The Face Man by Amy Lane (A Long Con Adventure)

TITLE: ⟫ The Face Man (Long Con Adventures)

AUTHOR: ⟫ Amy Lane

RATING: ⟫ 5/5

BLURB: ⟫ Torrance Grayson has forged a solid independent journalism career with help from his friend and mentor, Felix Salinger, and he's relished being the face of the Salinger crew, exposing the corruption of the powerful while keeping his friends safe in their anonymity. But being face to face with the worst in the world takes its toll, and when Tor has a moment of weakness, it's the Salingers who come to bail him out.

During his recovery, Tor makes friends with the household's confident, charismatic young chef, Marco. Their quiet conversations make Marco more and more reluctant to confront Tor on the grave mistake the man is about to make in his current exposé—a mistake that can harm Marco's loud, boisterous family irrecoverably.

Tor is more than willing to listen—and to correct any mistakes. He's seen graphic proof that he's not infallible, and he'll go to any lengths to avert tragedy. But as Tor works toward the truth of what's happening with Marco's family, Marco begins to develop deep suspicions about the people they both work for. Torrance Grayson is in deep with the Salingers, and Marco isn't sure he should know any more than necessary about people who seem to be great bosses but shady citizens.

In order to help Marco, Tor needs to trust him—and that means to trust him with the truth of the Salinger Crew, as well as with his heart. But in a world of capers and crime-fighting, trust, it appears, is worth more than gold and jewels. Tor can expose crime and injustice with impunity, but can he expose his heart to Marco, a man who desperately wants in?

REVIEW: ⟫ Okay, I defy anyone to read this and not want to give Tor a humongous hug, followed by some of Marco’s delicious food because he needs to know that we love all of him and not just how gorgeous he is!

I was fascinated by this read because it references the previous book and we get to see the aftermath – our fabulous team are a little bruised and battered, showing their humanity and just how broken they are, whilst also demonstrating incredibly well how they have each other’s backs and understand the demons that drive each of them.

I loved the introduction of Marco’s cousins; Tor’s cameraman Phil was a quiet favourite of mine; Josh is beginning to recover fully which has me squeeing with delight because that means he and Liam can move past ‘potential’ to full on LOVE; Grace continues to break my heart and give me hope – the whole team is here and in full effect and this was a fantastic ride.

Marco and Tor were beautiful together and I adored the way that Marco took control of Tor, let him know that he was loved and wasn’t too proud to go to any of the others for help in figuring out his man. The sex scenes between them were alternately hot, steaming and just so damned touching – phew! This book – the con, the parties, the descriptions of the grift along with the family and lover dynamics was exactly what I needed. Just absolutely perfect – if you know Amy and have read any of the rest of the Long Con Adventures, then you know what to expect.

Literally read this in one day (I will apologise to my cats for the disruption to normal attention levels) and I plan to grab all of the Long Con Adventures and read them ALL in one go (when my TBR goes down). No surprise that this was a five for me!

I received an ARC from the author.

The Tech by Amy Lane (Long Con Adventures #5)

Title: ⟫ The Tech – A Long Con Adventure

Author: ⟫ Amy Lane

Rating: ⟫ 4.5/5

Blurb: ⟫ Can two quiet con men who lost their childhoods find their places as a part of a family—and with each other?

Ever since he watched his father die, Etienne Couvier has kept to himself. Under the tutelage of his adoptive family, the Salingers, Tienne grows into a gifted forger and artist. But no matter how hard they try to draw him into their midst—and despite the singular pull their friend Stirling Christopher has on his emotions—he resists.

When computer tech Stirling lost his foster parents, he found shelter and love with the Salingers. Stirling knows first-hand what Tienne has been through, so when an attacker shatters Tienne’s self-imposed isolation, Stirling urges him into the Salinger crew. Maybe they can finally explore the quiet attraction between them.

Then the Salingers announce their next project: an inquest into the mysterious deaths of Stirling’s adoptive parents. They descend on the Caribbean for answers, with Stirling and Tienne the quiet centers of the human justice-seeking hurricane. As they stretch out of their comfort zones, they learn that being family means someone always has your back. Hand in hand, they’ll solve the mystery. They might even be able to live with the consequences—as long as they do it together.

Amy Lane’s Long Con series follows a crew of civic-minded thieves on their quests for justice, adventure, and love. Fans of Leverage, heist movies, and romantic suspense will love The Tech.

Review: ⟫ Someone just needs to film this ish, release behind the scenes stuff, audition tapes, the whole thing because this series is just something else!

