Guilt by Association

REREAD 8/9/21 – 8/13/21Yes, I'm still in love with this one. I sipped it and enjoyed every painful scene. How each man, independently, wonders or suspects that the other has smoothed things over. How Hazard, due to his history, desperately doesn't want to be alone and makes excuses for Nico.How Cora has to lay out the truth for Somers, one he thinks is a secret, but it's really not. And this scene: "Hazard remembered shifting during the night and feeling Somers inside his arms, and he remembered the heat from his body - not sexual, not completely, but not brotherly either - and he remembered at the edge of consciousness, in the moments before oblivion, that this was home, that this was maybe the only home he would ever know." that just goes with the spoiler in my original review. They perfectly bookend each other. swoonps. I was remiss in praising [a:Tristan James 14756687 Tristan James https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]'s amazing audio version. He embodies Hazard & Somers and does a fantastic job of voicing all of the characters that come into the story. Just perfect. ****************1st read **11/24/19 - 11/27/19*HEART EYESTake all my money [a:Gregory Ashe 1179529 Gregory Ashe https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1561907752p2/1179529.jpg]! After having put us, and his characters, through the literal and figurative wringer he delivers on the promise of the first book in a spectacular, and yet suitably quiet way. Hazard & Somers once again find themselves in the midst of an investigation that made me think of [b:Murder on the Orient Express 853510 Murder on the Orient Express Agatha Christie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1486131451l/853510.SY75.jpg 2285570], how the plot manages to touch on many of the characters and overarching stories in the series. I was a happy camper. For those who are here for the romance ahem you can take a breath. I'm not saying that Hazard has suddenly developed observational skills or finesse, but he does comes through when it counts. As for John-Henry I just want to swaddle him in cotton batting for a spell, he's been living on tenuous ground, but that last scene?"Somers studied the room around them one last time before closing his own eyes. He'd been seeing an apartment, yes. And now he saw a home." If that doesn't pierce you to the bone are you even alive?The rest is as follows: *Nico, please develop a personality, be a little less self-centered, and stop trying to hold on to someone who clearly isn't into you. *Thank you Gregory Ashe for the character of Cora.