Review – This Rough Magic By Josh Lanyon

Title: This Rough Magic

Author: Josh Lanyon

Publisher: Loose id

Buy Link: Buy This Rough Magic Here!

Rating: You Want To Read

Reviewed by: Layne

Blurb:

Wealthy San Francisco playboy Brett Sheridan thinks he knows the score when he hires tough guy private eye Neil Patrick Rafferty to find a priceless stolen folio of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. Brett’s convinced his partner-in-crime sister is behind the theft -- a theft that’s liable to bring more scandal to their eccentric family, and cost Brett his marriage to society heiress Juliet Lennox. What Brett doesn’t count on is the instant and powerful attraction that flares between him and Rafferty.
Once before, Brett took a chance on loving a man, only to find himself betrayed and broken. This time around there’s too much at risk. But as the Bard himself would say, Journey’s end in lovers meeting.

Review:

The setting of Josh Lanyon’s This Rough Magic—1930’s San Francisco—was prevalent throughout the story, transporting me to a time I’d never been, but one that felt infinitely familiar. A testament to the author’s great writing and descriptive style.

Brett is a play boy from a wealthy familiar, engaged to marry into another influential family. His problem though, is two-fold: his family is broke and his sister may or may not have stolen something priceless from his fiancé’s family. Brett hires investigator Neil Rafferty to snoop around and things get way more interesting.

Rafferty is a guy’s guy. He speaks his mind and is quite open about his sexuality. In Brett he sees a man weighed down by his responsibility to his family and their expectations of him. Despite the obvious disparity in their social standings, Rafferty feels a tenderness towards Brett that he can’t hide. I liked Rafferty’s easy demeanor and straight forward attitude. The relationship between him and Brett is sweet to watch, intertwined perfectly between the mystery they’re trying to solve.

There were also some funny moments in This Rough Magic courtesy of the supporting cast of likeable and not so likeable characters.

The sex in This Rough Magic isn’t explicit, yet when Rafferty and Brett come together you can’t help but be party to the desperate need they share. A really great story from Josh Lanyon.