Free (DRM-free) Dirty Kiss [Gay Asian-American PI Community Murder Mystery w/Romance]

[ATDrake]

Dirty Kiss by Rhys Ford is the 1st in their Cole McGinnis Mysteries series of California-set multicultural contemporary murder/investigative mysteries with m/m romantic elements starring the eponymous mixed-heritage part-Japanese/part-Irish-ish ex-cop-turned-PI, this installment setting up the premise and supporting cast (and eventual main romantic relationship) of the series as he looks into the mysterious apparent suicide of a Korean-American man who turns out to be the tip of a closeted and possibly deliberately-targeted iceberg of hidden secrets among the Asian-American community, free courtesy of LGBT specialty publisher Dreamspinner Press and All Romance eBooks as their Earth Day Countdown giveaway selection for April 18th.

This has a medium 3 out of 5 flames on the ARE heat index and no particular warnings in the tags. This 1st-in-series has a relatively romance-y seeming blurb, but the rest of the books in the series have pretty straightforward investigative mystery plots with the romance/relationship drama as a more background element, for the more no-romo-inclined Gentle Readers out there. Also, one of the customer reviews complains that HEA is not achieved in this 1st book but apparently gets gradually built up over the course of the series, so YMMV for actual romance readers.

Currently free until just before midnight Central Time on April 19th @ All Romance eBooks (DRM-free choice of formats available worldwide). If you happened to miss it, yesterday's 4-flame f/m multicultural contemporary neighbourhood-strangers-to-coworkers erotic romance is still free for a limited time: By Invitation Only by Yvette Hines.

If you happen to like this one and wish to read more, you're in luck, because this is an ongoing series with 4 more books in it thus far, following the investigative exploits of the lead, mostly at the medium 3 flame mark with one spicier 4-flame installment for those Gentle Readers who want to see more romance-y-ness amidst their murder-solving plotting. And should you happen to enjoy the author's writing in general and would like to see more in another setting such as paranormal investigative or historical steampunk at varying heat levels, they've a number of other such listings on their author page @ ARE, all of which are eligible for ARE's standard Buy 10 Get 1 Free deal and other periodic rebate offers.

ETA: Incidentally, Dreamspinner Press is having 25% off their entire direct-buy store until April 20th, with 30% off selected front-page-listed authors attending "Queermance", and 50% off their monthly book club selection, should you be interested (automatic discounts, no coupon needed).

And this has been the selected 3rd (non-repeat… ish) ebook thread of the day.

Because as I keep mentioning, I have this inordinate fondness for cultures that produce dragon boats and by extension other cultures that draw heavily upon them, and I also like to see the intersection of occasionally conflicting cultural influences as well as greater overall diversity in the kinds of characters and plots we get, so

(Also, this was something that was on my Dreamspinner Press to-consider-wishlist which I may or may not have actually bought when it was on 99 cent sale a while back, IIRC. I don't think I did, but if so, then at least you'll get to enjoy what I consider to be a potentially very interesting mystery setting free, and if not, then I got a wishlist book free! )

Enjoy!

Description
Cole Kenjiro McGinnis, ex-cop and PI, is trying to get over the shooting death of his lover when a supposedly routine investigation lands in his lap. Investigating the apparent suicide of a prominent Korean businessman’s son proves to be anything but ordinary, especially when it introduces Cole to the dead man’s handsome cousin, Kim Jae-Min.

Jae-Min’s cousin had a dirty little secret, the kind that Cole has been familiar with all his life and that Jae-Min is still hiding from his family. The investigation leads Cole from tasteful mansions to seedy lover’s trysts to Dirty Kiss, the place where the rich and discreet go to indulge in desires their traditional-minded families would rather know nothing about.

It also leads Cole McGinnis into Jae-Min’s arms, and that could be a problem. Jae-Min’s cousin’s death is looking less and less like a suicide, and Jae-Min is looking more and more like a target. Cole has already lost one lover to violence—he’s not about to lose Jae-Min too.

[tempest@de]

I love this series, it has romance, mistery and humor, since it is free and if you don't know it yet give it a try.