Title: Love the Sinner
Series: Brooklyn Sinners, Book 1
Author: Avril Ashton
Genre: Romantic Suspense, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy provided by publisher
Published: May 2012 by Ellora’s Cave
Detective Gabriel Ashby has never looked twice at another man, yet the criminal across from him, the man he’s interrogating, isn’t like any other. Gabe can’t deal with the sudden, intense need he has for one of NYPD’s Most Wanted. Everyone close to Angelo Pagan ends up dead, with the smug gang leader standing amid the rubble. Gabe would love nothing more than to bust Angelo’s ass and lock him up. So why is he seeing the bastard in his dreams at night?
Angelo Pagan knows attraction to Gabe is suicide. He’s resolute to ignore the chemistry…until a police raid goes wrong. He critically injures Gabe, changing the trajectory of both their lives. Now the two can’t get close enough. They settle into a forbidden affair threatened by lies and betrayal, living on different sides of the law with no way of breaching the gap between them. With the authorities looking to make an example of Angelo, Gabe has to decide if it’s really worth it to hate the sin but love the sinner.
Reviewed By: J9
In a Nutshell: Deliciously intense romance with strong leads. Must read next two in the series—stat!
The Set Up: Gabe Ashby enters an interrogation room to lock eyes with Angelo Pagan, a gang leader and criminal. Though never attracted to a man before, Gabe can’t deny Angel’s appeal. But can this cop and robber ever have a happily ever after?
Why I Read this Book: Synopsis caught my attention and I love a book set in my hometown of Brooklyn.
What I Liked: This is a great romance in part because of the stellar characters. Gabe is the righteous cop who I thought would have all the angst about his gay attraction but his intense honesty about his feelings for Angel didn’t offer the fake-drama I expected. Angel’s gang leader persona is part of who he is but to watch his softer and gentler side with Gabe was lovely. Since both Angel and Gabe had to hide their love and relationship from others in their lives it gave their romance a feeling of happening in a bubble which ratcheted up the intensity for me. I loved the scene where the men finally admit they can’t be separated—so intense sexually and emotionally.
What I Also Liked: I was so worried this book would take the easy way out with Gabe and Angel’s relationship and I’m very happy it didn’t. I can’t spoil it but in a lot of good guy/bad guy pairings, the bad guy ends up not so bad after all and that cop out wasn’t used here. Angel remained true to himself while figuring out a way to be with Gabe. How this happened was great storytelling because it gives the men time they need.
I also liked the secondary characters of Angel’s mom and Gabe’s brother. These two characters are confidantes for Angel and Gabe as they develop this intense romance that shouldn’t happen between them. Even Angel's second-in-command, Pablo, was a bit more than I thought at novel’s beginning and I’m so happy he’s the lead in book two of the series.
What I Didn’t Like: I admit this book had insta-love and lots of sex but somehow it just worked for me. Normally I’m not a fan of leads falling for each other with a glance but here I didn’t care because the men’s intense emotional connection through out the rest of the book made it seem almost possible. Other readers may not be able to get past this but I didn’t care.
IMO: This book was more than meets the eye for me and I devoured this intense romance full of tears, heartbreak and emotional sex. Highly recommend this one and I’m off to read books two and three in the series.
J9’s Rating:
No! i'm only allowed to buy 3 books/week for the next year (trying to get on top of my almost 1000 book deep tbr), but when you give a book 4 1/2 frogs, how am I supposed to resist?? smiles...
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