Title: Snakes Among Sweet Flowers
Series: N/A
Author: Jason Huffman-Black
Genre: Romantic Suspense
Length: 240 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (June 20th 2016)
Heat Level: Low/Moderate
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥3.25 Hearts
Blurb: Two-time ex-con Camden Sanders has decided that Hog Mountain—an isolated community on the outskirts of Atlanta, Georgia—is the perfect place to continue running small scams without the threat of more prison time.
But there are a few problems with this plan. One is the neighborly citizens of Hog Mountain thwarting his dirty dealings at every turn with their kindness. Another is Jackson Rhodes, a closeted Hog Mountain police officer who can see right through Cam’s good ol’ boy act and plans to catch him red-handed despite the attraction they both can feel.
But the biggest problem of all is that Cam’s past is threatening to catch up with him, and it could mean trouble for more than just himself.
ISBN: 9781634772365
Product Link: https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/snakes-among-sweet-flowers-by-jason-huffman-black-7156-b
Reviewer: Aerin
Review: This is the first book I’ve read by this author and I have to say I was somewhat pleasantly surprised. I think what drew me in the most are the unique, but well written main characters and the storytelling itself. This book was funny at times, but it also had a good dose of feelings and some facts of life that were hard to swallow.
Camden Sanders is a con man. Moving to Hog Mountain, an isolated and small community in Georgia, allows him to continue to run his scams while avoiding any more prison time. Cam is also on the run from a nefarious individual he associated with during his worst years. He knows that if he’s found he’ll be in great danger.
Taking advantage of the trusting people of Hog Mountain is what Cam does, and his auto-repair business allows him to scam his clients without raising suspicion. I have to say I laughed out loud at the things Cam came up with, as well as at his thoughts about the people living in Hog Mountain.
Police officer Jackson Rhodes knows all about Cam’s past and pays attention to his current business. Cam and Jackson are so different from each other. They might as well be from different planets. While Cam only cares about himself, Jackson is always worried about others and is looking out for them.
I loved the small, but close-knit community and how people helped each other when in need. What broke my heart were those dirt-poor kids who had a bastard of a father and not enough food in the house. No child that young should ever have to endure that and it’s not fair to have to work themselves in order to afford new school clothes.
But I loved how spending time with Luanne, Galen and Tony changed Cam. And how the goodness of people made him feel remorse and guilt for stealing from them.
Jackson is gay, but closeted. He doesn’t think coming out would be received with open arms in a community that’s so religious and not populated with too many open-minded people. His attraction towards Cam is something he wishes he could ignore. But the more time he spends with Cam and gets to know the person behind the crimes, the closer they get.
I wish there was more page time for Jackson and Cam as a couple. I feel like we got a glimpse of what should have been but we never got to see the full picture.
There were a few things that were extremely hard to believe and were worthy of some pretty serious eye-rolling. Harold (the person Cam is running from) comes looking for Cam and all kinds of weird stuff happens. Like the (unbelievable) fighting scene towards the end. The chase around town from house to house. The weird and questionable training of police officers. There were plenty of WTF moments that I had to re-read over a few times to make sure I’m not missing some vital parts that would make sense of the whole thing.
Also, this book is written mostly from Cam and Jackson’s POVs with the (weird and creepy) exception of the ONE time we get Grant’s POV. Grant is the town vet, and he’s a gay man who’s married to a woman, but loves nothing more than to worship the dick of any man who’s willing to shove it in his mouth. Why did we need Grant’s POV??? All he did was creepily stared at the men who were playing ball and act like a jealous bitch when girls showed up. Really, what was the point? It didn’t make any sense at all!
Overall Snakes Among Sweet Flowers was a book with great potential, which lost its shine along the way.
* I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review through http://mmgoodbookreviews.wordpress.com *