Review: Exciting sequel
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 12 15, 2013
I liked that this second installment in the 'Toronto Tales' series picked up basically where the first book ended. The fact that the whole situation smelled rotten right from the beginning made me empathize with Ivan immediately and I was hyperalert for cops gone bad. Heh. That sounds like a bad reality TV show. *grins* I had watched Ivan and Kurt become friends in Kurt's story and I was definitely interested in reading more about Ivan because it takes a lot of guts to be an out and proud cop.When Ivan's bust goes to hell in a handbasket, there's no question that there must be a leak in the police department. So when Ivan is put on paid suspension while Internal Affairs reviews the shootings, Ivan's boss sends him into a completely unsanctioned undercover operation. Uh, no. That's sort of illegal and against all department policies. But, it gives Ivan an opportunity to look into the Russian mafia he's been watching for awhile and possibly discover the traitor in the department. Oh, okay, then. There are a few problems with this assignment, however. Ivan is supposed to play a divorced, straight guy who becomes the roommate of Parker, an up-and-coming drug dealer within the mafia. Problem number one: Parker is straight-up gorgeous and Ivan is massively attracted to him. Problem number two: the more Ivan gets to know Parker, the more he's convinced that there's no way this sweet, naive guy could ever be a drug dealer. And problem number three: Ivan is seriously thinking of a different career because this constant undercover work is really killing him. So, what to do, hmm?Hands down, Parker's "friend" since middle school, Neil, is straight-up scuzz. He may have stuck by Parker through his fat, socially awkward years, but I guess love is blind, even just friendship love, because it was glaringly obvious to me that Neil was completely using Parker. After some serious miscommunication between Ivan and Parker, which was totally understandable considering the circumstances, Ivan comes clean about the undercover job and they try to figure out what's going on. Of course, they've also fallen into bed and some serious lust/love by this time.This was a pretty exciting book, in a different way than Kurt and Davy's story, and there were some twists and turns I hadn't been expecting. I totally fell in love with Parker. He is adorable, sweet, naive, gentle, with a spine of steel, and a heart of gold. Exactly what Ivan needed with his lackluster life and general loneliness and despondency. It was great to get another glimpse at Rick and I'm looking forward to his story. I adored this book and I thank KC for writing such a fun book.NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review on Rainbow Book Reviews.