Dirty Games

Suspenseful, Angsty and HOT! Dirty Games is the second book in HelenKay Dimon's The Dirty series but it stands alone and you won't feel lost if you haven't read book one, Dirty Deeds. (It's a great book though, and I highly recommend it.) Dirty Games didn't hit me as hard as Dirty Deeds did but I still loved it. Justin Miller is in charge of handling a humanitarian effort for Drummond Charities in Morocco. Finn is the youngest of the Drummond brothers and he's been sent to Morocco to help figure out who is stealing supplies sent to the humanitarian effort. Wow, Justin has to be one of the biggest jerks I've read in a long time. He has been lusting after Finn for years but Finn always seemed to have a girlfriend and Justin doesn't do straight guys (he doesn't know that Justin is bi.). Finn has also had a thing for Justin but Justin has always seemed to dislike him. I'm going to disagree with a lot of other reviewers who seemed to think that Justin was just too much to deal with and didn't like him at all. I think the point was to see just how bad he could be and yet still be redeemed in the end. Since this is a romance, it's no spoiler to say that all ends well but boy did Finn have to work hard to get Justin to admit there is something serious between them. The chemistry between Justin and Finn is hot and so is the sexy time when they finally get together. This book touched on my emotions and made me cry for some of the things these two go through. I love the way Ms. Dimon ended this story. Even though he's not mentioned much, I hope that the middle Drummond brother, Griff, gets a book of his own. A review copy was provided by the publisher via NetGalley but this did not influence my opinion or rating of the book. ***Reviewed for Xtreme-Delusions dot com***

4.25 stars--DIRTY GAMES is the second instalment in HelenKay Dimon’s contemporary, adult THE DIRTY erotic, M/M romantic suspense series-a spin off from her TOUGH LOVE series. This is billionaire businessman Finn Drummond, and former soldier/ humanitarian Justin Miller’s story line. DIRTY GAMES can be read as a stand alone without any difficulty. Any important information from the previous story line is revealed where necessary. Finn is the brother of Alec Drummond (Dirty Deeds #1). NOTE: DIRTY GAMES contains graphic scenes of M/M sexual situations, intended only for mature readers. Told from dual third person perspectives (Finn and Justin) DIRTY GAMES follows Finn Drummond as he embarks on a journey to investigate the Drummond Charities humanitarian work in Morocco, currently administered by the acerbic but sexy Justin Miller. Missing supplies, with a possible connection to local gunrunners finds Justin and Finn targeted in a deadly game against an unknown enemy. What ensues is the building relationship between Justin and Finn, and the potential fall-out as Justin’s mercurial mood swings, and unpredictable temperament force Finn to walk away on more than one occasion. Six years earlier, Justin Miller met the man who has starred in all of his fantasies but at the time Finn Drummond was in a relationship with a woman. Believing he didn’t have a chance with Finn, Justin embarked on a one-night stand with the closest thing to Finn Drummond, his older brother Alec, a man who suspected he was only a temporary fill-in for Justin’s fantasy. Finn Drummond has struggled to make a name in the Drummond Corporation but his attraction to Justin Miller meant working for Drummond Charities could very well allow him to cross paths with the man with whom he would fall in love. The relationship between Finn and Justin is one of immediate attraction but Justin tries to keep his distance, failing miserably, as his actions prove unpredictable, erratic and explosive. Finn believes Justin despises the ground upon which he walks but Justin struggles with his attraction to a man he believes to be attraction to women and not to men. The $ex scenes are intimate, erotic, and intense with graphic M/M text and language. The world building focuses mainly on the building relationship between Finn and Justin, and Justin’s inability to let go of his heart, but also on the hunt for the people responsible for the missing shipments. Several suspects pose potential threats but only one is desperate enough to kill. DIRTY GAMES is a sexy, edgy and suspense filled story line. An act of betrayal that threatens the lives of two men, against an impossible situation. The premise is dramatic, energetic and thrilling; the romance is provocative and captivating; the characters are spirited, complex and realistic. DIRTY GAMES is an engaging, imaginative and intriguing story.

I absolutely loved Finn in the first "Dirty" book, so I was excited to read his story. Sadly, this second book in the series left me disappointed. As far as the story goes, there is plenty of action and intrigue, but whether it was just this book or I don't remember as much about the first one as I thought, I had trouble getting into this one. In the beginning, I felt a bit like I was being thrown into the middle of a story rather than the start. That aside, things did start coming together on that front and made for an interesting storyline. However, the romance between Finn and Justin just didn't feel very romantic. Justin's on and off, hot and cold was enough to give a person whiplash. He was like a lovesick puppy one minute and being a complete jerk the next. Plus, there's the added info of a past fling with Finn's brother which added nothing to the story in my humble opinion - other than a bit of an ick factor. I did still like Finn, but got a little aggravated with him being such a pushover with Justin. I spent a good deal of this story hoping that Finn would get tired of Justin's antics, give him a much needed attitude adjustment, and just walk away. That, in itself, doesn't say much for what was supposed to be a romance. So, while I did enjoy the first book, this one leaves me undecided about whether I'll check out whatever is next for the Dirty series.