Raring: 4.5 stars out of 5
Former Federal Agent Yuri Sorenson had left the bureau behind to become a private investigator. A friend from his old life came to him with a favor, not knowing who else to trust. Yuri had always had a way of keeping his emotional distance from the people he protected, yet that changed the day Clarkson hesitantly limped into his life.
What happens when love is confused with pain? That’s the exact question Josh Clarkson had asked himself for years. He’d grown up in an overburdened foster care system, and from what he knew of love, he couldn’t expect anything but to be something tolerated. Was he meant to be more than a plaything or a piece of scenery; he could hope.
Two men who know nothing but being broken find that patience and acceptance are harder than losing hope. Is the leap of faith worth the reward of letting someone else in? Maybe they’ll find the strength to find out before the danger of Josh’s past tries to tear them apart.
J.M.Dabney writes broken people and does it well. That’s never more apparent then here in their latest novel Not Another Statistic, the start of a new series, the Yuri Sorenson Mysteries.
I always look forward to a Dabney novel. I anticipate the broken men, the horrific pasts, the abuse, the violence, and yes, the kink. But I want to see how the author will spin it in a new story and situation and romance. As this is the beginning of the series, Dabney is laying the groundwork, pulling in characters that I feel will form the sort of “found family” that surrounds the main characters the writer is so good at. I can certainly see the beginnings of that here.
But with all things, it starts with the main couple. It’s age gap and Daddy kink romance but of course that’s a superficial tag for the deeper story here. One that covers domestic violence, child abuse, adult abuse, assault, body image, and a person so beaten down that they have come to equate pain and extreme punishment with admissions of love. That is has occured to both men in different ways …well…the imprint of violence and the shattering of self has left its impact. The author is able to show that devastation on both sides, despite the age differences and how it was delivered home. It’s a brutal and realistic element here and if it’s one of your triggers, then you need to be aware of it.
The relationship between Yuri and Josh is formed rather quickly and that is usually a sticking point with me. However, given their backgrounds, the circumstances under which they meet, and the events that follow, it feels that each fills a need for the other. In other words, the author makes their case for the relationship and it works. You can see the need, the healing response, so the timing seems less essential. Plus it’s really a HFN, given it’s the first in a series and the relationship is just starting out.
Once again, the suspense is great, the feel of the “city” gritty and true, and I can’t wait to see what the next installment holds for us and the characters.
If you like your romance with some mystery or murder, hot kinky sex, and damaged men in love, look no further than the latest new series from JM Dabney. I definitely recommend Not Another Statistic (Yuri Sorenson Mysteries #1) by J.M. Dabney.
Cover art by JM Dabney. That definitely looks like Yuri. Eye catching !
Sales Links:
Universal Link – https://books2read.com/u/bw2vV0
Book Details:
Kindle Edition
Published September 24th 2019 by Hostile Whispers Press, LLC
ASINB07WJWJQL2
SeriesYuri Sorenson #1
Scattered Thoughts and Rogue Words 