Fire and Obsidian Carlisle Deputies Book 4
M/M Romance/Mystery
Dreamspinner Press
May 7, 2019
200
Can a couple be more opposite than a thief and a cop? Or do they have more in common than they think?
Mattias Dumont stole to survive. He was damn good at it. But there’s no such thing as a victimless crime, and when he saw how his theft hurt people, he resolved to change. Now he works as a consultant, and while helping to investigate a rash of burglaries, he crosses paths with James.
Police Officer James Levinson doesn’t trust thieves, and that includes Mattias. James’s father stole to support himself, and James knows firsthand how that can destroy lives—it inspired him to go into law enforcement. Mattias is no different, from what he can tell… at first.
As they work together, Mattias and James realize there’s something deeper between them than just the physical attraction neither can deny. Given time, they might even grow to trust each other—unless the case they’re working on dredges up pasts both would rather forget.
Reviewed by: Linda Tonis
Member of the Paranormal Romance Review Team
Mattias Dumont readily admits that he is a thief, a thief who was never caught and a thief no more. Now after giving up stealing he has opened his own consulting company and has been giving demonstrations all over the country. His latest demonstration is with the Sheriff’s Department who have had a rash of burglaries and have been unable to find the perpetrators. Mattias is teaching the police that everyone is vulnerable and who better to help catch a thief then a thief. When he is questioned as to whether he is really as good as he thinks he puts on a very different kind of demonstration one that proves he is better than they could ever have imagined.
At the demonstration is Detective James Levinson who is very leery of Mattias and is not convinced that he could just give up stealing and go straight. As far as James is concerned once a thief always a thief and when he and Mattias are assigned to work together to stop the robberies Mattias is out to prove James wrong. Things definitely change when a blackout causes Mattias to be without a hotel and James offers him his spare room, neither man can deny their attraction to each other.
Mattias’ reason for stealing is not something I want to go into in this review because I couldn’t do it justice and James’ reason to being so bitter and unaccepting of Mattias’ reformation is another tale you have to read for yourself.
When it becomes evident that the robberies are involving children Mattias and James are both determined to bring these crooks to justice and save the kids that are being put into a seriously dangerous situation. I will say that something brought to light the damage that Mattias did to the people he stole from and made him face the fact that there is no such thing as a victimless crime. Although he never physically hurt anyone he hurt them when he took items that were precious to them even if they were worthless and took away their sense of security leaving them always afraid.
The mystery of who is behind the robberies, the relationship between Mattias and James are all solved but not without a surprise and a betrayal. Two men who discover that their lives are not that different from one another and who have pasts that they have to leave behind them.
