Review: Solid M/M Mystery Romance
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 02 25, 2013
3.5 stars - This is part of Gregg's Men of Smithfield series, but like the others, is a stand-alone story. This time focusing on Michael "Finn" Finnegan who teaches at a posh prep school in Smithfield and whose routine is upended when security expert Max comes to campus to guard a student from a stalker. Unfortunately for Finn's case, Max was also a one-time fling from the summer before that had ended badly. So now he's juggling his mixed feelings for seeing hot Max again along with the needs for a dorm full of moody teenagers, a very cumbersome Halloween costume, the upcoming opening of the school's musical, and the very real threat that someone dangerous is lurking about.I'm a big fan of Gregg's Romano and Albright mystery series, so was looking forward to checking out more from her. I thought this was a pretty good mystery, and she did a nice job of wrapping things up in a little over 100 pages. (I wasn't left wanting for more.) The relationship vibe between the MCs is very similar to Romano and Albright, with one being a little more high-strung, and the other being a little more orderly and "take charge" so if you liked Caesar and Dan's dynamic, you may dig this one as well.The downside for me was that it took me awhile to get into the groove of the story, as we move along with Michael/Finn (who goes by different names, depending on who's talking with him) from his hot yet ultimately humiliating tryst with Max to his work at the school months later. The mystery portion finally kicks in at around 20-25% of the story, which I felt was too long to bring in the meat of the story, especially for a novella when space is more limited.It also took me time to get warmed up to both Finn and Max, the former coming off a bit whiny and "why me" at first for being told there is a security threat to one of his students, and the latter coming off needlessly as a jerk. Max was also only going to be on campus for four days total, so I didn't know why the characters, including the student being threatened, were so affronted by the intrusion. I started to sink in about half-way through and warmed up to everything, but personally, I thought it took too long for a shorter work.(I had the same "slow to warm" feeling with Romano and Albright, since I felt both books took too long to start, but maybe because those are longer novels, I had more time to warm up and get fully invested in the characters since by the end, I was a happy reader.)On the plus side, it's a nice mystery that's stretched out to near the end, and it wasn't easy to pinpoint who the culprit was. You also don't need to read the Smithfield books in order. This is the first one I read, and didn't feel punished for missing Gobsmacked (or "Men of Smithfield: Mark and Tony" as the re-release is called.)So, if you like mysteries, and especially if you like Gregg's writing, this novella may be up your alley.