Publisher: Self-pub
Release Date: April 19, 2019
Received From: Signal Boost Promotions
All Remy Harker wants is a fresh start.
Well, maybe that’s what he tells himself as he rolls up to his nice new house, in the nice little neighborhood, in a town where nobody knows his name.
He’s surrounded by friendly neighbors and a white picket fence. The ugly pink carpet might drive him to insanity, and he can’t stop wondering where the old lady who lived there before him died—but it’s nice.
And if he puts his mind to it, he can be anything—or anyone—he wants to be. He can be nice too.
At least, he thinks he can until he lays eyes on his next-door neighbor.
Luke Boucher is nice.
And quiet.
And perfect.
It doesn’t take long for Remy to insinuate himself into Luke’s life. A camera here, a break-in there.
– It’s not really stalking if you love someone, is it? –
But when Remy’s plan to make a good impression goes to hell, he ends up over his head in more ways than one. Then things aren’t quite so nice anymore.
– It’s not really murder if you love someone, is it? –
Loving your neighbor isn’t so easy when you’re the devil next door.
*****
This book is part of CRIMINAL DELIGHTS. Each novel can be read as a standalone and contains a dark M/M romance.
Warning: These books are for adult readers who enjoy stories where lines between right and wrong get blurry. High heat, twisted and tantalizing, these are not for the fainthearted.
GENDER: cisgender
SEXUALITY: homosexual
ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: homoromantic
PAIRING: M/M
TROPES: neighbor romance
TAGS: adult, romance, dark romance, queer romance, queer characters, series: criminal delights
WARNINGS: stalking, death, torture, murder, violence, gore, ableism, mental illness (anxiety, panic attacks, claustrophobia, OCD), anti-queer language, vomiting, slurs, gendered slurs, cheating, captivity, drugging, dubious consent/rape, pedophilia
In yet another book from the CRIMINAL DELIGHTS series, we get another dark romance from Alex Jane, which is more lacking in keeping the reader’s attention than the first of the series. It’s just as dark–featuring stalking, gory violence, torture–but the story doesn’t really grab and hold onto the reader.
The novel gets off to a slow start and doesn’t really pick up until the last third or so once the twist is revealed. It was made slow by the intention lack of information Jane built into the story. There was a disconnect between Remy’s seemingly instantaneous obsession with Luke, and thus, it was difficult to connect with the characters and the plot. The book did become more interesting once the major plot twist was revealed, and answered all the questions the reader is left with from the first two-thirds of the story, but it wasn’t enough to totally redeem the story from it’s blandness.
This story certainly delivers on the criminal aspect but really not much else.
Stories of M/M romance with happy endings…eventually.
After spending far too long creating stories in her head, Alex finally plucked up the courage to write them down and realized it was quite fun seeing them on the page after all.
Free from aspirations of literary greatness, Alex simply hopes to entertain by spinning a good yarn of love and life, wrapped up with a happy ending. Although, if her characters have to go through Hell to get there, she’s a-okay with that.
With only a dysfunctional taste in music and a one-eyed dog to otherwise fill her days, Alex writes and walks on the South Coast of England—even when her heart and spellcheck are in New York.
Sign up for my monthly newsletter on my website.
Small Queer, Big Opinions 