Book Reviews

Gilded Agony (Guns n' Boys 7) by K.A. Merikan at Acerbi & Villani

Genre Gay / Contemporary / Assassins/Mercenaries / Erotic Romance / Dark Romance / Mystery/Suspense/Thriller
Reviewed by Serena Yates on 15-June-2018

Book Blurb

Deep in the Amazonian jungle, there is a mansion with a rose garden and a hen house where juicy tomatoes are the perfect shade of red, and marble countertops glisten. Inside, where even the shadows don’t reach, something is rotting, and the perfect facade can only hold the stench for so long. 

Domenico promised his husband that he would keep him safe, keep him away from the bloodshed and the brutal world of cartel violence. But when a guest arrives to help retrieve a stolen transport of guns, something sinister sneaks into his home, something more dangerous than his enemies. Or has it been there all along, and he just hasn’t noticed?

Seth’s life is what others dream of. Endless leisure time filled with cocktails, a kitchen stocked with anything he wishes for, and a private pool in the sunshine. What’s missing is the man he shares it with, the man he fell in love with. If being cut off from the mafia business was what he wanted, then why is it so painfully lonely in paradise?

Desperate to be the supportive husband Domenico needs, Seth buries his rage, his violent urges, and the anger that simmers inside of him. But he can only hide in plain sight for so long, and when a guest invites him to play with fire, one misstep, one wrong move, could burn their safe haven to the ground.

 

 

 

WARNING: Adult content. If you are easily offended, this book is not for you.
‘Guns n’ Boys’ is a gritty story of extreme violence, offensive language, abuse, and morally ambiguous protagonists as well as scorching hot, explicit love scenes. Behind the morbid facade, there is a splash of inappropriate dark humor, and a love story that will crawl under your skin.


Author's Note: This series needs to be read in order.


Book Review

By now, seven books into the series, I know to expect relentless action, pretty much never-ending suspense, and quite a few challenges and obstacles to Seth and Domenico’s plans. Things never go smoothly for them, but ‘Gilded Agony” brings their relationship to new depths on top of all the other messes they have to deal with. Infiltrating the world of arms dealers and drug lords in the hopes of creating a way to allow them to return home to Italy proves to be more difficult than they expected and the stress Domenico feels for getting them there is as bad as the neglect Seth begins to feel due to his entirely self-imposed “don’t involve me in the details” request. The resulting fights are epic and I was extremely entertained as I turned the pages as fast as I could and bit my nails when it seemed impossible for them to ever agree on anything ever again – which was often!

Seth has always wanted to have his cake and eat it at the same time, and he has pushed for the impossible before, but this time he takes it further than ever before and it almost becomes his undoing. He thinks he doesn’t want to be involved in the details of the dirty jobs Domenico has to do to become as powerful as he needs to be. Ha has asked to be left out, but when he starts to feel the effects, he does not like them. Much like a petulant child he has a temper tantrum or two, but because he is as powerful and strong as any of Domenico’s gangster buddies, Seth losing it is not a pretty sight. It is downright dangerous.

Dom is tough as nails and almost nobody can stop him from achieving his goal (returning to Italy in a powerful position). He gets angry about certain things, like people not doing as instructed or those more powerful limiting his choices, but none of that can really derail him. Losing Seth though? Makes Domenico see red and lose his sh*t faster and more deeply than you can imagine, and when his protectiveness gets to levels that are truly ridiculous, he causes disaster on an unprecedented scale.

Seth and Dom not getting along is very unsettling – and there is enough chaos and mayhem in the rest of their lives that adding an element of relationship issues between them makes me very nervous every time it happens. And since it hasn’t happened – not to this extent – in quite a while, it was doubly worrying. Seth’s drinking is as dangerous as some of his crazy ideas and because they seem to have forgotten the need to communicate, they almost lose it all. No matter how many hard lessons they have learned about the importance of talking about things rather than letting anger and resentment fester between them, it seems they always need another reminder.

More than in previous books the action is breathtaking and unrelenting, yet the focus is undeniably on Seth and Domenico’s relationship. Marriage and all the commitment in the world doesn’t seem to be enough for them, and facing new threats and challenges is as difficult for them as ever. Bravo to K.A. Merikan for being able to keep up the tension! In this book, the external turmoil and violence are not just a reflection of how they deal (or not deal) with each other, they aggravate the crisis to the point that made continuing to read almost unbearable for me.

If you want to know how Seth and Domenico deal with impersonating drug lords, if you don’t mind violence, cruelty, and brutality as they fight with each other as much as with their enemies, and if you like to be kept in suspense about simply everything, then you will probably like this seventh book in the series. It’s often intense, full of angst and drama, and luckily Seth and Dom are never as passionate as they are when making up. And there is lots of that in this volume of their story.

 

 

 

 

DISCLAIMER: Books reviewed on this site were usually provided at no cost by the publisher or author. This book has been provided by the author for the purpose of a review.

Additional Information

Format ebook
Length Novel, 257 pages/92000 words
Heat Level
Publication Date 24-March-2018
Price $4.99 ebook
Buy Link https://www.amazon.com/Guns-Boys-Gilded-Agony-romance-ebook/dp/B07BJDW4QV