Proven Guilty by Mia Watts

17618551Title: Proven Guilty

Series: Boys in Blue #5

Author: Mia Watts

Genre: Crime & Mystery

Length: Novella (72 pages)

Publisher: Totally Bound (April 1st, 2013)

Reviewer: Thommie

Heat Level: Moderate

Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3.5 Hearts

Blurb: James is positive he’s not gay—almost, but when his new roommate and District Attorney liaison calls his bluff, another boy in blue might just be proven guilty.

Detective James Runyon is rough around the edges with a reputation for causing trouble. So when a fellow officer accuses him of being gay, he knows the guy is full of shit.

But his new roommate, Shawn Janis, is slim, sexy, gorgeous, and setting off way too many alarms for his comfort. And trying not to look at him has James in a tailspin of avoidance…until Shawn calls his bluff with an office kiss.

Reader Advisory: This book is best read in sequence, after Knight’s Fall.

Product Linkhttps://www.totallybound.com/proven-guilty

Review: I’m NOT gay!

That is the mantra James keeps telling himself ever since that horrible incident in the woods when Liam slammed in his face that he was in denial.

No! I’m NOT gay, damnit.

Of course, all those lies he’s been telling himself forever are challenged when his new roommate shows up. Shawn. Damn the man but he’s like an angel, tall, golden and crystal blue eyes. Yeah, hands shaking and mind reeling, every conscious and unconscious thought going round and round back to Shawn, but hey, as long as James is in control and keeps saying, “he’s not gay” to himself everything is all right, right?

Wrong!

Did I sell it enough for you? God, I don’t know if I’m not reacting as I should with this book but I loved it. I found it utterly hilarious. James is one hell of character, an idiot homophobe I can’t stop laughing with or at, I don’t know. The dialogue, the narration, the voice, and hell everything about this book was funny and my cheeks are hurting, really hurting. Is it wicked of me that I found the misery of a homophobic gay, deeply in the closet guy so hilarious? Or was it this author’s intention? I’m choosing the second option as the first kinda makes me look bad.

Anyway, back to the book, the story is about James who is miserable. His new roommate is not what he expected and hits all the alarms in his system. It’s a round and round chase where James tries really hard not to acknowledge the “elephant in the room,” aka his gayness, all the while avoiding his roommate like the Devil. And Shawn, poor Shawn, he’s unfortunate enough to be rooming with his ideal guy. The whole bear, gruff and medieval kind of God that James looks like. I loved the pair, they were, and damn I’m repeating myself, really fun to read about.

Plot wise though there was no plot. I mean this book is in the Crime & Mystery genre, but there was no crime or mystery. Yeah sure, James was in the middle of a case but that really didn’t take weight as in being part of the plot, just as filler in between the lines.

And there were the intimate scenes that somehow didn’t quite do it for me. I was literally baffled when James from one heartbeat to the other made that huge transition from homophobic asshole to a loving gay partner without a hitch. See, normally THAT would have been a huge put off for me, but I was still having too much fun with his previous misery and my favorite scene of all when James gets drunk, that it slipped away from my attention.

This book is apparently the fifth in a series. I haven’t read the previous ones and there is advisory that you should read it after you’ve read Knight’s Fall, but I had no problem following this and getting into it. However, I am now curious about the rest of them.

As for Proven Guilty bearing in mind the lack of crime plot and the leap in James’ character, I totally recommend it for every fan of Men in Blue, aka cops and whoever out there need a good, fun and enjoyable read. God I’m still laughing with the drunken James. 