3.5 stars ( )

I wasn't really sure what to expect of this one, but what a great little gem it was. Hot characters, hot sex... what more do you want? But wait, there is more: there's a nice bit of who-done-it running through it all as well. ( )

A nice one.
The first person POV works really good and the MC is very likable. Throw in some hot love story and a nice crime part. Very entertaining. ( )

NYC cop, Noah Tobin, is mourning his dead lover, feelling deep guilt and loss. But he is not out to his coworkers and has to hide his entire personal life. I like this book, unlike others with a dead partner, that he doesn't get over it in 3 months and that the cost of not being out is shown clearly. Noah's boss forces him to take a holiday, and Noah finds himself in Miami, and meets very out restauranteur, Harry Knowles. I liked Harry but he wasn't as clearly drawn as Noah, more a foil to bring him joy than a true person in his own right. There is a light, not very compelling mystery, which serves to keep the two men together, but it is Noah and his journey which drives the story. ( )

From the beginning In Hot Pursuit was different from the usual gay Mystery/Thriller romances I’m used to; no crash-bum-bang action, no big invincible hero, but instead a very much ordinary NYPD cop who unfortunately has to face a very much common situation for a same-sex couple living together in a state that doesn’t recognize their union.

Noah’s partner, Josh, is wounded in hospital and his parents don’t want Noah near their son; probably if their reaction was dictated by the pain of seeing their son on a death bed, I could understand, but Josh’s parents are only, and again, denying that their son was gay and that Noah was the love of his life. To add hurt to hurt, Josh got a gunshot aimed to Noah, and so Noah is now not only dealing with the lost of his partner, but also with an enormous sense of guilty.

One year and half later that guilty is yet big on Noah’s shoulder and his boss thinks better to send him on a forced leave; Noah is not out at the Department, and so his boss can’t understand why one of his best detective is loosing tracks. Again, there is not “in your face” drama, Noah is not having temperamental issues, he is not drowning himself with alcohol, and doing unnecessary hero actions, he is simply fading, and above all, he is not living as he promised he would do on Josh’s death bed.

This is probably the strength of this book, there is everything, prejudices, love, loss, hope, but each of them is woven in the plot without being a sore eyes, the texture is fluid, like silk, and warm, like wool. Noah’s character feels real, in his hurting, in his trying to deny that hurt, and in his searching for solace in anonymous sex.

When he has a one night stand with Harry during his first night of vacation in Tampa, Florida, there is no love at first sight; Noah got what he was searching and so did Harry. True, they are both interesting men, and probably they like each other (of course they do, if not they wouldn’t have sex), but they are what they are, two strangers met in a bar, one of them from out of city, not chance of a future together and it’s not what they want. Only that the morning after Harry is missing, Noah is the last person to have seen him, and he is a detective with experience in missing persons… it’s only right for him to help the police. Again, Noah is not trying to be a big hero, and he is not doing that since he is particularly interested in Harry on a personal level, it’s only his job.

At this point I’d like to spend a few words on Harry: cocky attitude and big body, he is the epitome of a top, on business, in bed, at life… but he is also the same man who fainted when he got kidnapped, who can stand the sight of blood, and who likes to play bodyguard and guarded body with Noah. I really could imagine him, and maybe yes, he is a little the stereotype of the gay man, free sex and a bit of drugs don’t hurt, but more than a stereotype of a gay man, he is a son of the ‘90s.

In Hot Pursuit came out (no pun intended) without much notice, or at least I didn’t see it around a lot, and instead I think people should go back and take notice of it.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1607376229/?tag=elimyrevandra-20