Title: A Matter of Necessity
Author: T.D. McKinney
Publisher: http://www.amberquill.com/AmberAllure
Genre: GLBT (M/M) Romantic Suspense
Length: Novella
Rating: ***** (out of 5)
FBI Special Agent Alex Ware and his partner and friend Shawn Matthews have been working undercover for more than half a year on a dangerous sting operation to expose James Ronnecker, a terrorist arms dealer, and everything is proceeding according to plan when Shawn adds a new wrinkle to the assignment. To lull the suspicions of their ‘mark’ and make their elaborate and daring ruse appear authentic, Shawn decides to up the ante and prove to him they are a real couple by taking advantage of the opportunity and making love to Alex who plays along thinking that, although very pleasurable, this is part of their cover. But when Shawn goes further than Alex ever dreamed he would, he is totally blown away.
Alex is taken completely by surprise when Shawn reveals later that he has always cared about him and wants him for his lover during their assignment and after it ends and that he won’t take ‘no’ for an answer. Shawn has been in love with Alex for years but never told him because he didn’t want to jeopardize their partnership or friendship. Alex never thought that Shawn might be gay because he always dated women and he certainly does not regard himself as anything other than heterosexual, but he is totally unprepared for Shawn’s campaign to win his heart and body.
Shawn in love and in pursuit made this story a comedy as well as a serious suspense drama. At times I felt very sorry for Alex who had never had a relationship with a man and does not know how to handle his feelings for Shawn during his campaign to win him; he realizes how much he cares for Shawn and had repressed those feelings over the years. Being back at the Agency made it difficult to continue the personal relationship they started while on the undercover assignment – if they reveal their involvement it could mean the end of their partnership. In the meantime they are both on edge from not being able to see each other and their partnership and personal life are in shambles as Alex continues to struggle with the implications of “coming out” to their friends and colleagues. Then everything comes crashing down on their heads as they realize that in the meantime the threat posed by Ronnecker is still very active and they must figure out their next move in order to stay alive
I read A Matter of Necessity when it was first released late last year and I loved it then. Recently I re-read it and realized that it was just as great the second or third time around as little details and nuggets that I didn’t notice before made the story come alive again. Shawn and Alex were so good together that it was hard to decide which character made my heart race more but I think that Shawn, the big handsome Aussie who declared to everyone who would listen how much he loved Alex, won by a nose. Poor Alex who couldn’t deal with the thought of being gay and the effect it could have on his career was playing a losing hand. The reactions of their colleagues to their involvement surprised them as they ranged from supportive to predictable to comedic. Alex was chagrined when he realized how much he adored Shawn and it didn’t matter that the love of his life was another man because every time Shawn made love to him it was absolutely, totally, unbelievably pleasurable. I loved the way they respected and were protective of each other even during the time they were trying to work things out. The dialogue in this book was so funny that sometimes I burst out laughing, the pacing was just right but the reason I loved it so much was the characterizations. This is one terrific book!
Two supposedly straight men sent in an undercover ASSIGNMENT forced to play gay couple and in the process, being forced to acknowledge their deepest homosexual desires and love for each other? ROTFLMAO. Now WHY exactly you think that would appeal to me I can’t imagine :-DDDDD And you know what? As soon as I finished your review I went back to my Amber Allure window (I received their newsletter this morning, so of course I was busy filling my cart) and checked the listing for this book. Then I suddenly had a doubt…. I opened my e-book file and guess what? I already had it!!! I bought it about three months ago and I bought so many since then that I had completely forgotten what it was about! God, there are so many books I( was to read NOW I don’t even know where to start…this one, the Jennifer Cole, Slave Boy, Mykles’ One for the Team, the latest Jamie Craig (July)….AND I am supposed to read my 8 travel guides to draw up my itinerary and I have the bloddy government form to fill for the grant thing (yep, more documents). ANd I had ideas to develop one of my fanfics, and a backlist of 7 books I need to write reviews about. *drops head forward on desk and bangs it a few times*
Anyway, I’ll keep you updated on my progress on those counts (of lack of).
I’m so happy that you didn’t buy another copy of A Matter of Necessity even thoough it’s a great book 🙂 The good thing about Amber Allure is that you have a bookshelf where you can go back and check your “to buy” list to make sure that you don’t already have the book. I have bought books twice on several occasions from other publishers.
Actually only one of the two protags in AMON was straight – the other was bi.
Mary you sound as if you need a lot of help before you leave – you only have a couple of weeks right (?). I would make a list and stick to it LOL
Lol. I barely have more than ONE week! And I do have a list – I swear. I make lists all the time. The problem is that I always underestimate the time it’s going to take for me to do things, so I’m never able to do a third of what I put on them :-D. I’ll do my best;).
Thank you! This may be the best review I’ve ever gotten. There is no higher praise then hearing your story is good on the 2nd and 3rd read!
I should have another coming from Amber Allure soon since it was just accepted today. Look for “Portrait of a Kiss.”
Thank you so much for reading and for taking the time to review! I really appreciate your support. And Mary M., I look forward to your opinion when you have time to read! Email me any time at tdm@tdmckinney.com
T. D. McKinney
aka Ebony Silvers
Hi
It was my pleasure to write the review of this book. Sorry it wasn’t sooner but I kept recommending it to my friends and then I thought – why not write a review?
As you can tell I really, really loved it, especially the characterizations (if you couldn’t tell, Shawn was my favourite although Alex was no slouch) and I hope that my review reflected how I felt about your writing. I’ll check out “Portrait of a Kiss” when it’s released and I hope my review is more timely 🙂 Mary will be back when it’s published since she’s going to be away until sometime in September. Please let me know when it’s released.
I keep hoping for a sequel about the 2 guys in another adventure (I wanted to check out how they were doing now that they are married and all settled down but I guess that’s too much to hope for 🙂 I also wanted to see if their fellow agent David got his comeuppance by falling for a guy, what a story that would be LOL
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