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A review by haletostilinski1
Ramen Assassin by Rhys Ford
5.0
4.5 happily given stars!
I think Rhys Ford is at her best when she's writing suspense and crime with her romance. My favorite books by this author have been the [b:Murder and Mayhem|24937601|Murder and Mayhem (Murder and Mayhem, #1)|Rhys Ford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1429206720s/24937601.jpg|44594669] series, and this follows along that route.
Although neither Trey or Kuro are cops, cops are involved in this and crime is happening around them.
Trey is a washed up child actor who was a drug addict and alcoholic and has had many stints in rehab, except the last time at the start of this was two years prior, so he's been committed to staying clean more than he ever was before.
Kuro is a former black ops officer - we aren't told, but I guess he worked for the CIA? - who has to retire when his latest mission puts his face all over the news, and thus blows his cover. So, now retired, he moves to LA and opens up a ramen shop, pretty dedicated to living the normal life now.
For months, Trey has been coming to his shop, and while they haven't talked, there's been a connection.
But one late night, Trey is running through LA at night to shake off intense cravings for drugs and alcohol, a habit he's come into to be doing something when his cravings get too intense. Unfortunately, while he's running near the ramen shop, he runs into two thugs caring something very large...that turns out to be a body....that Trey recognizes.
But he doesn't have much time to think about it before the two thugs are shooting at him, and as he's being shot at outside the ramen shop, Kuro steps out of the shop in the alley and shoots at the men while protecting Trey.
Everything changes for them, not only romantically but in other parts of their life as whoever is behind the death of the man tries to kill Trey because of what he saw.
I found it a tad far-fetched that Trey ran into a crime that was connected to him - beyond them gunning for him after he sees the body - even at 3 in the morning in LA, and that that crime was happening not that far from the ramen shop, but for the story I can mostly let it go.
Because I really enjoyed Trey and Kuro together, I loved their connection and they had great chemistry. I wish we had gotten to see the full sex scene between them (we get the penetration, but it skips over mutual blowjobs and most of Kuro fingering Trey) but from what we did get it was really good. It was the only sex scene, so I wish we had gotten more, although at the same time I get that they had to establish a connection and so much shit was going on...but hey, I'm greedy ;)
The secondary characters were interesting, although Trey's older half-sister pissed me off. But then she redeemed herself at the end...but for the majority of this I wasn't feeling sympathetic toward her, even though logically I could understand her hesitance, what with Trey's past addictions and probably all he put his family through. Still, just giving her brother the tiniest chance and compassion would have been nice. (It comes near the end, but...it almost felt too little, too late.)
Overall, this was a wonderful start to this series, and I really enjoyed Trey and Kuro together, so much so I already want more. Wonder when that second installment will come out? *wink wink, nudge nudge*
I highly recommend this, and while the story and characters are different, the crime angle felt similar to Murder and Mayhem to me, so if you've enjoyed that series, then I definitely recommend this, it's worth a read.
Two thumbs up from me!
***ARC generously provided by the Alpha Book Club in exchange for an honest review***
I think Rhys Ford is at her best when she's writing suspense and crime with her romance. My favorite books by this author have been the [b:Murder and Mayhem|24937601|Murder and Mayhem (Murder and Mayhem, #1)|Rhys Ford|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1429206720s/24937601.jpg|44594669] series, and this follows along that route.
Although neither Trey or Kuro are cops, cops are involved in this and crime is happening around them.
Trey is a washed up child actor who was a drug addict and alcoholic and has had many stints in rehab, except the last time at the start of this was two years prior, so he's been committed to staying clean more than he ever was before.
Kuro is a former black ops officer - we aren't told, but I guess he worked for the CIA? - who has to retire when his latest mission puts his face all over the news, and thus blows his cover. So, now retired, he moves to LA and opens up a ramen shop, pretty dedicated to living the normal life now.
For months, Trey has been coming to his shop, and while they haven't talked, there's been a connection.
But one late night, Trey is running through LA at night to shake off intense cravings for drugs and alcohol, a habit he's come into to be doing something when his cravings get too intense. Unfortunately, while he's running near the ramen shop, he runs into two thugs caring something very large...that turns out to be a body....that Trey recognizes.
But he doesn't have much time to think about it before the two thugs are shooting at him, and as he's being shot at outside the ramen shop, Kuro steps out of the shop in the alley and shoots at the men while protecting Trey.
Everything changes for them, not only romantically but in other parts of their life as whoever is behind the death of the man tries to kill Trey because of what he saw.
I found it a tad far-fetched that Trey ran into a crime that was connected to him - beyond them gunning for him after he sees the body - even at 3 in the morning in LA, and that that crime was happening not that far from the ramen shop, but for the story I can mostly let it go.
Because I really enjoyed Trey and Kuro together, I loved their connection and they had great chemistry. I wish we had gotten to see the full sex scene between them (we get the penetration, but it skips over mutual blowjobs and most of Kuro fingering Trey) but from what we did get it was really good. It was the only sex scene, so I wish we had gotten more, although at the same time I get that they had to establish a connection and so much shit was going on...but hey, I'm greedy ;)
The secondary characters were interesting, although Trey's older half-sister pissed me off. But then she redeemed herself at the end...but for the majority of this I wasn't feeling sympathetic toward her, even though logically I could understand her hesitance, what with Trey's past addictions and probably all he put his family through. Still, just giving her brother the tiniest chance and compassion would have been nice. (It comes near the end, but...it almost felt too little, too late.)
Overall, this was a wonderful start to this series, and I really enjoyed Trey and Kuro together, so much so I already want more. Wonder when that second installment will come out? *wink wink, nudge nudge*
I highly recommend this, and while the story and characters are different, the crime angle felt similar to Murder and Mayhem to me, so if you've enjoyed that series, then I definitely recommend this, it's worth a read.
Two thumbs up from me!
***ARC generously provided by the Alpha Book Club in exchange for an honest review***