Rating: 3 stars
Buy Link: Amazon | iBooks | Amazon UK
Length: Novel
Casey and Boone aren’t biologically related, but they grew up as brothers after Boone’s mother adopted Casey as a child. They did everything together, including being parents to their now 8-year-old daughter, Ace. But Casey was in love with Boone for many years and jealousy and yearning got the better of him. When Boone set up a scene to prove to Casey he wasn’t interested in men, a hard rift settled between the brothers.
It’s been four years since their falling out and the men only see each other in passing when visiting their mother or handling parental duties They both miss each other and their worlds have been off center since not fully being in each other’s lives. A job has them working together again and this time they might walk away with everything they need.
The Job is listed as being part of Dee’s Auctioned series, but the only tie-in to the series is that the men are Darius’ cousin and Darius appears briefly on page. The note at the end of the book states that Casey and Boone will appear in the next two books in the Auctioned series, but the story here stands alone.
This one wasn’t a great read for me. The book starts at what feels like mid story. Casey and Boone have so much history growing up as brothers, being best friends, and then having a falling out. All of this has already occurred and we get only a small understanding of their past from brief glances back. Since we don’t see them grow up as brothers, we are reminded often that they are indeed brothers and the constant reminders felt unnatural and wedged in.
The men are thieves. They have questionable morals and interact with their daughter mostly the same way they interact with each other. They bring her along on some parts of the job and are fine with incorporating her into the “family business.” The job was designed to bring them together and that worked to move their relationship forward. The details of this job were murky and everything they encountered seemed way too easy, almost like they were being set up, and their payoffs were vast and too convenient.
Boone had never shown intimate interest in men or in Casey before and I would have liked to see more on how his desires evolved. We get short glimpses at the beginning of each chapter, but it wasn’t nearly enough to elevate the history needed here to make this one work for me. When the men go public as a couple, it’s also fine with everyone, so their brother status then didn’t seem as important as the book tried to make it out to be. The job that the book is named for didn’t carry this story well enough and while lifetime friends starting a relationship is the type of storyline I look for, this one doesn’t place high on my list of recommendations.
