Special thanks to Leontine from Leontine's Book Realm for the super header.


Monday, April 25, 2011

Monday Mumbling ... Turn around and spread 'em.

Yep, it's law enforcement day. Le sigh. A man in uniform works for me, or half out of it. Ahem. I'm going to talk today about some of my favourite police officers in m/m romance. I'm going to try not to repeat myself as last week there were two or three cops who I could choose for here too, Brandon of James Buchanan's series and Vic and Jacob from the PsyCop series. But beyond those, I do have a penchant for law enforcement. I think part of that comes from my many years of reading police dramas and mysteries. I still love a good who done it, but now I like some romance mixed in to some degree. I hope you will share some of your favorite guys you'd be happy to "spread 'em" for decide to break the law.

Three of my favourite cops are the trio featured in the two Hell Cop anthologies. Each author writes a story of a cop and their partner and their adventures. I know I'm not in the majority, but my favourite of the three was Detective Jay Yervant, the permanently on-fire hottie who couldn't touch another human without burning them, until he met sexy innocent Brian, who'd never seen demons before moving to town and getting himself in a spot of trouble. I think I felt for Jay who couldn't touch anyone and desperately wished he could. But all three guys are great and the the crime aspect of each story is as important as the romance and all three authors, Astrid Amara, Nicole Kimberling and Ginn Hale are favourites of mine.



 Hank and Charlie from Shady Ridge and the Neon Sky by Chris Owen were a great couple. Two cops from a small town, one who never really expected to find a long-term partner work out their relationship while escaping to the gay bar a few hours away. I just liked both guys who were "normal" and it was kind of a slow romance without any great drama. They happen to be cops, but the crime drama was not the primary focus of this book.





Ungh. Nate and Caesar. Le sigh. As you can see on my banner up top, this one of the first m/m books I ever read and I had no clue what I was in for but I was totally hooked on James Buchanan from that point on. These two were smoking together and it had a real police story woven in including child abuse and corrupt cops and finding love between a cop and a career criminal. I "heard" that there is supposed to be a sequel to this story and I dream of the day it becomes a reality. :-) oh and Caesar's dog Poncho is as much of a character as the two guys and he's not ignored like so many dogs in fiction. They don't "forget" he exists when they go off somewhere. This is a frequent re-read for me.




Yep, look up, waaaaay up. Another first book for me was Crossing Borders by ZA Maxfield. I totally fell in love with Michael and Tristan. I know not everyone loves this book but it struck all the right buttons with me and remains one of my faves I know I can turn to when I need a comfort read. ZAM's sense of humour came through as it always does. This is another story where the fact that Michael is a police officer factors into their relationship development, but it's not a mystery book with a crime to be solved.



 
Oh Adam, I should hate your guts and yet ... Well, he's not really a cop anymore, now that he's a vampire. but he's a totally unrepentant ass. He's a dirty cop, he cheats on his boyfriend the way the rest of us chew gum, and now he's dead to top it off and involved in a vampire gang war. Why do I care about this guy? He does finally get this act together somewhat as the story goes on, but he's never going to be the hero in the white hat riding to the rescue. AM Riley did an amazing job making me not just care about, but actually like, a total jerk. Go figure. :-)




So tell me who some of your favourite law enforcement officers are out there in m/m land. Maybe I've read about them too, or maybe I'll find a new guy (or more) to add to my list. I certainly couldn't list EVERY story I've enjoyed with a police officer, but these are ones that have stuck out in my head.

16 comments:

Leontine said...

You had my attention with; Turn around and spream 'em ;) and of course i walk away with two new books to add to my wishlist: Shady Ridge and the Neon Sky by Chris Owen - I didn't know she had slow-burn romance's, 911 is still fresh in my memory *smiles* I also heard a few talk about James Buchanan, I think I even got a few of his books so i must go check if The Good Thief is among them, it's sounds like a fab read!

Tam said...

The Chris Owen is a bit different as they take into account they live in a small town and what that means. But it's not angsty really.

Most anything you get by James Buchanan is a winner Leontine. I really liked the Good Thief and the Nicky and Brandon series, but all are worthy reads.

Average Reader said...

Great post, Tam! Definitely agree on the Hell Cop books and A.M. Riley's book. The others I haven't read yet but I'm going to look into them. James Buchanan's collection of short stories Ready to Serve is good as well -- all on attractions between cops and, well, maybe not criminals, but trouble-makers. One of the stories in particular, Speed Trap, is very funny.

Tam said...

I have that collection as well Val. It is good. James knows how to write law enforcement having been working with them for years. You can really tell when an author knows the occupation. I don't remember Speed Trap, I'll have to go back and have a look.

Josephine Myles said...

Ooh, haven't read any of those - will have to go and add to my pile of prospective reads. Thanks Tam! Or should I curse you, for constantly tempting me to spend money ;P

I'd have to vote for Vic Bayne because I just haven't read that many other m/m cop stories.

Tam said...

My pleasure Jo. :-) there are some really good ones there and hopefully when you get the chance to read a few you'll enjoy them. Vic is definitely a fave as well but since he got selected for the series last week I didn't want to duplicate. :-)

Chris said...

I've read most of these and liked them quite a bit - haven't read the Hell Cop books, but they're on my ereader... And I just realized that the second book has one of my Misadventures guys on it!

Tam said...

You really should read the Hell Cop stories Chris. They are demons and fantasy I suppose, but I really enjoyed them. Great authors.

Yay for finding misadventure boys. :-)

Anonymous said...

I've read Shady Ridge and Crossing Borders. I'm pretty sure I have the Good Thief, but I haven't gotten to it.

I've put off the Hell Cop books. I'm always a little nervous about anthologies.

Tam said...

It's kind of a different type of anthology Eyre as all of the stories are set in the same world and overlap. All three cops work together to some degree so it's a bit like creating a world with three guys and then assigning each one an author to flesh out their story. Not the same as the type of anthology which is disconnected stories that share a theme. Each author is so skilled you don't get a jarring sense of "oh, I can tell someone else is writing this". More like each author brings a distinct personality to their assigned characters. Pimp much? I just love it so. :-) It's one I've re-read a few times.

Anonymous said...

Awesome pimpage, Tam. ;) I'll have to try Hell Cop now.

Mariana said...

Again, a great selection of books! Loved all those on your list :)

Tam said...

Thanks Mariana. There's some good ones out there.

Stephani Hecht said...

What I want to know is why none of the cops who pull me over look like pics you posted here?

Tam said...

Good point Stephani. They rarely do and they are rarely shirtless or with their fly hanging open. LOL

Sweet Vernal Zephyr said...

Um, how did I miss this post? I have a big huge thing for cops - so hot. Thanks for the eye candy, eventually I will read your reviews and comment again. ;)