This little gem, admittedly, was a little outside my usual realm of reads. But boy am I glad I wandered off my garden path! J.A. Lockwood has one hell of a little twisted story here that is bound to make squirm in delight and discomfort!
Title: Closer Than Blood #1: Obsession
Series: Closer Than Blood
Author: J.A. Lockwood
Publisher: Hollow Hills Publishing
Release Date: March 18, 2021
Heat Level: 4/5 – steamy!
Pairing: F/M
Length: 155 pages
Genre: Romance, Drama, Thriller
Tags: Dark, Erotica, Pansexual, Mafia, Suspense
Blurb:
Forbidden passion, blackmail and murderous intent in the cold, glittering heart of Manhattan.
Against his better judgement, slick hitman Frank Mancini falls for the sultry sister of his latest client. He is also hiding a dark secret, but can he get her into bed before his past is revealed?
Tony Freemantle is diseased, dying and desperate. His last wish is to seek vengeance on the half-brother he blames for his misfortunes. He’s never met him. He doesn’t even know what he looks like. All he knows is that he wants him dead.
Pagan Freemantle is the innocent woman who has been unwillingly caught up in her sibling’s deadly plan.When she discovers she has to pay for the hit, her attempts to make a deal throws her headlong into a dangerous attraction with a man who is patently bad news.
And can she trust Richard Mason, the elusive millionaire half-brother who is just a seductive voice at the end of a telephone? When a road trip to California ends with shocking revelations, it seems she can trust no-one but herself.
My Review:
This tale is about one good person forced into a desperate and shitty situation, and the end result.
Pagan is a Brit living in Manhattan. She’s attempted to cut ties to her wealthy, but troubled family, and has done her best to make it on her own. She is delightfully her own person and Lockwood has used British slang peppered throughout her dialogue that gives the story an extra layer of richness. We like Pagan. She’s a good egg.
Enter the low-life brother. Tony is nothing but trouble. Battling addiction(s), this wretch of human thinks far too much of himself and shows it with a world’s worth of attitude, bad schemes and poor life choices. It’s through his devious twisted schemes that he thrusts his sister into a horrid scenario:
Find the estranged step-brother who inherited everything from the family – a sibling they never knew, and were told was developmentally challenged – and have a contract put out on his life so that the family money trickles back to Tony’s greedy fingers.
Here’s the catch: the hired gun, Tony Mancini, falls for Pagan. Pagan falls for the hired man (eventually). And damn, that’s some steamy scenes! Oh, but it gets even more delicious from there, and I can’t possibly tell you more other than to say – hang on to your girdles gurls, cause this ride gets wild.
I can imagine some readers might be put off by the one sudden twist in the plot I’m referring to – the one that breaks every taboo even though the reader is given clues all along – all I will say is this; read the entire story, the final plot twist will have your grotty old panties twisted in knots to the point where you’ll be aching to see what happens next.
Anyone who knows me, knows I read almost exclusively queer literature. At first glance, this doesn’t fit the bill, but…wait for it…the hired man is the LGBTQ+ character – a pansexual mafia connected hit man. Sign me up! I want more of this bad boy, and the independent Pagan – she’s feisty and I adored her.
Read this – you won’t be disappointed!
My Rating:
Purchase Links:
Meet the Author:
I live in the beautiful Chiltern hills and write under the names Jayne Lockwood and Lady Jaguar (for hot MM romance.) From romantic suspense to erotica to LGBT fantasy sci-fi, the common link between all my books is love, regardless of sexual orientation, race, colour or gender.
Previously I’ve written under SA Smythe and have been traditionally published as Savannah Smythe for Black Lace Books. A full list of my work is included below.
I am also one of the founding members of WROTE Podcast, a forum for queer storytelling across all mediums, and review the books featured in some of their shows.
J.P. Jackson 
Weeping tears of joy here! Thank you so much for taking a chance on this book, and I’m so glad you enjoyed the first part of Closer Than Blood. It means a massive amount. I’m kind of lost for words at this point so…. Thank You ❤
Thank you for this incredible review! This is what I wanted, to shock readers into wanting to know what happens next! Thanks for the time and support you’ve given the first part of this novel!