Wendy reviews ‘Lawful Attraction’ (Crush Book 9) by Elouise East. Self Published June 3, 2021, 214 pages.
Rainbow Gold Reviews is happy to be one of this Blog Tour’s hosts!
An MM romance about life, love, family and beating the odds, especially when it involves a police officer and a dancer.
There’s a fine line between protecting and stalking…
Logan has unwavering loyalty to the law, and when he finds Bastien in a precarious situation, his protective instincts flare up to an all time high. His need to help overshadows everything else, including his sense. Unfortunately, the dancer doesn’t want his help.
What Bastien does for a living doesn’t mean he has no morals. He has to live, and his wages and tips don’t always cover everything. He’s glad he doesn’t have anyone who relies on him because he can barely make ends meet working all the hours of the day. When a so-called friend turns on him, who does he have left?
Can they put their differences aside and realise what is right in front of them?
*A copy of this book was provided in exchange for an honest review
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Why I read this book: I started following this author when they wrote their debut book, which happened to be the first in the series. I read a few, then lost track of the series. I was happily reintroduced with this book!
As I said above, I started this series when the author was brand new to the biz and really liked this series. I’d read 3 or 4 before I sort of lost track (it was totally my fault, I’m sorry Elli). I was really digging watching this author grow her craft and each book was definitely better than the last. Maybe it was a blessing in disguise that I missed the few in between those that I read and this one because WOW! This is going into my top 10 list for 2021 for sure! It still has Elli’s definitive, descriptive style and I’m super glad about that. I love that I feel I would know her if I heard her on the street simply by the way I can put a voice to the words she puts on paper.
This ninth book in the Crush series features Logan, a police detective with a past that haunts him and Bastien, an outwardly confident young man who’s been on his own since he was 14. I loved both of these characters so much!
Logan, is part of an investigation that starts out as a stalking that quickly turns deadly and soon it looks like they have a serial killer on their hands. This case is especially hard for him as he struggles with having had a close family member that was almost killed in a similar circumstance and when it becomes even more personal, things become very difficult for him.
Bastien, is so stubborn lol. I love that he’s got this fierce determination to survive after being kicked out of his wealthy parents’ home when they discovered he was gay, but it made him build up walls and those walls might just get him killed when he suddenly has a stalker of his own.
The action and suspense in this book will keep you on your toes. It was written flawlessly. The romance that develops between Logan and Bastien feels very real. They are so cute together even when they let their own issues get in the way and they have an amazing chemistry together.
Like I said in the beginning of this post… I’m putting this book in my top 10 of the year and I don’t doubt that it will be towards the top of that list too.
10/10 Pots of Gold or 100% recommended
I am Elouise East but feel free to call me Elli. I write sweet and steamy connections in gay romance. I also touch on taboo stories under the name Elouise R East.
Books that tell the stories where friendship and family are the focal point – be it blood family or chosen – is very important to me. That’s why I include a variety of personalities, talents, ages, situations and abilities as I believe a story needs, or a character needs. I want my characters to be real, to be relatable, to be free to have whatever views they tell me they have. And trust me, most of the time, I do not have any say in the matter!
My characters come to life on the page for me as well as my readers. Their stories unfold in front of me, and I have very little input into how they want to be shown. Just like real life, the lives of my characters change with every choice, every interaction and every conversation. And I wouldn’t have it any other way.
I write books that are emotionally realistic, even if liberties are taken with other aspects of my stories. I don’t know any other way to write. It comes from deep inside.
Who am I? A single parent to two children who make life worth living. An avid reader who still devours every book she can get her hands on. A student of learning about any subject that takes her fancy. An author of books she would read herself. And a romantic at heart who loves anything cheesy.
Who’s in?
Join my newsletter for monthly updates, giveaways and a free, exclusive story being told chapter by chapter: http://www.elouiseeast.com/newsletter
Crush series: follows everyday people through their lives, finding love, overcoming barriers, working together to find their Happily Ever After. You will find that some of these have a slightly darker side to them.
Daddy series: focuses on those Daddy and boy relationships that mean so much to us all. The caring, dedicated and tolerant of Daddies and the sweet, obedient and naughty boys.
Dark & Divergent series: focuses on the darker, kinkier, taboo side of life. It will have several different lifestyles from ménage to reverse harems; minor kinks to BDSM; age gaps to no gaps.
Just A Little Crush series: follows new characters that may interact with the characters from previous series by having those characters dropping in, locations used or even mentioning a character’s name or conversation.
I love stalkers… 😉