Title: Time Gone By
Author: Jan Suzukawa
Genre: Contemporary, Mystery, Suspense
Length: Novella (130pgs)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (21st March)
Heat Level: Explicit
Heart Rating: ♥♥♥♥3 ½ – 4Hearts
Reviewer: Pixie
Blurb: San Francisco P.I. Nick Cutter spent one night with the man of his dreams—and then the man disappeared. Three years later, on a routine missing-person assignment in Weller Falls, Montana, Nick is shocked to find his dream man living under the alias of Tori Tanaka.
Tori won’t talk about where he’s been or why he changed his name, but Nick soon learns that Tori fled because he witnessed a murder—and now the killer may have followed him to Weller Falls.
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=2831
Review: Nick has been asked by a friend to find a missing person. When he traces that person down, he finds himself attracted and is later shocked to find it is the same man who disappeared on him 3 years before. Tori is in hiding. Well, as much as he can, by himself with no real clue how to disappear, and he wants to stay that way. He’s shocked that the man he wanted to know has tracked him down, after all this time and he just might get a bit of happiness.
This is quite a well written story that gives us good detail and description. Nick is searching for a missing person and when he finds him he realizes that he is the man he fell in love with during one night three years before. Tori has moved to Montana so as not to be found. But, when a man from his past turns up, he can’t help be happy as he had never forgotten him. This story is from Nick’s point of view and it is quite touching the way he agonized over the best way to admit to Tori why he is really there and the way that he to’s and fro’s over how Tori really feels about him.
The descriptions for Nick’s job as a Private investigator, the way he pieced together the information available to him to find missing people and track them down, were well written. I liked the way that the author set up the relationship between Tori and Nick… the way that Tori’s picture seemed to call to Nick although he can’t work out why and then later it all falling into place as he remembered a long ago night, the way that neither man had ever forgot the other and how they had both tried to find the other but it just wasn’t meant to be at that time.
This story moved smoothly along and both characters seemed really nice. Although, Tori’s behavior at times puzzled me and it wasn’t really explained why he reacted like he did and there is a mystery as to his estrangement with his family. The way both men fell back into an easy stance with each other was telling, and gave me a hint as to how Tori was with Nick the first time round rather than relying on Nick’s reminiscence of their first meeting. I really did enjoy the way that they both seemed so relaxed with each other, like they were really made for each other and the sex between them was hot, erotic and fun.
The only thing that bugged me was everyone’s easy acceptance of Nick’s friend hiring him to find Tori. Tori never asked ‘who and why is he trying to find me’. The detective never asked either. We know why Nick never asked, as it explains it in the book, but it got me that no one else asked. I have to admit that at first I couldn’t believe that Nick missed the obvious and I sat there thinking ‘He’s been a PI for ten years, he’s crap’. But, then as I sat there mulling it over I realized that I would probably have missed the same thing. I can’t tell you the amount of times that I have said or done something that may have inadvertently caused a problem and my first reaction is to look somewhere else for the cause of the problem and only realizing hours later that it had really been me 😉 (Completely innocently honest O:-)).
So with this one I am going to recommend it to those who love slight mystery, suspense, a touch of danger, finding true love, hot sex and a happy ending.