Jacob Proffitt's Reviews > Gallows Humor

I enjoyed this more than a little. Corey and Thayer are cute and their chemistry is awesome. I liked that neither bothered denying their attraction even as they made the choice to take things (relatively) slow. Like, both acknowledged that a relationship was likely and desirable so they took steps to give themselves a solid foundation. Only not as calculating or explicit as my laying it out here would imply.

The plot leans into their related professions so there's a lot of blood and gore on the page. Which explains the marketing even though the investigation itself isn't that large a part of the story. I mean, I wouldn't categorize this as a mystery or procedural which you might assume from the blurb. Most of the story revolves around their relationship, and not least as the final fifth of the book is after the mystery is wrapped up and deals with the fallout of events. Also, the "mystery" turned out to be really, really lame with an antagonist who was stupid and venal. So it's just as well that it isn't core to the story.

I'm not a huge fan of the fallout of events in that culmination. My discontent started with a confrontation that has Corey being really stupid for a trained fighter. I mean, you don't just stand still for a rush by an opponent twice your size. An MMA fighter in her likely weight class would know that and be ready with a pivot/redirect, particularly against an untrained opponent. But worse than that, (view spoiler)[it feels like it was manipulated in order to give Corey a serious injury that will, in turn, spawn a dark moment. Which is extra dumb because I could think of three different ways to get to that injury that wouldn't have needed Corey to be stupid at all, starting with being in an environment with the kind of clutter you don't get in a ring. (hide spoiler)]

And the dark moment felt . . . okay fine. It made sense and fit the character. I just don't like it when one character pulls into themselves in a crisis. Loving relationships are about sacrificing for each other and that means working together to overcome obstacles. So having a character pull inside in a way that hurts the other feels like betrayal to me. To the other person, too. So I'm not a fan of this as a plotline.

I did like where we ended with the characters, though. So I'm calling this a success. Well, four stars of a success, at any rate. I really like these two together and loved seeing their relationship develop. It was so sweet.

A note about the series: I have no desire to continue the series, despite liking the characters a lot. Or, maybe because I like them a lot? It looks like subsequent stories include setbacks in their personal relationship and I hate when authors have resets like that be part of their overall arc. Every relationship has rough spots, true, but actual regressions are rare. Or they should be in healthy relationships, I think.

A note about Steamy: There's a single explicit sex scene, with some short semi-explicit bits putting this on the low end of my steam tolerance. It was actually very well done and I loved this aspect of their relationship—including how explicit they were in building a relationship. And making Thayer such a strong top was unexpected, but completely right at the same time.