two homicide detectives, there are actual cases going on. One that involves (a then girl) now woman who used to be in the same foster home as Liam after his parents were murdered. Abby is mixed up somehow in this new case, Liam suspects, but to what degree? When there’s some defenestration on Abby, what does mean? Then there’s the two, possibly more, dead bodies. It’s complicated by the fact that Abby knows Liam has killed before, and who he killed, and while that stresses Gabriel out – ‘what if she tells someone?!‘ –  Liam is his usual cool self. The murder/mystery elements of this book do let it down. It’s not that there weren’t interesting aspects, especially how Liam did his usual Liam things, but it was a) convoluted regarding people within the murder history that spanned twenty years, and b) shallow in terms of the overall motive for the killings. 

Liam and Gabriel and their banter kept me reading. Their second chances relationship is now at the ‘I love you’ stage. Gabriel sees so much in a man that others see as unusual or difficult. It feels right to see the care that’s between them. Gabriel understanding and embracing Liam wholly.

There’s also the whole ‘I bought you a house, Gabriel, and that’s not at all weird’ stage. It’s a month and Liam wants Gabriel living with him. It’s a month and Gabriel needs a breath or two more. Gabriel’s family have an introduction. I then got the joy of more information about the people within the weirdest police station in the world. Liam’s coworkers are also awkward and quirky. And some of them, Matthew and Robinson spring to mind, need gold medals for tolerance. Liam’s blackmailing is world class and it keeps his coworkers compliant, that and the fact that Liam is the best detective in the world. Like, seriously, he solves everything, and he’ll tell you. He’s always requesting an “I told you so” cake because, well, he did tell them so.  

There is also an arc about a teenager, Cole, living with an abusive father next door to Gabriel. The father can see that Gabriel and Liam aren’t just work partners, they’re together, and he’s homophobic. Liam understands Cole and his trust issues from the perspective of his own teenage years, but he doesn’t force it. There are some genuine moments of pathos in this story. Cole is one. Abby, another. Liam has a meltdown at one point because a man who comes into the station to report someone stalking his wife says something in the voice he distinctly remembers from the day his parent’s were murdered. He was the man who took the money. He gets highly agitated, then somewhat manic, but Gabriel manages to calm him down. Liam doesn’t like to discuss his parents, virtually never shows emotion around their murder, hates anyone pitying him, but this one really hits him. He wants to kill this guy but he can’t because his colleagues see him lose it. He’s forced to tell them the truth of who he is. This isn’t just hurt, it’s a lost opportunity for the serial killer that is Liam. Mostly, the rest of the time for Liam is spent giving his coworkers hell. It’s awesome. 

Robinson stares at his damp shirt but doesn’t say a thing about it as I walk away, quite pleased with myself.
“Liam,” Gabriel says, of course catching me at that very moment.
“Yes, my sweets?”
“Don’t use Robinson as a hand towel.”

Or 

“Jesse, I would like to introduce you to Matthew, another man as irritating as you are.”

His colleagues do manage to get a smidge closer to Liam in this book, but there’s a fair way to go. I’m enjoying all their interactions, including a teenage Cole shadowing Liam at work for career ideas. 

“Who the hell thought it was a good idea to give Liam a child?” Matthew asks. I pretend I don’t notice that Jesse, who is walking with him, snaps his head around and gives me a look of absolute horror. Like what do these two think I’m going to do with the kid? They act like I’ve been known to resort to cannibalism. I don’t feast off the flesh of humans, I feast off their misery.

The only two books in this series thus far have wrapped up well. No cliffhangers. I like detective work, although this is romance with detective work. The antisocial killer that is Liam is gold for me. The MCs are a good couple with growth happening. I laugh out loud at some of their humour. Yes, it can be over the top and there were a couple of sections that served no purpose but to be OTT for the sake of being OTT. However, I love Liam’s dry wit and disdain of people other than Gabriel. The people around him add some laughs as we’re getting to know them all as well. 

Greg Boudreaux did another stellar job of bringing these characters and this world to life. He voiced Liam and Gabriel, the side characters, exactly as he did in book #1.  

Overall, I liked book #1, A Simple Mistake, more than this one because I felt the murder/mystery side, learning about Liam’s tendencies, were better. The bigger then Ben-Hur humour wasn’t as evident as it was this time around either. I like humour, but not every book needs so much of it. Second books in series can often be ordinary because they’re used as a bridging book but that wasn’t the case here, it built off the back of the first book. I’m along for the Liam/Gabriel ride now. I love these guys. Alice Winters has me hooked. I’m waiting with much anticipation for book #3. Bring it on! As for A Forgotten Mistake, it’s 4 Stars!