A review by leelah
Six Degrees of Separation by Taylor V. Donovan

4.0

This is review for both books in series,[b:Six Degrees of Lust|11757362|Six Degrees of Lust (By Degrees, #1)|Taylor V. Donovan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1311358570s/11757362.jpg|16707740] and [b:Six Degrees of Separation|17791950|Six Degrees of Separation (By Degrees, #2)|Taylor V. Donovan|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1370127412s/17791950.jpg|24885423].
Second book is direct continuation of events happened in book #1, so if you start reading SDoL, be sure you have SDoS right next to you.

I have only one word to describe this series: Crackastic. This series is crackastic! It's one of those books you plan to read just three or four chapters of in the evening and before you know you read the whole book and sun is peeking through your curtains.

Both books are following two ongoing stories. One story is mystery: hunt for serial killer who targets gay men. The other one is relationship between Sam and Mac. Sam Shaughnessy is FBI agent who is in charge of task unit for Leviticus case. There is a great term Japanese use in manga that describe Sam perfectly. He is tsundere. Tsundere is like a person who is all prickly and sarcastic on the outside, but when you crack their shell you'll find they are really sweet and loving on the inside. Do I need to tell you that Sam was the drama queen in main relationship? Of course not. The thing with Sam and this novels is that as much as he was source of drama he was also a comedy relief. I'll be the first to tell you that I am not a fan of characters who have long internal struggle with their feelings toward another person,but I had so much fun reading Sam. He was so perfectly flawed and cute clinging desperately to safety of casual sex and not admitting he was a goner from the start.Mac O'Bannon is the perfect person to confuse the hell out of Sam. Mac is this gorgeous, Texan heir turned firefighter turned bar owner who is very easy going, perceptive and most importantly, has patience of a saint. The way he handled Sam was priceless. At the beginning I felt sorry for him,'cause Sam was such an asshole sometimes, but I'm glad author never made a pushover of Mac. Sex scenes were plenty, hot and enjoyable, so fear not. There is something for everybody.
As much as their relationship was entertaining to read, what really give this story crack-feel for me are supporting characters. There is so many of them: Logan, Duncan, Zane, Christian, Braxton... we got a glimpse of every one of them and naturally I'm interested to find out what's going to happen next.In that part this series reminded me so much of [b:A Matter of Time|7090484|A Matter of Time (A Matter of Time #1)|Mary Calmes|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1257198839s/7090484.jpg|7346614] series by Mary Calmes. They weren't just there to for the sake of Sam and Mac. There were in the story to spice everything up and open some new questions that promise to be interesting stories we'll hopefully get to read in the future. I am especially intrigued by Logan...
Half of star reduction is for mystery part of story. Author made a point of presenting Sam and his team (especially Logan and Duncan) as the best in their field, highly capable investigators and experienced professionals. That's why, I was frustrated when they seemed to stumble on evidences or not see what was right in front of them. There were clues a mile worth. The thing is, you just have to turn your brain off and enjoy the ride.
I saw that there was a year and a half part between books. That makes me extremely happy for I got to read both books at once... I would be insufferable otherwise.
Great read!

*(Thanks to Michele for rec!)