Secrets and Ink (Secrets, #1) in Read with Pride Northwest

Nov 09, 2013 ttg rated it really liked it

Shelves: m-m, reviews, challenge-read

This was another fun mystery from Lou Harper. This time, the story focuses on Jem (short for Jeremy) who is a recovering goth bad boy who used to run around and hustle in his teens, but turned over a new leaf after an accident forced him to rebuild his life. Now in his later 20’s, he’s working at a gourmet grocery store, where he runs into Nick, one very delish cop. Only to his horror, Nick recognizes him from his hustling days. Jem thinks that’s the end to any hot future with him, but things ve This was another fun mystery from Lou Harper. This time, the story focuses on Jem (short for Jeremy) who is a recovering goth bad boy who used to run around and hustle in his teens, but turned over a new leaf after an accident forced him to rebuild his life. Now in his later 20’s, he’s working at a gourmet grocery store, where he runs into Nick, one very delish cop. Only to his horror, Nick recognizes him from his hustling days. Jem thinks that’s the end to any hot future with him, but things veer off plan as someone else starts sending him anonymous dirty photo reminders of his old life. And then another part of his past is murdered…

I’m fan of Harper’s writing, and this one is another good sample of her style, nicely straight forward but with some added snark (from Jem, who thinks his life is cursed.) Nick was a hot cup of yum as well, although less developed of a character than Jem. They had nice chemistry though, and I liked how Nick tempered Jem’s more erratic, spontaneous behavior.

There’s a nice poke at the way some heroes choose to go the TSTL route in their mysteries, when Jem gets a suspicious invitation to a party by a former “client” of his. He internally ponders going, and imagines getting into trouble and having Nick swoop in to rescue him. But then, instead of following the Amateur Sleuth’s Guide to Getting into Peril, he quickly understands that going would be a Bad Idea, and passes on the invitation to someone else. I liked that bit of self-aware humor (and appreciated that he didn’t follow that path.)

At 38,000 words, it’s a novella, which usually I’m less a fan of since I love longer works, but this time, I felt Harper did a good job of fleshing out the characters and the mystery, so it felt “just right” for length.

If you’re already a fan of Harper’s mysteries, I think this will be a good read for you. If you’re trying her work for the first time, you could start here, although I probably would rec Spirit Sanguine or Dead in L.A. first. Those are two of my favorites. ...more

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Jun 23, 2014 Kelly (Maybedog) rated it really liked it

Shelves: what-male-protagonist, what-suspense-thriller-action, what-lgbtqia, how-ebook, where-grr-mine, what-mm-read, what-sex-industry, what-mm, what-rescue-me

First off, this book was hilarious and that starts from word one:

Karma cursed me because I called her a bitch.

It continues,

Ms. Karma Jones worked for the Las Angeles Department of Transportation, and she'd had my car towed because of unpaid parking tickets. She'd only been doing her job, but I'd seen her actions as a personal fuck-you. I'd been too full of myself--and several legal and illegal substances--at the time. I'd said some very rude things to her, and in response, she put a curse on me

First off, this book was hilarious and that starts from word one:

Karma cursed me because I called her a bitch.

It continues,

Ms. Karma Jones worked for the Las Angeles Department of Transportation, and she'd had my car towed because of unpaid parking tickets. She'd only been doing her job, but I'd seen her actions as a personal fuck-you. I'd been too full of myself--and several legal and illegal substances--at the time. I'd said some very rude things to her, and in response, she put a curse on me. I should've known not to mess with a woman wearing a uniform and magenta hair--such an ominous color.

I was hooked.

"The dark hair on his arms begged to be touched but I held back my urges. Petting cops in public can get you in trouble."

and

"You shouldn't let him slip by--you're not getting any younger."
"I'm twenty-six!"
"In gay years, that's practically middle age..."

Aside from the humor, this was still a great book. The characters were fun and individuals, their motivations were clear, and I really loved the MCs. I really loved how they looked at age gaps where one is a teenager. The plot was interesting, and I wasn't completely sure who the culprit was until the end. The action was good, there was mortal danger, and I couldn't put the book down. I'd love to read more about these two.

There was one point that really spoke to me. They were talking about movies, but they could have been talking about books. They were nit-picking about things like police procedures in action movies. Some says to them,

"Neither of you were bothered by the scene where Carson drove a motorcycle from the top of the building straight into the helicopter?" she asked.
I shook my head.
"That's just movie stuff," Nick explained.

What's particularly funny is that I had just been talking about that very type of thing with my father the day before I read that. I hate when they get the details wrong but I'm fine with the completely improbable premise or action sequences. I mean, that's just the storytelling, right? :)

One wonderful thing was that this book didn't make really obvious, dumb police procedural errors itself. The MC who was a cop wasn't allowed anywhere near a case that related to the other MC. He also wouldn't tell his lover a single thing about what he did know saying, "I won't discuss an open investigation with you."

Here are my nitpicks (since I'm mentioning how I nitpick, I need to include them, right?):

There was an intense dramatic scene where someone nearly dies but we see it from his perspective so we get none of the drama of the rescue, etc.

Someone ties a tourniquet around someone else because he saw it in the media or something. At that point, he didn't know the extent of the damage. You never, ever, tie a tourniquet unless not doing so would be immediate death, or the limb is already lost. If a tourniquet isn't removed within a very, very short time (less time than it usually takes to get to a hospital) the person will lose the limb. Instead, put intense pressure one one side of the limb, over top of the wound. If you can't hold on to do that, do this: (spoiler only so that someone only interested in the book doesn't have to read my explanation: (view spoiler)

There were bits of the mystery that didn't make total sense and were obviously put in to create suspense. The problem was the explanation that came later was inadequate. For example, (view spoiler)

Despite these things, this was a solid four star read, and I hope Harper writes a sequel. ...more

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