Double or Nothing (Double Trouble, #1) by Cari Z. & L.A. Witt

What a great book! Loved it! It was packed full of action and yet there was still enough time for relationship buildup. My only complaint is the book finished quite abruptly leaving us with a sort of HFN. I really wish we'd get another book so I could really FEEL the closure of the things both men were dealing with as well as a real feel of a relationship forming. Yet in a way it WAS enough for me. I'm the kind of gal who can be totally satisfied with a HFN and I guess I sort of got what I wanted. Well, almost ;)

Rich Cody is a US Marshal and though it's what he wanted to do in life (after he had enough as a Marine) he is bored out of his mind of all the "babysitting" he has been doing in WITSEC. He wants a REAL job.. and he gets exactly that after being assigned to take Leotrim Nicolosi, "Leo" in short, to a safe house. It all blows to shit when the mobsters he decided to take down makes a move to grab him and when Rich and Leo flee the scene they realize just how powerful and connected these guys are. EVERYTHING is compromised so they better find their own way from now on, escaping EVERYONE because they haven't a clue who they can trust within the Marshals, FBI, DI's office..



Leo spent most of his life with the Grimaldi's. He didn't have a lot of choice.. They were his father's employers and after he was sentenced to a secure prison for life, he had nowhere else to go so he stayed and did (for them) what he was best at - hacking. He was happy for a time with Tony Grimaldi but they had to keep their relationship hidden. The Italian mobsters weren't about gay relationship especially not when it involves the "Prince" of the family. When Tony's brother Matteo finds out about them Leo's life is over, at least the way he knew it.. Matteo kills Tony and puts the blame on him. But Leo knows A LOT about the Grimaldi's and without Tony on his side he has NO reason to keep working for them - on the contrary - he will be extremely happy to see them ALL fall, especially Matteo.

But the Grimaldi has too many on their pay roll for him to be silently and secretly escorted to a safe house yet with Rich on his side he might have a chance of at least having his revenge. Or so he hopes.. As time goes by he relies on Rich more and more which doesn't always feel the right with Rich's bad case of PTSD which rears up too many times considering the blood trail they leave wherever they go. But besides trust, they both come to like each other and with the attraction it's easy to hope for more even if they know they can't act on their feelings because there isn't a safe time or place for that. Well, maybe ONCE they found it, but they couldn't stay hidden not when Matteo upped his game and got himself hostages.

Yep, there's A LOT going on in this book. It was such a great read, easy to lose myself into it and enjoy the action packed ride. I hope for the best to both Rich and Leo and mostly hope we'll meet them both again.

Note - Funny enough my main issue with this one is the way it ended as I felt we were left a bit hanging. Turns out there's a second installment! "Doubling Down" which I absolutely LOVED. It totally resolved Rich and Leo's relationship.

Rating: ★★★★½

E-Book Edition

282 pages

Read on: 2-5 February 2019