Dirty Secret by Rhys Ford

Title:  Dirty Secret

Author: Rhys Ford

Series: Cole McGuiness Mystery #2

Genre: Romantic Suspense

Length: Novel

Publisher: Dreamspinner (September 28th, 2012)

Heat Level: Explicit

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥♥5Hearts – OMG I loved it so much!!!

Blurb: Loving Kim Jae-Min isn’t always easy: Jae is gun-shy about being openly homosexual. Ex-cop turned private investigator Cole McGinnis doesn’t know any other way to be. Still, he understands where Jae is coming from. Traditional Korean men aren’t gay—at least not usually where people can see them.

But Cole can’t spend too much time unraveling his boyfriend’s issues. He has a job to do. When a singer named Scarlet asks him to help find Park Dae-Hoon, a gay Korean man who disappeared nearly two decades ago, Cole finds himself submerged in the tangled world of rich Korean families, where obligation and politics mean sacrificing happiness to preserve corporate empires. Soon the bodies start piling up without rhyme or reason. With every step Cole takes toward locating Park Dae-Hoon, another person meets their demise—and someone Cole loves could be next on the murderer’s list.

Product Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=3244

Reviewer: Showme

Review:  I truly loved this book.  I finished the first one minutes before starting the second one. If you read the first one you know how the author ended it. Thank goodness I didn’t have to wait. This is absolutely one of my favorite reads of 2012. It’s beautifully written and I’m completely in love with Cole and Jae.

This book picks up after the first in the series, Dirty Kiss. If you haven’t read that one don’t read any further. The murder mystery is new, but the journey is so wonderful you don’t want to spoil it. Scarlet hires Cole to find out what happened to a friend who disappeared the night of a raid on a gay bar in LA years before. This mixes Cole into some unfinished business within Korea’s southern chaebol.  The murder mystery this time around wasn’t as intense for me because it didn’t revolve around Jae, but it was still a damn good one with a nod to Adrien English. Literally, Cole thinks he’s hot…but don’t we all.

Let’s just start with my newest obsession, Jae and Cole. Their sex scenes are so steamy, but meaningful. They really are a special couple.  The love between them is so obvious, but Jae’s obligation to his family still hangs between them.  Cole and Jae are more open with their affection and the little touches and smiles make me swoon.  The pet names which can sometimes annoy me made me smile.  I came out of this one with much more hope things will work out for the guys. There’s no doubt it’s going to be painful, but that’s just makes what they have more beautiful. I have a better understanding of the shame gay Korean men carry around. It’s fascinating and heartbreaking. It’s a different kind of struggle to create some tension between Cole and Jae than I’m used to reading in this genre.

Cole’s family makes an appearance and it’s not all warm and fuzzy. I love Scarlet.  She does give me warm and fuzzies. We learn a little more about her lover and everything he gives up for the woman he loves. The prejudice Scarlet has to endure to be with her man even though she’s such a beautiful person. Bobby is a just pure fun and joins Cole in his investigative work again. Thank goodness he’s always there for Cole, because he needs all the help he can get. Even though I would love to gorge myself on page after page of Jae and Cole, I adore so many secondary characters in this series so every page was a joy. I wasn’t necessarily laughing while reading this book, but I caught myself smiling quite a bit.

I really recommend this series. I’m almost giddy about how happy I am to have found it and know this review probably didn’t do it justice. So just read it for yourself and you’ll know just how I feel. I can’t wait for the next one Dirty Laundry. My mind is spinning trying to think of where the author is going to take us after the way Dirty Secret ended. Yep, you will be left wanting more, but it’s not exactly a cliffhanger.  I think this author has created something special in this series