Rating: 4.25 stars
Buy Link:
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Length: Novel


Peter Bauer has escaped life as a car thief and his ties to the mob, and his father is in prison. He has a legitimate job working with Nikos as a mechanic and he spends most of his nights in Nik’s bed. It should be stable, but Peter isn’t familiar with stable and he’s not familiar with being loved for the right reasons. Peter should be happy, but he is starting to feel trapped and with all of Nik’s deceased wife’s belongings still in Nik’s house, Peter doesn’t feel like he truly fits in there.

The mob life doesn’t seem to be finished with Peter, however, as his ex, Stavros, makes an appearance and Nik’s young daughter is missing. Peter and Nik are forced back inside the mob world where there are no rules and their already strained relationship might not survive the unexpected connections they realize they have.

Backstreets picks up where Night Moves leaves off in the Hot Wire series and should not be read as a stand alone. In the first book, we learned about Peter’s young life, his life of crime and abusive father, and then the start of his relationship with Nik. Backstreets picks up several months later as Nik and Peter are trying to stay on the right side of the law.

Peter and Nik both have issues—lots of issues. Peter is dealing with not being a criminal anymore and figuring out who he is, but so much has been done to him both physically and emotionally he can’t relax into his relationship with Nik. Nik loves Peter, but Nik also has the psychological scars surrounding his wife’s death to deal with and he’s not doing well with that.

I was really caught up in this book and this series. The book moves quickly as there is plenty of angst and drama to be found. The relationship between the men is strained and the focus here is the men dealing with seeing where they go next and they are not always in the same place. Talking doesn’t come easy to either of them and things escalate quickly. It was great though to see them break each other down piece by piece. Peter carries most of this series and seeing him figure things out has a huge impact on these books. The secondary characters all serve a purpose and between Nik, Liv, and Nina, the story gets some balance and keeps things interesting.

The story isn’t finished here though and if these guys thought dealing with the mob would be difficult, wait until you see what the end of the book has in store for them. The Hot Wires series features a family of criminals, some who are trying to reform their ways, and plenty of high stakes drama for those readers who like to keep the adrenaline high. There is a lot more to see here between Peter and Nik and the last page has me looking forward to what will come next.