Rating: 4 Stars

Publisher: Punk & Sassy Publications

Genre: Gay Romance

Tags: Contemporary, Age Gap, Assassins, Insta-Everything, Opposites Attract, Romance, Series

Length: 113 Pages

Reviewer: Cindi

Purchase At: Amazon

Blurb –

Austen keeps criminals alive. Rain, being one of the world’s deadliest assassins, doesn’t scare him at all. He should.

As a private physician for the ultra-wealthy, Austen’s entire business model rests on seeing nothing. After all, he keeps some of the biggest criminals on the west coast alive. That’s how he ended up crossing paths with Rain. From first glance, he was stunned speechless by Rain’s beauty. He can’t stay away. That might be the thing that finally gets him killed.

As far as the world is concerned, Rain is a highly sought after stage performer. Ballet has saved what little is left of his sanity. On the side, he just happens to kill people. When Austen starts showing up around every corner, Rain can’t decide if he should kiss him or make him disappear. He’s still trying to decide.

Dancer is the first book in Charity Parkerson’s Killers Inc. series where hired assassins and their ilk find the love that finally saves them. These are best enjoyed when read in order.

Review –

Before two months ago, Austen had never been to the ballet. Now he made time for nearly every performance. Only if Rain Agafonov was a lead, of course. He rarely had much clue of what was going on. It still wasn’t an art he understood. Austen could give two shits about anything except following Rain’s every move with his gaze.

Austen, a 43-year-old doctor, is more than a little obsessed with Rain, a ballet dancer. Rain isn’t just a ballet dancer. He’s also a paid assassin. Austen’s patients are mostly criminals. The two guys meet briefly and that’s all it takes for Austen. He knows very little about ballet, but he goes to all of Rain’s performances. He’s usually forced to leave early to treat someone, but he does get to spend a little while watching Rain dance. He’s much older than Rain – ‘atleast 15 years’ is what is thrown out by Austen, as I don’t think Rain’s age was ever mentioned. The age thing doesn’t matter. Austen wants him, and he wants him bad.

He knows Rain is an assassin.

Apparently, Austen’s obsession isn’t one-sided, and Rain does a little stalking of his own. After watching Austen secretly for weeks, he finally has him brought backstage after a performance. He claims his foot is hurt and that Austen is his doctor. His foot really is in a bad way, but it’s been that way all season. He just needed to find a way to finally connect with the man he can’t stop thinking about.

This starts an interesting relationship between the two men who are as different as night and day. Austen saves lives. Rain takes them. Even so, they still find a way to work.

Then there are Rain’s brothers; not by blood, but brothers just the same. They are Killers Inc., and for reasons mentioned in the book – and that I won’t say because they’re spoilers – Rain and the others have to stay together. They have to protect each other. Austen’s first real introduction to the brothers was… different, and in a way, humorous. These guys are brutal killers, but Austen holds his own. He and all the brothers actually become pretty close as the story plays out, with one, Field, calling Austen Daddy, and not in a sexual way.

They weren’t blood kin. They were killing kin. It was a brotherhood of assassins. That wasn’t terrifying at all.

I really loved watching Austen and Rain come together, and I also loved slowly getting introduced to each brother who either have their stories already, or will have them. Edge and Mickey’s book is next, Edge, which I’m really happy about. I was hoping to see their story sooner rather than later, so I’m glad I can jump right into it soon.

Then there are Kylo and Beau. Mickey is their bodyguard. Kylo and Beau are from another book by this author, King Daddy (Little Lost, #6). That’s something that irks me if I’m not told in advance that stories are linked. That wasn’t really the case here. I was able to piece enough together to not be too confused when Kylo and Beau were on page. Beau was kind of an ass in Dancer, but apparently he was a lot worse in that series leading up to his and Kylo’s story. Since I typed this review, I have gone back and read it because I was eager to see where they came from. I’m glad I did because I was able to see the exact moment Austen and Rain met.

Everything happens super fast with Austen and Rain, and I was okay with that. The story is also short by today’s book standards, so they kind of had to hurry to get their HEA. I never felt like I was missing anything.

I don’t think I’ve read this author before, but I really enjoyed this.

It’s very refreshing to see books that aren’t 350+ pages, something that’s been extremely common since Kindle Unlimited started. Sometimes I don’t want to spend hours and hours with one couple, but I still want a good story. I definitely got that with Dancer, and I look forward to reading the rest of the series.

4 stars.