Review: Men of Smithfield: Mark and Tony by L.B. Gregg

Title: Men of Smithfield: Mark and Tony

Series: Men of Smithfield, #1

Author: L.B. Gregg

Published: August 6, 2012

Pages: 114

Genre: M/M Romance

Source: NetGalley

Publisher: Carina Press

Rating: B-

Reviewed by: Marq

Favorite quote: "This? This is me apologizing to you. This me so sick and tired of waiting for you to fucking notice me, I can't keep my hands off you."

summary from Goodreads

Coming home from work to find my boyfriend banging our hairy, married landlord -- in our bed -- was bad enough. Discovering Jamie had also cleaned out my bank accounts made it officially the worst day of my life. I think I can be forgiven for wanting revenge, even if a few little laws (and possibly Jamie's nose) got bent in the process.

Fortunately, the law is on my side in the form of my oldest friend, Tony Gervase. I've tried to deny my attraction to the sexy trooper for years. After all, he made it clear long ago that he wasn't interested in me that way. But if the hot encounter in his kitchen is any indication, he is now. At least the day is ending a whole lot better than it began...

But the morning after, the Jamie situation goes from bad to seriously messed up. The jerk's in more trouble than I could have imagined. And as it turns out, I don't know Tony as well as I thought I did either...

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Marq's thoughts:
You know a book is gonna be good when the main character sneaks into church, grabs a Bible, and smacks his cheating boyfriend upside the head with it. That's exactly what Mark did when he caught his live-in boyfriend, Jaime, having sex with the nasty, hairy, married landlord. Mark's day continues to get worse has he flees the scene of the crime, he's pulled over the state trooper, Tony, who's also Mark's childhood friend. As Mark gets deeper and deeper with his boyfriend's betrayal, Tony is there to help him through. Or to knock some sense in his head. But there is one thing. Tony wants Mark. And now that Jaime is out of the picture, Tony plans on making his move.

I swear Mark wore me out. He went from one bad decision after the next. I know Mark is high on endorphin and anger and betrayal but by the time I finished, Mark and Tony, I needed a nap. Mark continually made his situation worse and worse and it had me shaking my head and wanting to shake him. But the frustration with Mark was fun and it was relatable. He was betrayed and he's all about getting revenge. Who wouldn't? But good grief, he needed to take a chill pill and think before reacting. Thank goodness Tony was around as the voice of reason, even though Mark didn't listen.

Tony comes off as reasonable and stoic and responsible. He did the responsible thing over 10 years ago when he rejected a drunk and teenaged Mark. Now he finally has the opportunity to be with him and he's not going to let it slip through his fingers. Tony is sexually aggressive and a likes to talk dirty. Me likey. When he put the moves on Mark, there was no confusion as to what he wanted.

I really enjoyed Mark and Tony. Mark was exhausting; I was waiting for someone to slip him a sedative. But I liked his character a lot. And I loved Tony. I'm a fan of dirty talkers. Mark and Tony kept me entertained from start to finish. Even though the book is short, it read like a full length novel. A quick, entertaining read that I could not put down.