Customer Reviews

Boy Meets Body Partners In Crime #1

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Like another reviewer, I bought this because I was already a Josh Lanyon fan. I knew I would love his story - and I wasn't disappointed! Luckily, I was equally satisfied by Sarah Black's half of the book. They both create great characters, a sweet love story, and a compelling murder mystery. I could easily revisit these characters in future stories but I'm just as happy to follow the writers wherever they want to go. I now plan to make my way through everything Sarah's written so far & I can't wait to read the next three books in this series (see release dates at mlrpress.com).

wow, they need to write more of this, because I devoured the whole book in a day and I want to read the 2nd volume already.

Josh Lanyon and Sarah Black are both excellent m/m mystery writer in their own right. While they have different writing style, they formed a good partnership in this series.

I am a big fan of Lanyon's fast-paced, quick-wit mystery with great characterisation. "Cards on the Table" is great example of all these qualities. I read somewhere that the Tim and Jack here are the original prototypes (correct me if I'm wrong) of Lanyon's Adrien English mysteries. And I can see some similiar traits but they are definitely not Adrien and Jake, but I certainly wouldn't mind if there is a "Tim & Jack" series. Like Lanyon's other stories, there are great interaction between characters. Tension, misunderstandings... so good I almost forgot there's mystery to be solved as well :)

Sarah Black's "Murder at the Heartbreak hotel" offers a wide range of interesting characters. A classic "Who done it" in a (almost) confined environment, the story is very much driven by characters. I've read Sarah Black's "Border Roads" novel and have always admired her ability to put characters in compelling situation.

A very good read.

I'm a long-time Josh Lanyon fan so I couldn't wait until this book was released. The other reviewers do a great job describing the plot, so I won't bother with a recap. I'll just say that "Cards on the Table" was an engrossing read.

Lanyon definitely has a thing for vulnerable male leads and instead of this pattern being predictable and a little boring, he uses it to provide interesting plot movement, as well as ratcheting up the sexual tension. In this time of "erotica" overload where everyone and their mother seems to be writing plotted erotic genre fiction, Lanyon stands out as someone who leaves you wanting more instead of less. I can't think of a higher accolade.

I've seen Sarah Black's work on some ebook websites, but for some reason her books never really appealed to me so I've always passed on buying them. I was really pleasantly surprised by "Murder at the Heartbreak Hotel." The "Northern Exposure-esque" setting was great, the mystery was pretty interesting, but the relationships between the ensemble cast are what set this story apart. And I loved all of the cooking details. I promptly went and bought most of her other books and enjoyed them as well.

I love both writers' writings and have been looking forward to this one. Both stories meet my expectation and much more.
The plots are tightly paced, interesting with breathtaking moments, the murder mysteries intriguing and the settings very unique. But it is the amazingly well developed characters and their emotional and heartfelt romance which held me captive. Both stories might just be novellas but they are so well written that the characters easily grow on you.

I love Josh's style and his vulnerable heroes. Tim is such an endearing person and Jack is one likable cop. Their confrontations, sweet make-ups are so well expressed and their final scene really gets to me. This couple certainly brings to mind Adrien and Jake. However Tim's and Jack's love story is so much more satisfying, at this point anyway :).

I find Sarah's story sad because of the murder victim. Her side characters are quirky and charming while both Peter and Sebastian are such rarities. Peter and his cooking is adorable and who could resist Sebastian, a mountain of a man, all out to win back his man.

So glad Josh and Sarah have created this series and looking forward to the next 3 volumes in the horizon. A winner for mlrpress website, with its great M/M romance writers and titles.

Okay, so I very rarely write reviews for books I've read but it's not because I don't like to, but because I never know exactly what to say. Anyway, I'm sorry to say this and my apologies to Sarah Black but I solely bought this book because it featured a Josh Lanyon story-I happen to be a huge fan. I really loved the interactions between his characters-Tim & Jack-who through of series of misunderstandings or miscommunications don't realize the feelings that they harbor for one another, and the story of the unsolved murder of a starlet of the late 50's. All in all, for me, it was definitely worth the read...and the price.

