Desert Isle Keeper
Elusive Relations
Detectives Quaid Valor and Aslan Doyle return in this second book in Nicky James’ latest series of romantic suspense novels, this time teaming up to investigate a homicide that hits very close to home for Quaid. Elusive Relations is every bit as compelling a read as Temporary Partner, with a cleverly constructed, twisty plot and some very welcome forward momentum in the slow-burn relationshiph between the two leads.
Note: As Elusive Relations is a direct sequel, it’s advisable to read Temporary Partner first. There are spoilers for that book in this review.
It’s been six weeks since Aslan Doyle and Quaid Valor solved the case of a missing infant – and since the explosive night they spent together. Despite the intensity of the sexual attraction sparking between them, it was a poor decision in so many ways – they’re like chalk and cheese in practically every respect. Aslan is a player who never does repeats while Quaid has never been into the hook-up scene and prefers to have a connection with his partners; Quaid prides himself on his self-control and logicality, Aslan is more of a go-with-the-flow type who does what he has to do to get the job done. Added to that, the detectives in homicide and the missing persons unit really don’t get on – which is another in a long list of complications neither man wants or needs.
During those six weeks, Aslan and Quaid have seen each other only in passing and are both telling themselves it’s for the best, even though they’re finding it really difficult to put that night behind them. At work though, it’s business as usual for Aslan, while Quaid and his partner are on a temporary re-assignment to cold cases, affording Quaid a bit of time to continue looking into the disappearance of his older sister some two decades earlier.
Aslan and his partner Torin Fox are called to the scene of the brutal murder of a young man who was so badly beaten as to be practically unrecognisable. The victim was in bed with a partner at the time; the other man was also very badly beaten but is still alive – just barely – and has been taken to hospital. The detectives learn that he’s the owner of the house, Jack Pilkey, and that according to the neighbours, he regularly brings guys home, but rarely the same one twice. As Aslan and Torin are looking around, a distant memory nags at the back of Aslan’s mind; seeing a photo of Pilkey crystallises his suspicions. Jack Pilkey is Quaid’s cheating, manipulative douchebag of an ex-boyfriend.
Quaid is at the courthouse when he gets a call from Jack’s distraught parents who tell him what’s happened. After visiting the hospital to find out what he can, he goes back to HQ, intent on talking to Aslan and Torin. Quaid knows he’s not thinking rationally, but it’s the only thing that makes any sense to him right now. He’d told Aslan he wasn’t going to go back to Jack after their latest break-up, and he hasn’t, but no longer being Jack’s boyfriend doesn’t negate the fact that someone he’d once been close to has been hurt or stop him wanting to find the person responsible.
Aslan is surprised to see Quaid approaching him – homicide and MPU keep to their own parts of the building and the demarcation lines are clear – and for just an instant the sight of Quaid sends a spark of excitement flashing through him. He can’t afford to show it, however, and falls back on his usual cockiness as deflection, but Quaid doesn’t rise to the bait this time. Instead he asks to be allowed to help with the investigation; he dated Jack for over a year and might be able to provide is useful insight into things others might overlook. Aslan is sceptical – he thinks Quaid is too close to be objective – but in the end, agrees to keep him updated and for him to act as a kind of consultant on the case, provided their superiors are on board.
Nicky James has once again penned a tightly-plotted mystery that takes some unexpected twists and turns as Aslan, Quaid – and Torin (who is a fantastic secondary character and side-kick) – work through interviews and evidence to piece together the bigger picture. I was impressed with the way she’s found such a plausible way for Valor and Doyle to work together again, with Quaid acting as a consultant rather than being able to partner Aslan, as well with the fact that I had no idea whodunnit until the reveal.
Also impressive is the way she balances the romance and the suspense parts of the story. With Quaid and Aslan in close proximity once again, it becomes more and more difficult for either of them to ignore their mutual attraction, or the fact that there’s something deeper growing between them. Aslan has been out of sorts ever since their last hook-up, for reasons he can’t – or won’t – admit to himself, and Quaid is still struggling with his tendency to attach greater importance to sex than he should and knows he’s setting himself up for a world of hurt should he take up Aslan’s invitation for a repeat. Yet they’re drawn to each other despite their differences, and there’s some fantastic relationship development going on here; the two men open up to each other about some deeply personal issues and have some really heartfelt conversations that further cement the connection between them. Quaid is still downright prickly at times, and Aslan hasn’t lost his ability to be an arsehole, and watching them allow themselves to be vulnerable around each other and starting on that road towards falling in love is very satisfying. The flirty banter and humour I enjoyed in the first book is still very much in evidence, and I loved those little moments when Aslan works hard to make Quaid smile in spite of himself, and how proud he is when he succeeds – it’s wonderfully, ridiculously cute.
These two still have a huge number of issues to work on between them, but by the end of this book there’s every indication that they’ll get there – together with a big hint as to the direction the next in the series is going to take.
Fun, sexy, clever and romantic Elusive Relations is an enthralling read featuring two complex and engaging leads, a superbly drawn secondary cast and a thoroughly intruguing plot that had me glued to it from start to finish. I’m eagerly awaiting more from Valor and Doyle some time later this year.
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Book Details
Reviewer: | Caz Owens |
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Review Date: | July 31, 2022 |
Publication Date: | 07/2022 |
Grade: | A |
Sensuality | Warm |
Book Type: | Romantic Suspense |
Review Tags: | Canada | Male/Male romance | Queer romance | Toronto | Valor and Doyle series |
I read Temporary Partners yesterday, started Elusive Relations last night, stayed up as late as I could (made it about 30% of the way through the book), and finished it this morning. I loved both books. I was put off by Aslan in Departmental Rivals but I liked him much better in TP as we got to see a lot more of his character. The relationship development in ER was superb and I agree with Caz and Carrie G that the book had the exact perfect balance of time spent on mystery plot vs time spent on relationship. I loved seeing Aslan and Quaid open up to each other and Aslan’s speech at the end where he bravely puts himself out there – well, it gave me all the feels. I think for the relationship aspect, I loved ER a bit more than TP and ER is definitely one of the best books I have read this year.
