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A review by the_novel_approach
Dirty Games by HelenKay Dimon
3.0
~ 3.5 Stars ~
Dirty Games is the second book in the Dirty series and follows the younger brother of Alec Drummond, one of the MCs from book one. The Drummond family is an intimidating one, and while you do not need to have read Dirty Deeds to understand this one, that first novel gives you background information on this powerful family of brothers that you will only get a smattering of in this second novel. This is also a spin-off of HelenKay Dimon’s Tough Love series, so if you are familiar with those books, this series will follow that same M/M suspense format.
The oldest brother Alec found love in book one, in book two we skip to the baby of the family, Finn, and I am really intrigued and waiting on book three which will feature the middle, elusive and most mysterious Drummond brother, Griff—hopefully! For a suspense novel to work you have to have a plausible storyline, and I think the author has one with this book. The settings seem well thought out and researched, and I didn’t think once that the sequence of events was unbelievable. It’s a slow burn for this novel, and we get a great deal of extraneous information and plot along with the romance happening on the page. This one is almost, not quite, but almost more suspense/mystery than romance.
Justin Miller is a man honed by his ten years in the army. His seven years working for the Drummond Corporation hasn’t mellowed him much. As head of the firm’s charitable arm, he keeps field operations running from his base in Morocco. He’s harsh, he’s gruff, but if he drops a ball then people could die and that is just not acceptable for Justin. When things start happening to his shipments, the aid as well as the funds to buy the aid then Justin knows he has to call in his boss, Alec, and tell him what is going on. Only Alec isn’t the one to show up, it’s Finn, the Drummond brother who has been the main star of all Justin’s fantasies for seven years. Knowing he cannot have Finn doesn’t stop Justin from dreaming about what it would be like if he could. Justin ends up gobsmacked when Finn goes after him, but Justin has spent so much time believing he could never have a relationship with the man that when it happens, it is hard for him to believe it could be real. Justin’s unicorn walks into his life and, frankly, the man has a hard time trusting that it’s real. I will say, this attitude perpetuated just a teeny bit too long in the story, and it may have gotten on my alright-already nerve. Justin also lashes out a bit as he learns to trust, so take a patience pill in regard to him. Justin has been hurt before, and trusting that Finn won’t hurt him is hard for him.
Finn is the last brother in a powerful family of complete overachievers. He learned early in his life to stake his place on the food chain. He has lusted for Justin for a long time, so when the corporation needs someone to check out missing shipments in Morocco, he jumps at the chance to prove his worth to his brothers as well as Justin. What he finds when he gets there is danger, to him personally as well as to the charity and the people they help. Untangling the web of deceit isn’t easy, especially while falling in love with a man who has more prickles than a porcupine. Finn is a big-picture guy, which is what helps him to look past the small hurts Justin inflicts on him and keep the prize in sight. Honestly, there were a few times I was like, “run away,” but Finn doesn’t and Dimon crafts a satisfying HEA in the end which totally suited me. Finn has a great personality! He is the polar opposite to Justin and brings a lightness to the story that it needs.
The secondary characters all support the main storyline nicely, especially Justin’s right-hand-man, Oliver. As a secondary character, Oliver Jacobsen is well written and the perfect foil for Justin. If he were a real man, he would be in line for a medal of honor for how much he puts up with from the man all while supporting Justin’s work and smoothing the way for him. When things start to go badly between our main characters, something that happens frequently, it is Oliver who brings them back together.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It goes just deep enough into the suspense to keep your interest, and the MCs were multifaceted and real. The settings and the descriptions of Africa and Morocco were fascinating as was the ins and outs of the charitable organizations who work there. I absolutely recommend this book. Was it my favorite of HelenKay Dimon’s writing? No, but it was still enjoyable. It’s an easy read and keeps you guessing as to who the bad guy will end up being. I am looking forward to book three and Griff’s story, rounding out the Drummond brothers.
