Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Self Published

Genre:  Gay Romance, Series 

Length: 290 Pages

Reviewer: Kazza

Purchase At: amazon

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:

I read the first book in this series, In His Corner, and loved it. It’s well and truly a power imbalance relationship. Hayden and Levi were fucking really quickly into Hayden’s hiring an ex con at his brasserie on his brother Darien’s persistence. I didn’t have particular issues, other than it wasn’t the smartest idea, with the quickness or the ferocity of their lust, the book was pretty sexy. And there was believable growth for them both, especially Hayden. It made me pre-order By His Side, that and I thought Darien was a kind, caring man who deserved some love as well, and look, I got that. I got a contemporary romance about two men who fall in lust then in love within a system that certainly dictates this shouldn’t happen – not saying it can’t, I just saw a documentary where something similar happened – but Darien goes there. 

I’m going to start with my issues. Darien. My god, right from the beginning he was outwitted, outmanoeuvred, and he was like someone who had never trained in how to deal with offenders in his role as a parole officer. Felix ate him for breakfast. I get that Darien’s used to dealing with parolees/ offenders who have committed petty offences but there’s still the template and procedures of how to handle your cases. Felix is just finishing up a seven year sentence for hiding the body of a sixteen year old girl that his partner, Julian, murdered. When Darien took over from a colleague as Felix’s PO and went to the Scrubs to see him for an introduction, Darien stammered, was freaked out, while also noticing how hot Felix looked in prison gear. He gave away personal information so readily. I thought ‘hello, we’re going into some dark territory’ because honestly, Felix’s dialogue was so well written. He was manipulative and threatening. He came across as a game player, as someone who claimed innocence but was potentially anything but. I was totally here for that scenario. But it went in a different direction which I felt was a shame. I actually put the book down for nearly a week before deciding to come back. I’m very much a mood reader and my mood was in edgy mode at the time I picked this up.  

“One more thing before you go.” She sounded serious.
“What?”
“Don’t fall for him.” For a moment, I was stunned into silence. “Fall for who? Felix Church?”
“Yeah. It wouldn’t be a good idea.”

Yes. Well, Katherine. You did hand him over to Darien.

When I came back to the book, I had made a decision to go with the flow of the story and to trust in the author. I like Day as a writer and have read a hell of a lot of her books because I trust her to deliver something I’m invested in. When I went with a ‘let’s see where this goes’ mindset I got onboard with this story and the characters, and I also enjoyed the journey. It’s 290 pages long, I’m not always fussed with that length in contemporary romance, but it didn’t feel like it was too long. This book certainly suits a reader who likes a bit of a tiptoe on shaded edges of romance without any especially dark or heavy aspects. And just for the record, I’ve read Day going dark and it was amazing. 

“Oh, yeah,” he said with derision dripping from his voice. “Because my time is so precious.” He leaned forward over the table, bringing his face far too close for my liking. “What do you think I’ve got on my schedule today, Darien?”
He said my name like a challenge, making me uncomfortably aware that although there was an officer just outside the door, there were plenty of things you could do to a person in the time it would take for him to reach me.

I liked the MCs. Darien wants to see the good in people and he wants to help ex cons. It’s a pretty tough job at the best of times let alone when you lean into the more caring side of it. I found Felix interesting. He could have been such a bad, bad man but he’s not. Unlike how he presented in jail, he has redeeming qualities underneath his junkyard dog moments. He starts out with the idea of seducing his PO, who had proclaimed to Felix, in one of his oversharing moments, that he prefers women. Felix thinks it’ll be fun to see what happens because declaration or no, he knew his new PO was checking him out. And let me tell you, Darien readily falls into Felix once he’s out. It starts when Felix invites Darien to his mother’s house – where he’s staying – for a probation appointment instead of at Darien’s office. Achtung, baby!

It would be a horrible thing to do to set out to seduce my probation officer. But it wasn’t like I had a reputation to ruin. Everyone already thought I was scum, so what did I have to lose? And the more I thought about it, the more delicious the thought was. I’d spent seven years in prison for something I hadn’t done. Wasn’t I due for some fun?

From there it’s all systems lust and then the building of a romance begins. Darien truly doesn’t give much thought to what he’s doing. Felix soon changes his trajectory regarding Darien. I felt it might be messy but this is romantic fiction. Once I was in light story mode, I preferred that. I didn’t want anything bad happening to the MCs. Their relationship ramps up when the neighbours become hostile about a “murderer” being in their midst, so Felix has to get out, and under the terms of release he has to have a stable residence. Darien comes to the rescue by letting him move in with him because, saints preserve him, Darien is a softie who truly isn’t suited to the role of a PO.

This book may have gone in a different direction than I had initially hoped for, but there was plenty to keep me entertained. The sex was hot. The MCs had some growth and discoveries. Felix had someone for the first time in a long time by his side – the book is well named. It must be hellish to be accused and found guilty if you really didn’t do the crime. That no one believes you because it’s not like prisoners lie, right? It must be hard to have very little family support, although Felix’s mother was not the shrew some might think. Her son had previously moved out and gradually stopped seeing her altogether. His boyfriend was older and controlling and she had a struggle with her son’s conviction, the magnitude of it. If you haven’t seen someone for a while and something like this happens you could easily believe they were involved because of a Svengali-like boyfriend’s influence. It wouldn’t be the first time. As cold as she could seem, she did give him money, she did let him live with her until it got intense in the neighbourhood. I thought that arc was realistically written.

As Darien and Felix get closer, Darien decides he’s going to look into Felix’s declarations of innocence. It’s not easy because Felix can get very defensive about the topic. It’s a great idea that isn’t so well executed and causes a blip of disruption but it’s a nice sentiment by a nice guy. In the meantime, Felix increasingly recognises just what a big heart Darien has.  

I’d meant it when I’d told Darien he was the kindest person I knew. As he hugged me and told me he was here for me and I wasn’t alone anymore, I realized he was the sweetest as well, his heart big enough for the both of us. I didn’t know why after years of piling crap on my head, the universe had given me this precious gift, but I wasn’t about to throw it back in its face. Instead, I’d cling onto it with both hands and see it as my due. A tiny oasis of joy in a desert of crap.

It was great seeing Levi and Hayden again. I loved the backup Levi gave Darien. That was a nice touch. Hayden and Darien are good brothers, and while Hayden can occasionally arc up, they have each other’s backs. Being good supporting characters this time around, they don’t dominate Darien and Felix’s story.  

Without saying anymore, I think the ending was appropriate and nice. I don’t know if this is the last story in this series or not. There aren’t any characters I can think of who could get a story in this world. 4 Stars!