My one little niggle is that for myself, in a mystery/suspense novel, I like to get enough information (clues) to be able to figure out the villain/killer myself. In TP I had a gut feeling that one of the characters was culpable but that didn’t seem to pan. Then there was a rather unpredictable twist at the end and my gut feeling was correct but it wasn’t that I had really figured out anything. In ER I don’t think there was any true way I could have figured out who the killer was. Thus, because I read both books back-to-back, it made it seem like Nicky James is an author who always does this. I wonder if this bothers other people or is it just me?
Lastly, the whole last chapter of ER was a hook for the next book and it was a doozy! (note: not a cliffhanger, in my opinion, as discussed in a recent AAR blog post) I have already pre-ordered Unstable Connections and I am SO looking forward to it!
I’m so glad you liked them both! ER is definitely going to make my Best of list this year. I had a similar feeling about the perp in TP, and was mostly wrong. I did like the reveal, though. I agree with your thoughts on the villain of the second book. I didn’t see a way to figure it out and a few more clues would have been nice. Still, it was all very interesting! Can’t wait for the book.
I’m so glad you enjoyed! I’m slowly catching up with the author’s blacklist (in audio – she uses excellent narrators) and so far, find her style really works for me.
Caz, you are not helping the book budget! But thank you for the reviews ;-)
#sorrynotsorry ?? At least it’s a reasonable price. On another thread, we’ve been discussing the $15 price for the Kindle edition of the new Mary Balogh book…
Nicky James is a new author for me. I read the prequel short story Departmental Rivals a short time ago and thought it was OK. It didn’t spur me to buy Temporary Partner. I always empathize more with the straight-laced/uptight and/or grumpy main character and Aslan annoyed me as much as he annoyed Quaid, although I could see from the Aslan perspective part of the story that there was a lot more to him. I put Temporary Partner on my Amazon wish list and thought maybe I would buy it if it got discounted but it never was.
However, I trust Caz’ opinion a lot and with the great reviews for both that book and Elusive Relations, I bought Temporary Partner. I’ll try to read it soon and see how it goes!
I seem to remember we had an exchange about James’s THE ENDLESS ROAD TO SUNSHINE, which is about a man trying to get his life back on track after discovering that his husband was a serial killer. I thought James did a great job of making it plausible that a person would have no idea their partner was a killer. I found it a fascinating read. Highly recommended.
This – among quite a few more of this author’s titles – are available at KU if you want to get a feel for her work.
I know many people have both budgetary and philosophical reasons for not wanting to join Kindle Unlimited, but I find the $9.99 per month I pay for KU usually pays for itself within the first week or so. Most of James’s books are on KU, along with the works of many other writers of m/m romance (Con Riley, Keira Andrews, L.A. Witt, E.M. Lindsey, Lisa Henry, to name just a few).
Thankfully, a lot of really good m/m authors put their books into KU. Some rotate them in and out, but they seem to do that regularly, so you can usually catch what you want even if you have to wait for a bit.
Yes, that was me! And Endless Road is on my Amazon wish list too as a result! I just have such a long TBR because I buy books faster than I can read them….
Aw, thank you :) I hope you enjoy TP – this one is even better, btw and is a contender for my Best of 2022 list. Do drop by and let me know how you get on when you get around to it. Like you, I often sympathise with the more straight-laced character, and Doyle definitely does cross some lines (which I mentioned in my review), but the character and relationship development across these books really is some of the best I’ve read recently.
Just wanted to say Aslan is a bit of a jerk in TP, but the author does a good job of letting it highlight his character. I listened to it on audio after I read it, and since I already knew the situation, I tried to focus what his actions where saying about HIM. Anyway, I really liked TP, and I LOVED this book.
I thought NJR somehow managed to get across that it’s a mix of defence mechanism and deliberate intention to be obnoxious. Not that it makes some of the stuff Aslan says (and when he says it) okay, but it was definitely easier to get a sense of why he was doing and saying what he did in audio.
Thanks for the reassurances. As there is a mystery, I will want a good chunk of uninterrupted time to read TP. Hopefully soon!
Tucking this on the TBR!
Do – make sure you read Temporary Partner first though!
Ditto to everything you said. This was even better than the first book, imo. The suspense plot is wonderfully developed, as is the relationship arc. The author gets the balance about as perfect as I’ve seen. I can’t wait until the next book.
I like Nicky James and I have both TEMPORARY PARTNER and ELUSIVE RELATIONS on my tbr, but “Quaid” and “Aslan”, really? As I’ve said before, writers, don’t exhaust yourself coming up with unusual names for your characters; call them “Jake” & “Zack” and keep it moving.
She does actually address the name issue in the first book – both men are aware they’re… odd.
I get it. I really dislike the lengths some author’s seem to go to to have different or super trendy names for male and female characters. There was a trend a while back, (maybe still going?) to name every “strong” female character a name or derivative that is commonly male. That’s fine, except it was overused and it felt like every female was “Mike” or “Dannie, ” or such like. The odd names didn’t bother me here because it’s addressed, and there is some bonding over having weird names.
But I’m also really tired of Jake, Zack (or Zac or Zak), Eli, Cam, Josh…so many overused names. I think that’s one of the draws for British, Australian, and New Zealand writers for me. The mix of names feels fresher.
Yes, that’s it exactly. It’s more of a conscious decision to give them something in common rather than an attempt to give them outlandish names just for the sake of being ‘different’.