Next of Kin by Jae

I received a copy of this book from Ylva Publishing in exchange for an honest review.

Genre: Mystery/Police; Bisexual, Lesbian Fiction; Questioning/Coming Out; Romance
Location: 99% - Portland Oregon and surroundings (other 1% - brief visit to Sacramento California)
POV: multiple (six, 4 are more at 'co-leads' level (), other two are at 'side character' level)

This is the second full length book in this specific series. I had read the first a good three plus years earlier - and hadn't immediately dove into this book because ... well, I think it was because the book had been pulled to be revised or something like that, I know that occurred, but not sure if same time.

This book picks up with the main characters from the last story, though I'm not certain how much time has passed. An important question for any series book - can you read this without having read the prior works? I'd give a tentative yes. I didn't have any issues keeping up with the book, and/or had confusion generated by my long break between books. But, then again, I had read prior book so some of the knowledge about the book is probably stuffed inside of me.

Characters: POV characters: Aiden Carlisle - sex crimes detective; Dawn Kinsley - psychologist; Kade Matheson - prosecuting lawyer (Deputy District Attorney); Delicia 'Del' Vasquez Montero (Lieutenant - homicide); Evan Whitfied - young rebelous woman in the foster system who is a patient of Dawn's; stalker.

The stalker's point of view has the least amount of page time - and both the reader and characters in the story already know who the stalker is before they get any page time. Evan's page time is the second smallest, though she has a good amount of time to be observed. The other four would consist of the 'main characters' and I won't attempt to dive into creating percentages for how much of the book is 'there's'.

I have a good feeling of the characters, though if pressed, I'm not exactly sure what all I could say about each of them. Del is in her forties, has darker skin, and is either from and/or has Puerto Rican blood. Kade is younger than Del, maybe significantly younger and comes from a rich tight assed, stiff background - the kind where people are expected to fit certain roles and not deviate from those roles. Aiden is a strong one, though has the background of growing up with a single mother who was a drunk, and whose father (Aiden's) was a rapist (both of which, naturally, impacts Aiden's own thoughts/personality/etc.) - I've a vague idea Aiden might be older than Dawn. Dawn . . . has a kind of calming ability with most of those around her; is seen by Aiden as being somewhat damaged (Dawn had been raped in the prior book)/fragile - while Dawn kept doing things that belied that impression. I've this vague impression that Dawn might be somewhere in her late 20s, though that seems wrong somehow.

Story: This is the story of three couples and/or potential couples, dealing with each other, and with the issues that life tosses at people. Which can include such things as stalkings, family troubles (one, Del, hasn't seen her family for 25 or so years, but they've popped back up again; another has a bad relationship with her mother; yet another is currently in the foster system with the inherent troubles that can present), time on the job (like seeing Dawn as a psychologist), and life in general.

The story follows these three couplings (and potential couples) through the eyes of all but one of the individuals. We have Aiden (sex crimes police detective) and Dawn as one couple - and yes, their life and relationship is an important part of this book. Then we have Del and Kade's circling, will they, won't they relationship (will they/won't they date, Kade being someone who hadn't, up to this point, allowed herself the possibility of being interested in women). Then we have Evan and Laurie's young teenager relationship. Their relationship is mostly seen through the eyes of others, though some of Evan's point of view page time is somewhat connected to that relationship. Laurie though, is rarely seen, and even when Evan's page time is spent connected to that relationship, it rarely actually directly involves Laurie (as in, for example . . . I can't think of a for example; we have Dawn seeing Laurie and Evan interact, but that was Dawn's POV; then we had the skating scene, but again, not Evan's point of view; mmphs).

Mystery: While two of the main characters are police detectives, and while they are seen being overloaded with work (well, Aiden is shown that way, Del is shown with lots of 'unofficial' work but not official - to the point that I sometimes forget she's a homicide detective not sex crimes detective), that work tends to be background 'stuff'. There is an actual mystery, though, that runs throughout a good portion of the book - someone is stalking one of the main characters, and two of the main characters are investigating the matter.

In terms of the mystery - while the stalking case took up much of the time for some of the characters, the actual mystery was somewhat back-burner for most of the story. That specific plot-line would drift hot ('wait, you aren't the one who has been sending me flowers for months? crap, I'm being stalked'; active investigating/action/danger/blood) and cold.

In terms of the stalker - I knew immediately who the stalker was, and no I don't mean the book said who the stalker was immediately, I mean that I figured it out immediately. And I thought at the time, and still think, that it is fair that the detectives didn't immediately pick up on who the stalker was (though I have issue with some of the time between taking the case and finding the stalker (on the one hand, the case was unofficial so they didn't have the resources necessary to investigate everything, on the other hand, the detectives investigated many people, but not the people who have near daily contact with the stalking victim.). Right, back up - the clues were there for the detectives to see, but only one was working on the case, unofficially, and she wasn't even on it from the start.

Sex: both graphic and non-graphic sex occurs in this book.

Overall: Solid enjoyable book. In a way my only real 'problem/issue' with the book is somewhat my own fault. I was 'ready' for the book to be over before the book was ready - my own fault because it was more that I was ready to finish reading for that reading session and there wasn't much left of the book so I continued reading. And reading. And reading. Eventually just stopping inches from the end before, later, completing the book. It felt like there were these concluding scenes one after another. First we get sex from one couple, then sex from another, then . . . well, you get the idea.

Right, sorry. So, as I said, good solid book. Both as a kind of slice of life book, as a mystery, and as a romance. None of the characters seemed 'tacked on', and all had something to do/deal with.

Rating: 4.67

September 10 2017