Scan barcode
A review by colleen_m
Dyeing to be Loved by Aimee Nicole Walker
3.0
Title: Dyeing to be Loved
Author: Aimee Ann Walker
Series: Curl Up and Dye Mysteries
Genre: MM Romantic Suspense
Gabe is the sexy local detective, and Josh is the eccentric owner of the salon, Curl Up and Dye. After getting off to a rough start fraught with misunderstandings, the two are now thrown together again when a local figure and good friend of Josh’s is killed… and Josh seems to be a prime suspect.
I was immediately turned off by the implication that I had missed a prior connection/interaction between the two characters. Apparently is was published in a romance anthology that I didn’t bother looking up once I realized that this book would rehash the prior story anyway, but it was annoying nonetheless.
That being said, I was intrigued enough by the premise to keep going - mainly because of Gabe. Here was this guy who totally owned that he had been a narrow minded jerk, admitted it to Josh, and then openly pursued him.
Yet Josh still resisted - mostly out of fear of being hurt it seemed. But here was was Gabe, being charming and smooth, showing every hint of being for real, and Josh kept jumping to conclusions, getting snippy, and pushing Gabe away. Their angry-attraction banter was funny and entertaining most of the time, but I was just as disappointed in how Josh treated him throughout most of the book. Just to give an example, Gabe gets made when he thinks that Josh purposely kept information from him regarding the case that he is working on, and subsequently calls Josh “high-drama”. Josh gets so upset, he throw a hissy fit, kicks Gabe out, and spend a week in Florida only to realize that he did in fact overreact. Gahhhh.
The murder-mystery aspect of the story was decent - a whodunnit with an unexpected perpetrator at the end. It was just that with all the emotional drama going back and forth, a lot of the time I forgot there was a mystery plot going on in the background.
Overall, I can’t say I’m in a rush to read the next one, but I would give it a shot, hoping for some more stable characters in the future, since the dialogue and humor of this book were enough to make me keep looking towards this author’s work.
Author: Aimee Ann Walker
Series: Curl Up and Dye Mysteries
Genre: MM Romantic Suspense
Gabe is the sexy local detective, and Josh is the eccentric owner of the salon, Curl Up and Dye. After getting off to a rough start fraught with misunderstandings, the two are now thrown together again when a local figure and good friend of Josh’s is killed… and Josh seems to be a prime suspect.
I was immediately turned off by the implication that I had missed a prior connection/interaction between the two characters. Apparently is was published in a romance anthology that I didn’t bother looking up once I realized that this book would rehash the prior story anyway, but it was annoying nonetheless.
Spoiler
Josh meets Gabe when a friend of his is murdered, and he overhears Gabe tell his friend that Josh is too feminine for him. Josh takes it badly to say the least. They later meet at a club and end up having sex, only for Josh to withdraw and Gabe to realize he was being narrow minded on what his type really is.That being said, I was intrigued enough by the premise to keep going - mainly because of Gabe. Here was this guy who totally owned that he had been a narrow minded jerk, admitted it to Josh, and then openly pursued him.
“I hurt your feelings and I am sorry for it. I’m not going to bullshit you by pretending I wasn’t going to say it or that I didn’t mean it at the time, because I did. That’s not what I was going to apologize about.”Kudos for honesty.
“Then what are you sorry for?” I asked, tilting my head to the side in puzzlement.
[...] “For being narrow-minded”.
Yet Josh still resisted - mostly out of fear of being hurt it seemed. But here was was Gabe, being charming and smooth, showing every hint of being for real, and Josh kept jumping to conclusions, getting snippy, and pushing Gabe away. Their angry-attraction banter was funny and entertaining most of the time, but I was just as disappointed in how Josh treated him throughout most of the book. Just to give an example, Gabe gets made when he thinks that Josh purposely kept information from him regarding the case that he is working on, and subsequently calls Josh “high-drama”. Josh gets so upset, he throw a hissy fit, kicks Gabe out, and spend a week in Florida only to realize that he did in fact overreact. Gahhhh.
The murder-mystery aspect of the story was decent - a whodunnit with an unexpected perpetrator at the end. It was just that with all the emotional drama going back and forth, a lot of the time I forgot there was a mystery plot going on in the background.
Overall, I can’t say I’m in a rush to read the next one, but I would give it a shot, hoping for some more stable characters in the future, since the dialogue and humor of this book were enough to make me keep looking towards this author’s work.