Book Review: The Devil’s Brew by Rhys Ford

Reviewed by Nikyta

Title: The Devil’s Brew
Author: Rhys Ford
Series: Sinners #2.5
Heroes: Miki & Kane
Genre: M/M Contemporary
Length: 66 pages
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
Release Date: May 21, 2014
Available at: Dreamspinner Press
Add it to your shelf: Goodreads

Blurb: Miki St. John’s life has been turned upside down, but it’s the best thing that’s ever happened to him.

His best friend, Damien Mitchell, is back from the dead. He has a dog named Dude. And more importantly, he and his lover, SFPD Inspector Kane Morgan, now share Miki’s converted warehouse.

For the first time ever, Miki’s living a happy and normal-ish life, but when Valentine’s Day rolls around, Miki realizes he knows next to nothing about being domestic or domesticated. Nothing about the traditional lover’s holiday makes sense to him, but Miki wants to give Kane a Valentine’s Day the man will never forget.

Can he pull off a day of wine and roses? Or will his screwed-up childhood come back and bite Miki in the ass?

Again.

Review:

Their first Valentine’s Day together and Miki’s stressing over his gift to Kane. Two guys don’t need to celebrate the Day of Love by exchanging gifts, do they? Well, according to Damien, they do. Buying Kane a gift is far from easy when Miki has no idea what he’s even doing but he may have just found the perfect thing… but will Kane’s job put a stop to their Valentine’s Day celebration before Miki can even give him his present?

I ADORE these characters. Miki angsting over what to give Kane and then when he finds the perfect gift, HOW to give it to him was both sweet and funny. I loved that he put so much thought into it and tried so hard to make it perfect… even if it almost turned out to be a disaster! Still, I loved seeing a little glimpse at these two again and seeing that, while they love each other deeply, there’s still a little part of Miki that’s shocked Kane is still there. Even more than that is how well accepted Kane’s family has been of Miki and how much they’ve embraced him. This story, while centered around Kane and Miki celebrating V-Day, shows a bit into the relationship Miki has with Kane’s dad, Donal, which I absolutely LOVED! It’s sweet and funny but still packs a little of Rhys’ signature ‘punch’ to the story that makes it well worth the read.

My only real ‘niggle’ with this one is that there was a little too much sex for my tastes with such a short story but I will admit that Kane and Miki together are still HOT! Also, I noticed a few times that the heavy dialect of the Irish characters with accents sometimes would say ‘you’ instead of ‘ye’, which seemed a little inconsistent.

In the end, I adored this story. In such a short read, Ms. Ford still managed to pull me in and feel for her characters again. I loved the small struggle Miki has of being in a family, of caring for others and especially with his worrying over his Valentine’s gift for Kane! So adorable! I’m glad we got to see a bit more of these two, as well as, some of Damien, Sionn and Donal. I’m looking forward to seeing what comes next in this series! If you’ve liked Rhys’ others books and enjoy her Sinners series then you’ll definitely love this little short story!

Overall Impression: I loved it!

*I received a copy of this book from the author in return for a fair and honest review.*