Hi there! Today I’m sharing a review for a recently published M/M contemporary police romance from Kate Sherwood. DARKNESS is the third book in her Common Law series, and was a fab follow up to LONG SHADOWS and EMBERS. This small-town epic is tense and filled with intrigue between local law enforcement, federal agents, friends, neighbors and criminals.
About the book:
A murdered prostitute. An obvious suspect. Clear evidence. For once, Jericho Crewe has a straightforward crime to investigate, and Wade Granger isn’t involved.
It all seems so simple, but Jericho’s instincts won’t let him rest. As he investigates, he finds troubling suggestions that the murder is a part of something larger and more sinister. But working within the boundaries of the law may keep him from finding the truth. If Jericho doesn’t break the rules, an innocent man may rot in jail while a killer remains free to strike again.
Inevitably, it all comes back to Wade. Because who else knows as much about breaking rules? And who else knows Jericho the way Wade does—not wisely, but far, far too well?
My Review:
This is the third book in a series and best enjoyed when read in order.
Jericho Crewe is still working as Undersheriff in his small border hometown of Mosely, Montana. It’s only been a few months since his return and everything’s been mostly a mess. His father’s murder is still unsolved, though Jericho isn’t losing too much sleep over taht fact. He held no love for his abusive, criminal, estranged father. Learning he has two half-siblings has been a trip, and tangling with his shady step-mother and even shadier ex-boyfriend, Wade Granger, has been an exercise in minefield transit.
This time, however, Jericho’s unwilling to hide his relationship with Wade from those who matter–and he’s tired of worrying that the Feds who have a constant tap on Wade’s phone lines will out him. Besides, his boss knows all about Jericho and Wade’s complicated history.
The police work in this book doesn’t involve Wade or smuggling. A local prostitute has been murdered, and all the evidence–a whole lot of it in fact–seems to point toward a local brain-damaged man. Will Archer went to high school with Jericho and Wade. He was injured in a car wreck and has been largely non-verbal since. How this gentle man could be responsible for the violence at the crime scene Jericho can’t fathom. And, the investigation leads to an outsider to town, a man who seems particularly interested in the case, and peculiarly aware of the details not released.
I really liked how Jericho worked through the angles of this case, and how he kept looking for the truth, even though it was super hard to find. It was also an interesting look at small town justice, and how dedicated some law enforcement officers are to doing their job right–people beyond Jericho, btw. It always strikes me that Jericho has such a sense of right v. wrong, and yet is startlingly in love with Wade Granger, the (alleged) definition of a career criminal. This book really does draw their romance into the open, and causes issues for Jericho and his job–though he’s getting worn out as an undersheriff and is open to exploring his career opportunities yet again.
I’m anxious to pick up the fourth book in this series and see how Jericho reconciles his open love for Wade, and his life in Mosely.
Interested? You can find DARKNESS on Goodreads, Riptide Books, Amazon, Barnes & Noble iTunes, and Kobo. I received a review copy of this book via NetGalley.
About the Author:
Kate Sherwood started writing about the same time she got back on a horse after almost twenty years away from riding. She’d like to think she was too young for it to be a midlife crisis, but apparently she was ready for some changes!
Kate grew up near Toronto, Ontario (Canada) and went to school in Montreal, then Vancouver. But for the last decade or so she’s been a country girl. Sure, she misses some of the conveniences of the city, but living close to nature makes up for those lacks. She’s living in Ontario’s “cottage country”–other people save up their time and come to spend their vacations in her neighborhood, but she gets to live there all year round!
Since her first book was published in 2010, she’s kept herself busy with novels, novellas, and short stories in almost all the sub-genres of m/m romance. Contemporary, suspense, scifi or fantasy–the settings are just the backdrop for her characters to answer the important questions. How much can they share, and what do they need to keep? Can they bring themselves to trust someone, after being disappointed so many times? Are they brave enough to take a chance on love?
Kate’s books balance drama with humor, angst with optimism. They feature strong, damaged men who fight themselves harder than they fight anyone else. And, wherever possible, there are animals: horses, dogs, cats ferrets, squirrels… sometimes it’s easier to bond with a non-human, and most of Kate’s men need all the help they can get.
After five years of writing, Kate is still learning, still stretching herself, and still enjoying what she does. She’s looking forward to sharing a lot more stories in the future.
Catch up with Kat on her website, Facebook and twitter.
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