The Tech is about Stirling and Tienne, two young men who have been through far too much in their young lives who are not quite sure how they fit in with the Salinger’s team of loveable rogues. After all, they’re not the action-men – they’re the ones who create forgeries and sit on the computers doing all of the background stuff. They’re not the heroes or the mainstays of the family.

Amy Lane manages to create an action movie about family – found or by blood – whilst also weaving a love story between two young men who are not quite like everyone else. And she does it masterfully.

The latest con isn’t so much a con as a gift, and the whole family is in on it. We catch up with everyone from Michael and Carl, to learning more about Josh and Grace, to seeing more about how life doesn’t stay still. Felix and Danny have only just really settled into being together again with Julia by their side and Josh recovering when they have to consider how they will cope with a new person being within their midst (Leon is back and I am here for it because Julia deserves all the love).

I’m not sure there’s a man out there who could actually handle Molly – I feel like she needs someone who will be happy to be in the background, acting as a safe place for her to fall whilst allowing her to shine. But I kinda do need her to get her HEA too.

There are so many people to weave into this story that I think that might actually be part of the issue and why it’s a 4.5 instead of a 5 for me. It’s far too easy to get lost if you haven’t read everything that’s come before, and even if you have, cliff notes would really help. This Long Con adventure is turning into such a sprawling creation, that it’s in danger of getting out of control with so many characters and stories intertwined that it can be a little overwhelming.

Actually, thinking about it, maybe that’s why I related to both Stirling and Tienne so much – sometimes the Salingers as a group are just a bit much. I also found myself paying a lot of attention to Grace and worrying about him. His worry that he might become superfluous to Josh now that the young man is truly recovering touched my heart so much and I felt for him.

The love-making scenes were incredibly sweet whilst also being utterly filthy,and I adore the thought of Stirling researching all of the things he wanted to do and then putting his research into practice. The bad guys get their comeuppance in the best way, and the whole story was completely and utterly as described – think Guy Ritchie movie, or Ocean’s Eleven if that isn’t ageing me too much!

If you want a story that keeps you fully engaged, cheering, laughing and crying, then you can’t go wrong with picking up one of the Long Con Adventure stories and this is a worthy addition.

I received an ARC from the author.

The Suit by Amy Lane (Long Con Adventures Book #4)

Title: ⟫ The Suit (Long Con Adventures Book 4)
Author: ⟫ Amy Lane
Blurb: ⟫ Two and a half years ago, Michael Carmody made the biggest mistake of his life. Thanks to the Salinger crew, he has a second chance. Now he’s working as their mechanic and nursing a starry-eyed crush on the crew’s stoic suit, insurance investigator and spin doctor Carl Cox.

Carl has always been an almost-ran, so Michael’s crush baffles him. When it comes to the Salingers, he’s the designated wet blanket. But watching Michael forge the life he wants instead of the one he fell into inspires him. In Michael’s eyes, he isn’t an almost-ran—he just hasn’t found the right person to run with. And while the mechanic and the suit shouldn’t have much to talk about, suddenly they’re seeking out each other’s company.

Then the Salingers take a case from their past, and it’s all hands on deck. For once, behind-the-scenes guys Michael and Carl find themselves front and center. Between monster trucks, missing women, and murder birds, the case is a jigsaw puzzle with a lot of missing pieces—but confronting the unknown is a hell of a lot easier when they’re side by side.

Review: ⟫ Firstly, I haven’t read the other books in the series which meant that I felt a little bit like I’d been thrown into the deep end from the beginning. I would say that although it can be read as a standalone, reading the other books will help you with all of the names and characters because for quite a while, I was absolutely lost.

Have you ever seen Ocean’s Eleven? The one with Brad Pitt and George Clooney? Think of it as settling down to watch Ocean’s Twelve or Thirteen – you know there’s history and backstory, that the previous versions were amusing and entertaining as heck, but you don’t have time to watch them first. That’s how I felt reading this book. There were so many characters involved, so much history that could obviously only be alluded to in this book. I felt like I was missing out but I didn’t really have time to read them before diving into this book.

Michael and Carl were absolutely lovely – they seemed like complete opposites who brought out the best in each other. Unfortunately, their relationship felt like it got more than a little bit lost in the whole heist/murder birds thing. The story was engaging and headed towards an entertaining set of circumstances that had both Michael and Carl being brave, courageous and romantic.

As always, Amy has written loveable characters who you care about; unusual circumstances and a whole entertaining roller-coaster ride that you couldn’t make up in your wildest dreams. This book was a lot of fun to read, and perhaps the previous ones will join my TBR pile. You know what you’re getting with an Amy Lane book and I don’t think you’ll be disappointed with this one.

I received an ARC from the author.