Whiskey and Wry: Sinners, Book 2

Very good book. This was much better than book 1. Damien has memory loss from the car accident. He is trying to find someone when he can't remember things, doesn't trust many people but he can remember how to play the guitar. Sionn runs a pub and meets Damien when he plays in front of it trying to earn money. The men form cautious relationship that grow into true friendship and more. Damien needs help, from dodging bullet and running from a man with a knife. Sionn can help him by going to his Uncle for help. There he gets the biggest surprise yet. Sionn and his family rally around Damien and keep him protected from his killer. With all this going on they find they have more than just friendship to fight for.

Don't worry. Miki and Kane are not gone. Actually, they're important; but they're not the central characters this time around. Now we have Damien, who's supposed to be dead, playing a guitar for quick cash in front of an Irish pub in San Francisco; and Sionn, who's supposed to be shooing the scruffy busker with the black leather cowboy hat off his gran's property. Sionn has no idea who the mysterious dark-haired guy is, but something definitely merits more attention.What Rhys Ford does so well is telling us about these broken men, and letting us be witnesses to the long, slow ritual that leads to their discovering each other's hearts and minds. We learn about Damien's not-too-distant past and puzzle over the freakish hijacking of his life. We get to know Sionn's own emotional burdens, and we watch these two men circle each other, wary, but somehow understanding that this is going somewhere.The fly in this romantic ointment is the shooter. From the very first moment in the book we and Damien know the's there; but only gradually is this particularly nasty killer's purpose revealed, and only to us. Woven into the evolving romance is this sinister black thread of ugliness. The shadow of this lurking assassin is well drawn, in a Patricia Cornwell-like way that is sure to edge you closer to nightmares if you're so inclined. It forced me to put down the book a few times, just to shake off the chill.In the world of M/M romance there are a few particularly bright stars, and Rhys Ford is among them. Can't wait for book 3 (because, oh yes, the bonus cliffhanger chapter we saw in book 1 appears here, too).

This book cements it... I LOVE the Morgan family... They form a solid backbone to this series.Personally, I wish Damien and Miki were in a recording studio right now because the snippets of songs that Rhys treats us to throughout the series need to be recorded.Whiskey and Wry shows another form of family darkness, reminding us that not everyone has a good family, even a mediocre one; here, Damien's family is held in contrast to the Morgan's (and the extended family). We are introduced to the killer, as opposed to the man who hired him, early and that man is a sick F*** and I will admit to skipping over some of the crime scene sections because, unfortunately, I've actually seen crimes scenes as sick (Yes, Rhys, even the displaying of D's mother pales). So I will warn people that there is some not so pretty scenes in this book but they fit.The reuniting of Miki and D... So incredibly heart warming.Sionn and D are magical together.Time to head for the next book in the series.... See you all on the review side.

My Review:Damien....alive! OMG! After reading Sinner's Gin (book #1 in the series), I immediately set to devour this book, especially after I read the story description and my heart set to palpitating about what this would mean for Miki.Rockers...check.Gorgeous Irish accents....check.Hot Alpha cops...check.Tons of suspense, gorgeous romance, and a few laughs too...check.Yep, this series definitely has it all. What this book also had was a bat-s*it crazy guy trying to kill Damien and anyone who happened to get close to him. OMG, those scenes with the killer were GRUESOME....so be warned.But it also has the Morgan clan that I fell in love with in the first book...Sionn is a cousin...and yes, he has the Irish accent too. He meets Damien when he sets to busking in front of Sionn's pub. Damien's brain is swiss cheese after the accident. He knows someone is trying to kill him and that he was locked up in an asylum. He doesn't think he's crazy, but he isn't sure. He just doesn't remember. About the only thing he remembers is his real name (not the one they call him at the asylum), Miki, and San Francisco...so he heads there hoping to find Miki. Not an easy task, but something about Sionn's pub speaks to his psyche so he hangs out there....until someone starts shooting at him.By the time that happens, Sionn and Damien have begun to develop feelings for each other, although so far they are only just friends. Sionn senses that there's much more to Damien, but he has no idea what's really going on with the man. And things develop from there...and it's such a good development.Honestly, I probably liked the romance in this book just a tiny bit more than I did in book #1, but the bad guy got so much more page time in this book...and he's REALLY not a nice guy...in fact he's really, REALLY sick and that bothered me to a certain extent in this book. I hated that he got so much page time, but the book is really very good.I'm really, really enjoying this series. It doesn't seem as sexual as a lot of the m/m out there, but there is so much depth to the stories. There's a glimpse of the next book at the end of this one. I cannot wait!!!