The Valley of the Shadow of Death by Julie Bozza

Title: The Valley of the Shadow of Death

 Author: Julie Bozza

 Genre: Contemporary

 Length: Novel (218pgs)

 Publisher: Manifold Press (1st November 2011)

 Heat Level: Low

 Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3 ½Hearts

 Reviewer: Pixie

 Blurb: Joshua Delaney and Carmine Angelo Trezini, cop and low-level mobster, should have absolutely nothing in common; yet, accidentally brought together, they rapidly became both lovers and allies against important crime figure Matthew Picano. Of course, taking down a man like that was never going to be easy – but Josh has no idea of the scale of the sacrifice he will eventually be called upon to make.

Purchase Link: http://www.manifoldpress.co.uk/2011/10/the-valley-of-the-shadow-of-death/

Review: Josh convinces Angelo to turn against Matthew Picano, a mob boss. They begin an affair but Angelo is convinced that he won’t live long when Picano finds out that he has turned on him.

This is a well written book that has a very good story-line and plot. Angelo is the guy that I fell in love with in this book.  He just seems to live life to the fullest, embracing his love for Josh and just going with it without procrastinating about how soon it is or the fact that the man was straight. Josh on the other hand I began to wonder if he had any feelings at all, at one point, as he just seemed to go along with the relationship with Angelo and it seemed to take him a long time to feel love for Angelo.  and he never told Angelo that he loved him, not once in the book and yeah I checked.

The story is great and kept me reading, I liked the characters and thought they had great potential but Josh came across as a bit of a dead fish, even with his wondering about his reaction to Angelo it felt clinical and not emotional in any way. The gathering of the statements and the court scenes were great and towards the end Josh was more open with Angelo and seemed to genuinely have fallen in love with him. The ending was devastating and I really thought that it would have ended differently.

This book I will recommend to those who love cop/mobster love affairs, court room drama and gentle love.