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A review by divapitbull
Cheating Chance by James Buchanan
4.0
Cheating Chance sounded like an interesting diversion as the main character Nicky O’Malley is involved in the Goth lifestyle. He has long waist length black hair, dresses in frock coats and bondage pants (he lost me with the cinchers and knee high Doc Martens), drives a beat up hearse named Querida (because that’s what Gomez calls Morticia and means “I desire you”) and lives in a black house decorated with lots of Victorian furniture, red velvet and vampire cookie jars. He has been known to affectionately be referred to as Dracula and The Prince of Darkness. It’s interesting, although it still seems a little like playing dress up to me. But Nicky is good guy, he’s easy to like. Nicky lives in Vegas and is an agent for the Nevada Gaming Commission – which is something you will learn more than you could ever possibly want to know by the end of the book.
Rebounding off the end of a serious relationship Nicky meets Brandon “I’m not out, nor do I ever intend to be as long as I’m a cop” Carr at Convergence 11 a Goth Convention in California. Brandon is very sexy in his Biker Goth attire with all his Harley riding tattoos and piercings and spiked black hair. Nothing like working Vice to allow for a little leeway in appearance. Nicky and Brandon hook up for some immediate hot sex even though neither of them are the “one night hook up type”, but they click and one night turns into the whole weekend turns into exchanging email addresses.
But it’s not all about the Nicky and Brandon romance with copious amounts of sexy times. Happy to report that they’re both game for switching things up and neither is effeminate or twinky. There’s some light BDSM and I like the they stress the trust factor. Oh sure there’s some relationship drama. Brandon can’t stop hitting on chicks (even though he has no intention of doing anything about it) which hurts Nicky’s feelings. Then there’s the big relationship conflict in which Brandon takes the whole “Ross and Rachel, We were on a break” routine to delusional levels –but thankfully the boys work it out.
Which is good because by now the mystery of Nicky’s murdered ex. co-worker is in full swing. Nicky is a “person of interest”, Nicky and Brandon get up to some Love Boat style sleuthing and the Mexican Mafia makes an appearance. Apparently Nick’s ex. Co-worker, turned private sector programmer was involved in some sort of illegal gambling scheme. It’s embarrassing that that’s as descriptive as I can be because Cheating Chance delivered a fairly comprehensive, detailed description of the Gaming Industry and the ways in which people can attempt to cheat it. On the one hand it really was quite interesting; and on the other at times so technical I felt like I was reading a text book (for a class I was sadly about to fail).
But overall the story, despite all the Mexican Mafia drama was fairly light and fun. I’m invested in Nicky and Brandon and I’m glad there are 2 more books in the series.
Rebounding off the end of a serious relationship Nicky meets Brandon “I’m not out, nor do I ever intend to be as long as I’m a cop” Carr at Convergence 11 a Goth Convention in California. Brandon is very sexy in his Biker Goth attire with all his Harley riding tattoos and piercings and spiked black hair. Nothing like working Vice to allow for a little leeway in appearance. Nicky and Brandon hook up for some immediate hot sex even though neither of them are the “one night hook up type”, but they click and one night turns into the whole weekend turns into exchanging email addresses.
But it’s not all about the Nicky and Brandon romance with copious amounts of sexy times. Happy to report that they’re both game for switching things up and neither is effeminate or twinky. There’s some light BDSM and I like the they stress the trust factor. Oh sure there’s some relationship drama. Brandon can’t stop hitting on chicks (even though he has no intention of doing anything about it) which hurts Nicky’s feelings. Then there’s the big relationship conflict in which Brandon takes the whole “Ross and Rachel, We were on a break” routine to delusional levels –but thankfully the boys work it out.
Which is good because by now the mystery of Nicky’s murdered ex. co-worker is in full swing. Nicky is a “person of interest”, Nicky and Brandon get up to some Love Boat style sleuthing and the Mexican Mafia makes an appearance. Apparently Nick’s ex. Co-worker, turned private sector programmer was involved in some sort of illegal gambling scheme. It’s embarrassing that that’s as descriptive as I can be because Cheating Chance delivered a fairly comprehensive, detailed description of the Gaming Industry and the ways in which people can attempt to cheat it. On the one hand it really was quite interesting; and on the other at times so technical I felt like I was reading a text book (for a class I was sadly about to fail).
But overall the story, despite all the Mexican Mafia drama was fairly light and fun. I’m invested in Nicky and Brandon and I’m glad there are 2 more books in the series.