Fraud Twice Felt (The Oddities #2) by J.T.Hall

Fraud Twice Felt by J.T.Hall

Blurb:

Three weeks after solving his old boyfriend’s murder, bounty hunter Derwin Bryant is trying to let go of the past and embrace his new life with Elliot Leed, a former rentboy and fellow Oddity. Elliot, meanwhile, is trying to adjust to working at Bob’s Bail Bonds and having a real relationship despite his strange power of Object Reading. Hanging over the couple is the fear that Roy Yoshiro, notorious gang lord, will make good on his threats to claim Elliot. If that happens, not even Derwin’s superhuman strength will be enough to protect the man he loves.

Their concerns are overshadowed when Derwin’s friend asks for help finding her missing son. It’s not long before the case takes Derwin and Elliot back to the crime-ridden underbelly of the city and straight into Yoshiro’s clutches. Two gangs are vying for power, and Derwin and Elliot get caught in the middle of their very public fight.

Derwin and Elliot must find a way to thwart both gangs’ plans and escape alive. This time, one misstep could spell disaster for all the inhabitants of Nis. 


On the whole I enjoyed reading this book but...and that is a big BUT for me, I wasn't expecting BDSM here. Despite those scenes being caring and sweet and the fact that you can feel that the heroes care for each other, are very much in love, actually, and the fact that the need to practice BDSM has reasons that are logical and understandable, it is just not my cup of tea. I don't have a problem  with explicit sex scenes but BDSM is different. As I said, the scenes themselves are well written and you get that they are not just sadistic but, well, I don't feel comfortable with it. 

Apart from that, the book was great. It is well written, has amazing and well developed characters and it is really great to see how the interaction between the heroes changes when Elliot becomes more confident and Derwin learns to trust him more. They are very different from each other but both are very vulnerable and very strong at the same time.  Reading the book you can see how Elliot matures and learns to stand up for himself and to pull his weight. The feelings between the two are palpable, you can feel how much they care for each other, how important the other one is for each of them and how far they are willing to go to protect the other one. 

Take this remarkable and really sweet couple, add an interesting and well written story, a couple of gangs and other foes threatening our heroes, a damsel (and her boyfriend) in distress and spice it with some fantastic elements. Sounds good? It is worth reading, at least if you don't mind all this BDSM-stuff. I enjoyed reading this book despite those scenes but, well, no warm, fuzzy feelings for me there, right? 

★★★★