We first met probation officer Darien Quinn in In His Corner, when he asked his brother, a chef, to find a job for one of his new parolees. By His Side is a hurt/comfort romance with an element of the forbidden as Darien falls hard for his latest client, a bitter, cynical man who has spent years in prison for a crime he did not commit. I enjoyed this book a little more more than the previous one, although I’m going to level some similar criticisms – namely that the characters embark on a sexual relationship really quickly (too quickly, given their situation) and with little build-up, and the power imbalance that lies between them is never fully addressed. If you can get past those things, however, there’s a good story and a steamy, emotional romance to enjoy here.

Darien is an all-round decent bloke. He’s very good at his job and he genuinely cares about helping the men he works with to turn their lives around once they’re released from prison – although he knows that for some of them, it’s a continual round of in-and-out that will never change. At the beginning of the story, a colleague asks him to take on one of her clients while she has to take leave to deal with a family situation, and when Darien agrees, she issues a warning he finds somewhat absurd:“Don’t fall for him.” Pfft. It’s a ridiculous idea – until Darien actually meets Felix Church and realises why his colleague warned him off. Felix is gorgeous – but also prickly as hell, manipulative, and seemingly bent on unsettling Darien by flirting with him.

Felix has spent seven years inside, convicted of being an accessory to the murder of a sixteen-year-old girl. His then boyfriend, Julian, is doing time for the murder, but he threw Felix under the bus at the trial, insisting that he’d been involved as well, and that was it – the jury didn’t believe him and Felix was sent to prison. For the first few years, he’d continued to protest his innocence to anyone who would listen – but when nobody believed him he gradually stopped and instead focused on making parole as soon as possible. He quickly learned that the way to survive on the inside was to bulk up, strut about and mouth off so others know to give you a wide berth, and he’s certainly not above displaying his best no-fucks-to-give attitude to his new probation officer – or flirting with him when it becomes apparent that it annoys him. He’s entitled to have some fun after all this time and everything he’s been through – and seducing the handsome PO could be just the distraction Felix needs from thinking about his uncertain future.

Under the terms of Felix’s parole, he and Darien have to meet once a week – and a sudden, mischeivous impulse has Felix asking Darien to come to the house instead of him going to Darien’s office. Darien isn’t wild about the idea but agrees, understanding that some recently released prisoners find it difficult, initially, to go outside and be among people. When Felix, casually dressed in well-fitting jeans and T-shirt, opens the door, Darien is once again struck with just how good-looking he is, and asks himself again if coming here was really a good idea. Felix is a client, and for there to be anything more than that between them would be unprofessional and could cost Darien his job. But Felix’s particular methods of persuasion are hard to resist. Darien’s common sense and professionalism fly out the window and he proves unable to assert either of them in the face of Felix’s determination to get into his pants. It’s only the third time they’ve met, and while I kind of get Felix’s need to have a bit of fun and to feel ‘normal’ again, I just couldn’t buy Darien – who we’re repeatedly told is a superb PO – being prepared to risk his job and livelihood for a quick shag with a client.

The thing is, once the romance – as opposed to the sex – gets going, it’s pretty good, the chemistry and spark of attraction that’s been there from the start starting to morph into a deeper and genuine emotional connection between the two men. As Darien gets to know Felix better, he learns that the mouthy, sarcastic man he first met isn’t the real Felix, his don’t-fuck-with-me attitude and intimidating demeanour part of the protective shell he developed in prison. Darien is beginning to see the funny, considerate, and generous individual Felix used to be, and alongside that comes the realisation that there’s no way the Felix he knows could have been guilty of such a heinous crime. He’s clearly been the victim of a dreadful miscarriage of justice – but how are they going to prove it?

Having someone finally believe him and in him is a massive relief for Felix, who has despaired of ever proving his innocence. Even his own mother has practically disowned him, dragging her feet over deciding whether to let him come back home after his release, and then asking him to leave when the media gets wind of his presence and someone graffitis the front of her house. But with Darien at his side, Felix feels that he at last has a chance of getting his life back on track – but it’s not going to be an easy road for either of them.

I knew going in that this was an ex-con/probation officer romance, so there was bound to be some workplace-inappropriate behaviour between two people in a relationship with an inherent power imbalance. I didn’t have too much of a problem with that (Darien is also vulnerable because Felix could report him), but given how much is made of his concientiousness and integrity (which we saw in In His Corner), Darien’s easy capitulation feels very out of character. Had there been more of an emotional build-up, more development of a friendship with some underlying longing before they jumped into bed (well, onto the sofa!) together, I’d have found Darien’s behaviour easier to accept.

That’s my major quibble with the story and the main reason I haven’t awarded a higher grade, but otherwise, By His Side is an enjoyable romance with a little bit of crime drama and some insightful commentary about the way male victims of domestic violence are viewed and treated thrown in. It’s not my favourite book by H.L. Day, but I enjoyed it enough to offer a qualified recommendation.