December 11, 2019

How do I love this book? Let me count the ways:

The heroine is 40 years old (yay for that!)
It is set in Spain.
It centers around Real Madrid and is full of soccer references.

For me, that’s all the author had to do to make it a winner. I’ll explain.

Amazon US: https://amzn.to/2rrQYDd
Amazon Worldwide: mybook.to/TheYoungerManKH

I do like reading romances for characters of all ages. A well-written novel transcends age. That being said, it does sometimes get tiring reading about a 24-year-old whose life is over but then miraculously meets their soulmate (not that there’s anything wrong with that, it just gets tiring after a while).

Thalia has been through a divorce (relatable), has the opportunity to switch jobs, and moves to do so (relatable) and connects with a hot young soccer player (okay…not so relatable). But still, I really “got” Thalia. The author did a great job of covering the myriad of feelings a woman goes through in those situations.

Spain. I traveled a lot as a kid because my dad worked for airlines. But somehow we never made it to Spain. I recently had the opportunity to travel to Valencia due to my son’s soccer talents (see where this is going) and absolutely fell in love with the country. I was really excited when he was invited back in the Spring to play again in Barcelona. Still haven’t made it to Madrid.

But I loved the descriptions of the different areas of Madrid. I found myself picturing places I went to in Valencia as stand-ins. It was nice to “wander back” to the country.

Soccer. My son is a total football fan. Only 14 years old, and he knows more about the game than many adults. Obsessed is a good word. Our house is all EPL and La Liga/all the time. I would have been interested in the book anyway because of the story, but the details around the players and clubs gave me another level of enjoyment.

As to the story itself, I loved reading about a woman who has the opportunity to re-invent herself and continue with new experiences. It was easy to be in Thalia’s corner, rooting for her. The romance between her and Alejo was a delicious slow burn. It was nice to live vicariously through her for even a little bit.

Even if you aren’t into football/soccer, do yourself a favor and pick this one up. Thalia will win you over.

This book started with a bang (quite literally) and didn’t let up. It was gritty and pulled no punches.

It was obvious from the start that the author had a background in law enforcement (either that or as a criminal) because the descriptions of both the crimes and the investigations were realistic and interesting. Nothing felt made up or forced. From the tension between partners to the multi-faceted crimes, everything was full of enough detail to paint vivid pictures.

I thought The Creepers were especially colorful. While they reminded me of street gangs in general, there was also something uniquely Scottish about them.

The setting was interesting for me to read about because I find it fascinating to compare crime and law enforcement between countries.

The only thing that I had a love/hate relationship with was the style of writing. I appreciated that the author wrote in a way that I could get a sense of the Scottish brogue/burr. I do love when I can get a sense of how someone actually “sounds.” However, the extensive use of it made for very slow reading which took me out of the story a few times.

Ultimately, however, the atmosphere created by the writing won out, and I enjoyed this book.

AUTHOR BIO

Robert James Mitchell was brought up in Stirling. Mitchell was initially detailed beat duties out of the former Blackhill Police Office and then Baird Street Police Office in the former ‘D’ Division, or the North, as it was known to all the men who served in the division. In January, 2007, while recovering from an appendicitis, Mitchell decided to write the first draft of ‘Parallel Lines: The Glasgow Supremacy‘, drawing heavily on his own experiences and featuring the characters of Detective Sergeant Gus Thoroughgood and DC Kenny Hardie.