Reviewed by Carrie for The Novel Approach
Dirty Games is the second book in the Dirty series and follows the younger brother of Alec Drummond, one of the MCs from book one. The Drummond family is an intimidating one, and while you do not need to have read Dirty Deeds to understand this one, that first novel gives you background information on this powerful family of brothers that you will only get a smattering of in this second novel. This is also a spin-off of HelenKay Dimon’s Tough Love series, so if you are familiar with those books, this series will follow that same M/M suspense format.
The oldest brother Alec found love in book one, in book two we skip to the baby of the family, Finn, and I am really intrigued and waiting on book three which will feature the middle, elusive and most mysterious Drummond brother, Griff—hopefully! For a suspense novel to work you have to have a plausible storyline, and I think the author has one with this book. The settings seem well thought out and researched, and I didn’t think once that the sequence of events was unbelievable. It’s a slow burn for this novel, and we get a great deal of extraneous information and plot along with the romance happening on the page. This one is almost, not quite, but almost more suspense/mystery than romance.
Justin Miller is a man honed by his ten years in the army. His seven years working for the Drummond Corporation hasn’t mellowed him much. As head of the firm’s charitable arm, he keeps field operations running from his base in Morocco. He’s harsh, he’s gruff, but if he drops a ball then people could die and that is just not acceptable for Justin. When things start happening to his shipments, the aid as well as the funds to buy the aid then Justin knows he has to call in his boss, Alec, and tell him what is going on. Only Alec isn’t the one to show up, it’s Finn, the Drummond brother who has been the main star of all Justin’s fantasies for seven years. Knowing he cannot have Finn doesn’t stop Justin from dreaming about what it would be like if he could. Justin ends up gobsmacked when Finn goes after him, but Justin has spent so much time believing he could never have a relationship with the man that when it happens, it is hard for him to believe it could be real. Justin’s unicorn walks into his life and, frankly, the man has a hard time trusting that it’s real. I will say, this attitude perpetuated just a teeny bit too long in the story, and it may have gotten on my alright-already nerve. Justin also lashes out a bit as he learns to trust, so take a patience pill in regard to him. Justin has been hurt before, and trusting that Finn won’t hurt him is hard for him.
Finn is the last brother in a powerful family of complete overachievers. He learned early in his life to stake his place on the food chain. He has lusted for Justin for a long time, so when the corporation needs someone to check out missing shipments in Morocco, he jumps at the chance to prove his worth to his brothers as well as Justin. What he finds when he gets there is danger, to him personally as well as to the charity and the people they help. Untangling the web of deceit isn’t easy, especially while falling in love with a man who has more prickles than a porcupine. Finn is a big-picture guy, which is what helps him to look past the small hurts Justin inflicts on him and keep the prize in sight. Honestly, there were a few times I was like, “run away,” but Finn doesn’t and Dimon crafts a satisfying HEA in the end which totally suited me. Finn has a great personality! He is the polar opposite to Justin and brings a lightness to the story that it needs.
The secondary characters all support the main storyline nicely, especially Justin’s right-hand-man, Oliver. As a secondary character, Oliver Jacobsen is well written and the perfect foil for Justin. If he were a real man, he would be in line for a medal of honor for how much he puts up with from the man all while supporting Justin’s work and smoothing the way for him. When things start to go badly between our main characters, something that happens frequently, it is Oliver who brings them back together.
Overall, I enjoyed this book. It goes just deep enough into the suspense to keep your interest, and the MCs were multifaceted and real. The settings and the descriptions of Africa and Morocco were fascinating as was the ins and outs of the charitable organizations who work there. I absolutely recommend this book. Was it my favorite of HelenKay Dimon’s writing? No, but it was still enjoyable. It’s an easy read and keeps you guessing as to who the bad guy will end up being. I am looking forward to book three and Griff’s story, rounding out the Drummond brothers.
Reviewed by Carrie for The Novel Approach