OK, so you don't know who Johnny Stompanato was, or how he died (mobster; stabbed to death by Lana Turner's daughter in Hollywood in the 50's). And you never had the guilty pleasure of opening the glossy pages of Life Magazine back then to see glamourous black and white photos of movie stars, or the lurid pools of black blood seeping from under the corpse of a murdered gangster, also to be found in the pages of the same "family" magazine.

Nevertheless, unsolved Hollywood crimes still seem to fascinate, and surely you've seen or heard about either Josh Hartnett's "Black Dahlia," or Ben Affleck's "Hollywoodland," both of which came out in 2006, and which deal with two such cases.

Josh Lanyon brings all of this back to life wonderfully in "Cards on the Table." His hero, Tim North, is a present-day investigative reporter writing a book about the unsolved murder of a sexy 50's starlet. To use the vernacular of the noir movie posters of the day, there's "Mystery! Suspense! Danger! Action! Romance! " and plenty of it!

Lanyon's mastery of the noir narrative style is complete, and he scatters his clues and diversions with tricky skill: even his red-herrings have red-herrings. And there's a mystery about his hero too, which when revealed may surprise you if you haven't been paying attention to the hints Lanyon drops along the way.

There's plenty of suspense, and romance: will Lanyon's hero survive the attacks of a mob chief's thug ? Will he get over himself and finally accept the love he is offered by the handsome police detective who lives in the apartment upstairs? Read "Cards on the Table," and find out. You'll enjoy the ride.

PS: And thanks to Josh, I learned a new word: heterochromia - cool.

I agree with the other reviewers-Partners is a very good read. My favorite story was Josh Lanyons. Tim and Jack had such chemistry. I was surprised that they could mean so much to me in such a short story but Tim's character was so wonderfully done. I really wished that there was another story about them.
Sarah Black's story was also well done. I also think her characters were well developed.
The mysteries were not too hard to figure out but the romance in both stories were wonderful.
I think the book was well worth the price. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

Two excellent novellas.
Cards on the Table is my favourite Josh Lanyon story, well written and eventful without loosing the gentle touch. I would like to read more of these characters in the future.
Murder at the Heartbreak Hotel is the first Sarah Black story I have read but it is good enough that I will look out for more. It is a very gentle and quite sad story but as with CotT the love is clear to see.

Lanyon's story was excellent, as usually. Yes, I love his writing so much that any objectivity goes right out of the window. His stories push all my buttons and especially the hurt/comfort ones. They just make me feel good!

Black's story made me cry, like literally. The murder victim was that lovable. I have to say that all the characters were unique and intriguing, but Black's writing... It doesn't run as smoothly as Lanyon's. Especially the dialogs: The fact that the speakers tended to repeat the name of the person they were talking to in every part of their dialog was a bit annoying because I have yet to see anybody do that in RL. Still, Black sure knows how to evoke emotions.

First of all, the quality of the print book was rather bad. A first from MLR books for me, so I'm not sure if it was only my copy or not but it was pretty shaky.

On to the stories, I was a little disappointed by Sarah's story, because it does start with one of the guy cheating on his boyfriend and there's the whole "I might have been in love with him even tho we were only together one day and one night". That doesn't make the boyfriend happy when he comes back because someone told him some young guy was sleeping in HIS bed. It's such a shame he did that too cuz his boyfriend is totally hot~
There are somewhat reasons for why he did it but are there any situation where excuses for cheating are really "valid"? I don't think so besides lack of communication. Something emphasized in this story here.
Anyway despite the fact that I wanted to slap the cheater around, it was still pretty good~

No whining about Josh Lanyon for his story this time!!
He added a little twist to one of the guys that made it for me, very very interesting! I'm a sucker for stories with guys that aren't perfect or who have disabilities (the case here, however minor). It just adds a little spice to the romance. Cards on the Table remains my favorite of Josh Lanyon along with The Dark Horse.