Brooke Edwards

This story provides a series of glimpses into James's life as a police chief. I found them interesting, insightful, and they gave me a great look at his gradually growing attraction to Derek, who is a young hotshot lawyer, as well as James's initial confusion about that attraction.

James is older than Derek and to make thins worse, he believes Derek is involved with one of the cops working with James. The quiet admiration might not have gone anywhere if Derek hadn't finally taken the initiative and confronted James - and what follows is some hot action as well as a hilarious "getting to know the family" scenes.

If you like hot cops and hotter lawyers, if you enjoy a May/December romance, and if you're looking for a fun read about real me, then you will probably like this short story.


NOTE: This book was provided by Dreamspinner Press for the purpose of a review.… (más)

The gay men at the heart of this story are remarkably open, especially in view of the line of work they do: apprehending and prosecuting criminals. James Carter, called “chief” by the others, is a forty-four-year-old police officer. James has developed an intense desire for a twenty-nine-year-old prosecuting attorney, Derek Moore. James can’t see any hope for his passion, though. Time after time, Derek and another police officer, Daniel Callahan, appear to be far more involved than their work would require. James decides Derek and Daniel must be lovers.

But the apparent hopelessness of his situation doesn’t stop James. He attends court proceedings just to observe Derek. When two associates of a criminal Derek helped put away give Derek a beating in retaliation, James is among the first responders and leads the successful effort to find Derek’s assailants. After Derek recovers and he and James work on a difficult case together, Derek gives James a ride home—and asks some interesting questions.

Mens Rea is a nicely plotted and well-written story. If I ever need the assistance of police officers and prosecuting attorneys, I’ll hope they’re as openly gay and compassionate as James and Derek are.… (más)