Diversion 4
by
Lucky Lucklighter has a new life. His old life wants him back.
He traded trafficking for taking down criminals with the Southeastern Narcotics Bureau, and a drug-lord lover for a man on the right side of the law. Bo Schollenberger found the way past the thorny defenses of Lucky’s heart, and made Mr. I-Get-Along-Fine-Alone think about his and his closets, stevia in the sugar bowl, and a picket fence—with a good lock on the gate.
Now Bo is missing, and a voice long silenced asks, “Did you miss me?” Lucky must deal with a devil from his past to get Bo back.
And if Bo isn’t willing to come? A drug ring needs its back broken before flooding the US with a designer high, seductive and undetectable. But there’s a fine line between good and evil, and a truckload of temptation urging Lucky to cross.
Publisher: Rocky Ridge Books
Cover Artists:
Genres:
Pairings: M-M
Heat Level: 3
Romantic Content: 3
Ending: Click here to reveal
Character Identities: Gay
Protagonist 1 Age: 36-45
Protagonist 2 Age: 26-35
Tropes: Alpha Character, Badass Hero, Criminals & Outlaws, Hurt / Comfort, Opposites Attract, In Uniform, Antihero, Office / Workplace Romance, Rescue
Word Count: 75700
Setting: American South, Mexico
Languages Available: English
Series Type: Continuous / Same Characters
Lucky entered “Victor Antonio Mangiardi” into the computer’s search engine. Pages of social media sites appeared. Dang! Lots of Victor Antonio Mangiardis in the world. Hopefully, the rest weren’t as lawless as the one Lucky sought.
Nothing new. He tried “Victor Mangiardi arrested,” “Victor Mangiardi court,” and “Victor Mangiardi trial.”
“Victor Mangiardi hearing,” paid off in the form of a news article he hadn’t read before. He struggled to breathe even before the image came clearly into view. Victor, smiling, happy, and standing on the courthouse stairs.
The article read: Suspected drug trafficker Victor Mangiardi appeared before Judge Tyson Levinson…
READ MOREHis arraignment. This photo was taken at Victor’s arraignment. But he was laughing. An image came to mind of this same man in court, in rumpled clothes, disheveled and gaunt. During all their time together, Lucky had never seen his former lover looking less than perfect. Victor had even managed to pull himself together during the flu, while Lucky had lain in bed too sick to move. The haggard appearance in court had to have been an act to win the jury’s pity.
Here he was, with no apparent care in the world. Victor’s lawyer stood to one side, a uniformed cop on the other. Several other people trudged behind him, none of whom Lucky recognized, except for…
Lucky jabbed the magnifying button again and again. The enlargement distorted the face, but he’d know this man anywhere. It couldn’t be. It just couldn’t.
Standing a few feet behind Victor Mangiardi was none other than Walter Smith.
COLLAPSEManipulation is the fourth book in Eden Winters’ fabulous Diversion series, and I really think it keeps getting better and better. This story picks up on the heels of Corruption, where we saw the investigation of the drug on the streets and Bo’s beginnings undercover. While that story focused on the distribution end of things, this story then moves us to Mexico where the guys attempt to stop the drug at the production end and keep it out of the U.S.
In Corruption, we saw Bo take on his first undercover assignment as Cyrus Cooper and here he continues in that role as he becomes one of the leaders in Stephan’s drug trade. It is an interesting place for Bo because he really excels at becoming this character and it is fascinating to see him turn on and off the two different personalities of Bo and Cy. We are in Lucky’s head and we can feel his anxiety as he watches his sweet, gentle lover disappear into this cold, heartless man. Lucky worries if Bo will be able to find himself again when he can finally let go of Cyrus. The tension is amplified here as we learn more about Bo’s past and how much of his darker self he normally holds inside. On top of that, Bo is forced into testing the dangerous new drug, something that puts him at even bigger risk given his previous addiction and his deal with the SNB. So we really get a lot of complexity here as Bo struggles with holding on to his true self while having to spend most of the time in the mind of this cold, hard criminal.
Lucky is dealing with equally complex issues as he must face some ghosts from his past. Stephan has always been jealous of his uncle and now wants Lucky for himself. Despite documents saying that Victor died in jail, Lucky keeps hearing that Victor made a deal and is in fact alive and well somewhere. And an old friend of Victor’s is back in Lucky’s life, but it is not clear if he is on Lucky’s side or poses a danger himself. Lucky’s relationship with Victor has been an ongoing story line but here we really delve into it as we see Lucky interacting with these men from his past. We learn more about Victor’s life outside of Lucky and more about what was happening in Mexico. We know that Lucky has moved on, that now his only feelings lie with Bo. But it is still difficult for him to navigate though these dealings, especially when he is also trying to uncover everyone’s motives.
And then of course all this is thrown together with the case as Bo and Lucky try to uncover what Stephan’s plans are and to get enough information to bring him down, all while trapped on the wrong side of the border with no way to communicate with SNB. One of the hallmarks of this series is the fabulous detail and research Winters puts into these investigations, showing us the inner workings of the drug trade from so many angles. Here we get the story from the manufacturing end, learning about how these dealers set up shop in Mexico and produce the drugs that make it onto the street. We also see Stephan set up sales with U.S. distributors and how the drugs are transported across the border. So it is all fabulously detailed in a way that makes it feel so real. Not to mention that this book is once again filled with excitement, suspense, thrills, and life or death moments.
So I am a huge fan of this series and I think it keeps getting better and better. We get a really nice combination of fabulous (and SUPER sexy) romance developing between Bo and Lucky, along with a super exciting law enforcement thriller. I love these guys together so much. They are sexy and strong and both willing to do anything for the other. Their relationship has developed so nicely over the series and we can see how both men have grown and changed. They are hard men who are also so sweetly in love, even as they have to hide it most of the time. Not to mention scorching hot together. At the same time, Winters gives us a great balance of a really well developed investigation with lots of excitement.
Truly, if you are not reading this series, you should be. I absolutely love it and highly recommend Manipulation and the whole Diversion series.
P.S. While this could maybe possibly stand alone, it is much richer with all the history from the first three books. Plus, they are SO good. Read them all!
