Friday, November 23, 2018

READING: The Two Gentlemen from Altona (Playing the Fool #1) by Lisa Henry and J.A. Rock


Publication date: December 27 2014
Published by: Riptide
Genre: MMAdult, Romance, Contemporary, Mystery, Funny
Rating: 


Mischief, thou art afoot.

Special Agent Ryan "Mac" McGuinness is having a rough week. Not only is he on a new diet, but he's also been tasked with keeping Henry Page -- the world's most irritating witness -- alive. Which is tough when Mac's a breath away from killing the Shakespeare-quoting, ethically-challenged, egg-obsessed Henry himself. Unless killing isn't really what Mac wants to do to him.

Con man Henry Page prefers to keep his distance from the law . . . though he wouldn't mind getting a little closer to uptight, handsome Agent McGuinness. As the sole witness to a mob hit, Henry's a valuable asset to the FBI. But he's got his own agenda, and it doesn't involve testifying.

When evidence surfaces of a mole in the FBI office, Mac and Henry are forced to go into hiding. Holed up in a fishing cabin, they're surprised to discover that their feelings run more than skin deep. But as the mob closes in, Henry has to make his escape. And Mac has to decide how far he's willing to go to keep Henry by his side.




Didn't realise this book is so short!!! I'm at work, and I don't have the second one! Now what? Do I actually have to...work? Ugh.

Henry and Rock together: miracle workers. 
Even when they create realistic characters-not having washboard abs and piercing blue eyes kind of realistic-I still like them and am attracted to them because of their unbelievably charismatic personality. I am not saying that physical appearance is everything and all MCs should be crazy hot and sexy, but when you're writing a romance novel, I think it's kind of pivotal. 
Henry and Rock are very good at that; they create smart characters, with great sense of humour but most importantly, genuinely good and kind hearted people that you can't help but like.
Same with Bel in WATWS, same with Deacon in MCvA, same here with Mac. 

And then they create broken, cracked characters like Henry, who starve for good guys like Mac, but never let themselves believe they are good enough, scared to accept that yes, they can have something nice and safe in their lives.

The only thing I would say is that I didn't really get how quickly Mac went from "Shut up, I want to throttle you, you're so annoying" and "You're my witness and I'm a professional", to playing dress up and re enacting scenes from Shakespeare with Henry and basically falling in love with him. There was something missing there, I think. Maybe if they were given a little bit more time to bond (maybe a couple of chapters) their connection would seem more believable. 

Starting Merchant of Death straight away!

post signature

No comments:

Post a Comment

LinkWithin

Related Posts with Thumbnails