Book safety, content warnings, and tropes down below.

Quite an irony that the one bloke he hadn’t had sex with, was the one he couldn’t get out of his head.

I love Barbara’s writing so much. It just flows well. It’s genuinely funny (to me), and the characters are flawed yet kind. In terms of banter and humor, this book many had too much of it, honestly. Cato felt a bit too much like Jonty from book 1 at times. Still great, I just wanted it toned down a bit and sometimes I wanted a break in the banter so they could have proper conversations, lol.

Thankfully they did eventually have proper talks, but it wasn’t necessarily easy. Take one character who is still mainly closeted and has never had a boyfriend and pair him with a character who is the definition of ‘reformed manwhore’ who avoids commitment like the plague, and you’ve got the perfect recipe for disaster. Thank christ both of them actually wanted to change their ways and wanted someone permanent in their life, so it all worked out in the end.

“That was nice. Nothing beats hours and hours of hot sex. Except maybe three minutes of hot sex.” Then they were both laughing.

I think this is my favorite of Barbara’s in terms of the external plot. I never actually figured out whodunnit until it was revealed on page, and the entire murder mystery was highly entertaining.

Even with the manwhore trope and OTT banter I still really enjoyed it.

The ending (epilogue?) was a little confusing and a touch disappointing, but still a happy one.

He was wearing eyeliner and Vigge’s cock unfurled.

I have several questions about this unfurling dong.

⬇️ Blanket spoiler warning ⬇️

⚠️ Tropes & content tags ⚠️
Strangers to lovers
Forced proximity
Police officer MC
Science genius MC
Hookup to lovers
Semi-closeted MC
Leather harnesses
Intercrural sex
Murder mystery
Suspense
Reformed manwhore (pre meeting other MC)
First times

⚠️ Content warning ⚠️
Alcohol consumption
MC’s brother missing and presumed dead (past)
Explicit sexual content
Details of murder/crime scenes
Threats of violence
Homophobic SC and parents
Feelings of grief and guilt
Mention of MC being hit by parent (past, once)
Discussions of SC being infertile
Mention of past gun violence
Parent in car accident (off page)
Death of brother (off page, past, some details)
Mentions of authority figure coming onto MC as a teenager
MCs drugged
MC stabbed and hospitalized

⚠️Book safety ⚠️
Cheating: No
Other person drama: Cato’s exes wants him back and want to make a baby with him. He is not interested. He also has a roommate who flirts, but Cato only has eyes for Vigge.
Breakup: Mini almost-breakups, a couple times
POV: 3rd person, dual
Genre: Romantic suspense
Pairing: M/M
Strict roles or versatile: Versatile
Main characters’ age: 33 and 35
Series: Interconnected standalone
Kindle Unlimited: Yes
Pages: 332
Happy ending: Yes

Cato asked. “What were you thinking?” “I wondered if we might get stuck in the snow and be forced to seek shelter at some lonely inn. If it’s called The Bates Motel, you can go first in the shower.”

“Nice,” a guy said as he passed, giving Vigge a long stare. “Obviously he was thinking about me even though he was looking at you.” Cato elbowed him.



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