Book Reviews

Book Blurb

A debt is paid and two lives are changed forever.

For Aaron Quinn, the decision to drop out of med school turns his life upside down, and his father piles on the guilt over the tuition costs. So when his father cooks up a plan to hold off a Mafia loan shark's wrath, Aaron reluctantly agrees, desperate to make up for his failings.

Raised and groomed to take over his father’s position in the Mafia, Liam Sandoval has his own issues. Looking for any escape from his horrible life, he accepts the offer of a weekend of pleasure from Aaron. A mutual attraction ignites, and they realize a weekend will never be enough. But the growing relationship will be put to the ultimate test when enemies target Liam's new weak spot—Aaron. Can they overcome the outside forces threatening to pull them apart?

 

Book Review

What are your choices when dealing with the "sins of the fathers"? To not become the kind of selfish men they are, the sons have to clean up the mess left behind, and it's rarely pretty, not when the mob and loan sharking is involved. 'Indebted' is the first book by author A.R. Hawkins, and the subject matter is certainly not light and fluffy. Liam's recollection of how he came to be involved with the mob and his father's responsibility in that was truly despondent. Equally upsetting was watching Aaron accept his father's debt onto his own shoulders and bear the burden of paying it. Both Liam and Aaron's fathers got involved in the mafia because for both of them, their businesses and making money were more important than anything else.

Liam was thirteen when his mom left mainly because she didn't feel his dad could provide enough of what she wanted. His dad promptly forgot he had a son and went after the wealth, instead, which ended with him working for the mafia and managing their finances. His dad forced him into it to "earn his keep" and when he made a mistake his dad didn't even bat an eye when the guys beat him almost to death. Liam learned quickly to hide all of his emotion and to care about no one, which is how he earned the nickname "The Machine". Now he's twenty-six and running the loan sharking end of the business.

Aaron was on the fast track towards his dream, doing very well his first year at premed, when his mom, his inspiration and his cheerleader, died suddenly of an aneurism. Aaron fell apart and flunked out of school, returning to work for his father's advertising firm. Now his father has informed him that he borrowed money from "The Machine", he can't pay it back, and Aaron needs to go offer his services for the weekend to cover this month's payment. Aaron is a twenty-two year old virgin who really wanted to save actual penetrative sex for someone special, not to repay a debt his father owes. All I can say is, I wasn't very impressed with either father, and felt they were lucky to have gotten good sons since they sure didn't do much to inspire that.

Aaron and Liam's weekend went the way I expected it to. They are in serious lust with each other and, amazingly enough, they get along really well outside the bedroom. So, what do they do now? After a cruddy week apart, Liam decides he can't stay away and that he has enough resources to protect Aaron from his work. A serious romance begins and they both fall in love. But, no matter how many resources Liam has, he also has a lot of enemies, even ones within the family, so Aaron doesn't remain safe.

For a first novel, the author did a fairly good job. The characters were interesting and likable, the writing was clean and, for the most part, well paced. Some of the plot was predictable, but, as I said, this is a first work and the predictability did not bother me. I was way more focused on the characters and the believability of Liam and Aaron's love story. To a certain degree, I was expecting Liam to be a tougher guy than how he was portrayed. Both Liam and Aaron were very sweet, which isn't a bad thing, just not what I was anticipating. There were some story arcs that were introduced and then faded away which I was a little disappointed that I didn't get resolution on. However, overall it was an interesting read, and if you enjoy a sweet romance with a lot of hot and heavy sex, some action adventure with a happy ending, then this might be a good read for you.

 

 

 

 

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

Additional Information

Format	ebook and print
Length	Novel, 270 pages/93988 words
Heat Level
Publication Date	25-November-2013
Price	$6.99 ebook, $16.99 paperback, $16.99 bundle
Buy Link	https://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/books/indebted-by-ar-hawkins-2391-b