A review by mollyreadsandcrafts
A Friend in the Dark by Gregory Ashe, C.S. Poe

4.0

Rufus is a confidential informant living in the underbelly of NYC when his friend and police contact, Jake, is murdered. Sam is an old friend who served with Jake in the army. When he hears that Jake's death is ruled a suicide, he goes to NYC looking for answers. The more they learn about his death the more they get caught up dangerous secrets until they become targets themselves. 

Rufus was so endearing and I'm a big fan (for Ashe readers - he reminds me of a Jem/Shaw mix). He's been alone most of his life and is a bit lost when the one constant person he had is killed. He's quirky, touch starved, but is such a kind soul. Sam slowly grew on me. He's more the brash, stubborn macho type which made it all the sweeter when he gets so protective over Rufus. He has his own issues he's dealing with and I hope we get a bit more backstory on him (and Rufus) in future books. 

The relationship happened kind of quickly even though they had a little zing from the first moment they met. They know exactly how to push each other's buttons but also take the time to understand all the little quirks. When they finally give into their emotions they are so cute and you can tell they really care about each other. There's a lot more for them to learn about one another and with that ending it'll be interesting to see where they go from here. 

I'm not sure overall if it was particularly good, but I liked it? Both of the characters had endearing moments and I wanted to know more about them. The pace kicked off on page 1 and kept moving, being pretty consistent throughout the whole book. The case was really relevant to their characters and introducing everything into the story so every aspect kept my attention. It just all felt a bit superficial, and as much as I enjoyed the characters and plot it didn't really give me any big emotions. I've been to New York City twice in my adult life so some of the places they mention just flew right over my head, but I could still get the gist of what was happening. It surprisingly ended on a little bit of a cliffhanger, and I'm immediately diving into the next!

Read if you like: 

• romantic suspense         

• opposites attract       

• slow burn             

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