Dirty Heart Cole McGinnis
MM Mystery/Thriller
Dreamspinner Press
March 21, 2016
204
Review by Gloria Lakritz
Sr Reviewer and Review Chair for the Paranormal Romance Guild
It is with great excitement and sadness I review the last book in the Cole McGinnis Mystery Series. In book #1 Dirty Kiss, I first met our constant for this series told in his POV, Cole Kenjiro McGinnis Private Investigator. Cole was an out and gay police officer. His partner Ben was his back. Cole lost his Japanese mother at child birth, and then lost his father, step mother and sisters when he came out. He thankfully never lost his brother Mike. Cole’s world was turned even more upside down when his partner Ben gunned down Cole and his lover, killing Rick, and then turning the gun inward and killed himself. Cole was paid handsomely for his injuries and this is how he was able to open his Investigative business. Through this series we still do not know why Ben did this…Dirty Heart reveals it all!!!
As we make our way from Book #1 to Book #6 we have met a cast along the way that I will truly miss. It is here he meets Kim Jae-Min on a routine investigation, looking into the suicide of a prominent Korean businessman’s son. The romance between them is an underlying sensual dance throughout the entire stories; they heat and sizzle the pages as their love grows as Cole is trying to bring himself back to the one thing he feels compelled to have; a life with Jae and finally getting over losing Rick. Jae comes with his own baggage and the readers hope they can both overcome their pasts.
Last but not least we meet have Bobby Dawson ex-LAPD. Bobby, unlike Cole, ‘came out’ after he left the force. He likes his sex fast, hot, and sweaty with no attachments—until Ichiro Tokugawa comes to town. Ichi is none other than the younger half brother of Mike and Cole McGinnis and was told by Cole ‘off limits’ that is until they fell into lust and broke all the rules. Bobby Dawson Cole’s best friend is tops on my list, giving us some of the lightness needed in these tough stories. Cole’s brother Colin Mikio (Mike) and his wife Maddy (Mad Dog) are wonderful, Scarlet is priceless, Cole’s office manager Claudia Dupree is the mother Cole deserved and never had.
We really get to know these characters. I love them like my own friends; I know what makes them tick. That’s why this last book is so sad, I feel like I am losing a part of myself.
So it is here in the last book, we discover Jeff Rollins, a disgraced cop and Cole’s first partner. He has resurfaced and appears to be working on the wrong side of the law. All I can say is this last story answers all the unanswered questions for us on the why and the how….and yes I hate that this is The End. Rhys you did well by this series, and I look forward to your books whatever series it is!!!! Bye Cole-a