Compulsion Gay Mystery, Gay Romance LGBTQ Fiction, Murder Mystery
Jocular Press
March 30, 2023
Kindle
313
Amazon
The past always catches up with you. Max Newman should know—he’s been running from his since that one, fateful night.
Now he’s left the darker streets of London behind him and returned to Brighton to lick his wounds. Though he insists the club life is no longer his scene, one evening he lets his friends drag him out dancing. And suddenly the simple life he’s tried to lead gets complicated.
At Compulsion, the Medina Group’s newest hotspot, Max meets Seve Nunez, a member of the Medina management and a man used to taking what he wants. The sexual chemistry between Max and Seve immediately leads to an intimate encounter in the backyard of the club—just the kind of dangerous behaviour Max is trying to forget. Despite that, he can't help but crave more, and Seve seems just as eager.
But Max soon suspects that Seve may not be the scrupulous businessman he claims. Max has seen the Medina Group at work before, and what he saw got a good friend killed. He's not sure what future he has with Seve, but he'll have to decide whether to trust in Seve’s innocence or keep running. The wrong choice could land them both in mortal danger.
Reviewed by Gloria Lakritz
Review Chair for the Paranormal Romance Guild Review Team
Do Not laugh! I have been the review Chair for this book guild for almost 15 years. We review and promote authors of all genres from all over the world. I feel like I’ve been living under a rock, when I say, my reviewers have grabbed this authors work but I have never read a Clare London book….UNTIL NOW.
When Compulsion was submitted for review, I saw the cover and instantly needed to read this story. The book was releasing this weekend and I had the time.
From the moment I opened the book, I COUD NOT PUT IT DOWN. Ms. London has said Compulsion was originally written in 2012 and published by a different publisher. She has polished it a bit and re released it ; Thank Goodness it’s here.
The story revolves around three young men, friends since childhood; Max, Louis and Jack. But as we see all three, this is book it is totally Max’s story to tell. Max had since returned to Brighton and is living in a small attic apartment owned by is two old friends Louis and Jack who are now committed partners. Dropping out of school in his last year to follow an unsure bet of a boyfriend was stupid, and what happened to that relationship was a given but now e struggled in London with no place to live, no job and no money. Sounds familiar? Max lost himself to drugs flop houses and being a runner for drugs until Stewart. This was totally a platonic relationship. Stewart worked the streets saving one person at a time and Max finally had a friend he could trust. The drug business caught wind of Stewart’s interference and he was killed right in front of Max. This is the horrible secret that brought him back from London to Brighton.
When you have a secret like this, fear, and self loathing is difficult to endure and his two friends are watching Max not living but existing they wonder how and what occurred to make him what he is now. He stays in, never going out with them and his old friends. He now lives a life as a shadow, no drinking, no clubbing, just work at a building complex.
A new club called Compulsion was opening and Louis is dancing there and the group wants to celebrate his success. Is friends hound him to be there. You know that scene where ‘ their eyes met’ across the bar? OOOOh yes…..so that happened. From this moment on we watched the sexiest, spicy, insightful, loving, hopeful, romantic story I have read in a very long time.
Seve and Max do not have an easy time. Firstly, Seve Medina is part of the new management company Medina Group who Max ran drugs for in London. Severino is part of the ‘family’ and the internal thoughts and interactions are all in Max’s POV take us through a tumult of feelings
Which are what you’d expect as he and Seve LUST for each other, meeting secretly in dark rooms, cars, parks, anywhere they can steal away for hot sex. Sev is a rich, spoiled playboy who has had no one say no to him. Working for his family is his life. He as been brought up in Spain so English is not his first language. This un- relationship was working for them until Max was lured outside of the club one night and beaten up by one of the Medina thugs who he worked for in London.
So beside this interesting, sexy, love story we have so much ‘More’ with murder, mayhem and drugs. Their conversations before or after sex are wonderfully written and totally a gift to this story.
Clare London this is my first story I have read EVER but it is the first of many more, I promise!
