Men of Smithfield: Max and Finn (Men of Smithfield, #3), L.B. Gregg

A nice addition to the Men of Smithfield series.

-Review by Cindi

Michael Finnegan (Finn) is a teacher, a tutor and a dorm parent.  He is tutoring a student while secretly crushing on the boy's older brother, Max Douglas, a former Marine and current security specialist.  Everything is going fine (Finn thinks) until he is called into Max's office after one of the tutoring sessions.  Instead of waiting to find out why Max called him into his office, he acts on his crush and impulsively seduces him.  Big mistake.  After the best sex of Finn's life, what happens?  Max fires him.  Abruptly.  Rudely.  Humiliated after what had just occurred, Finn rushes out of the office in hopes of never laying eyes on Max again.

Of course it doesn't work out that way.

Max is called in as a security expert/bodyguard to one of Finn's students, Hemmi.  Hemmi's father is a famous actor and there have been minor threats aimed indirectly at Hemmi.  Max moves into the dorm, across the hall from Finn, in order to protect Hemmi.  Finn, still dealing months later with the humiliation of being fired after the hook-up, is not thrilled to have Max anywhere near him.... .much less across the hall.  As time passes, the indirect threats turn into violence which in turn pushes Max and Finn even closer.  Their relationship progresses as a result.

I have to say that I did not like Max right off the bat.  He willingly jumps right into having sex with Finn (the first time) even knowing that the entire reason for bringing him in the office in the first place was to fire him.  He did not have to go through with it.  He could have stopped.  He didn't. Afterward?  He was a bastard in the way he handled the dismissal.  

Then there is Michael Finnegan.  I liked him at first but come on!  The guy is intimidated by Max during the entire time he tutors his brother.  Yes, he is crushing on the guy but he is still intimidated.  So Max calls Finn into his office... obviously for a reason... and what does Finn do?  He walks in, locks the door and starts stripping?  Again, come on.

Both characters grew on me eventually.  I can't say that I really loved either one but they got better.  Max stays a jerk throughout (he is quick to point out Finn's faults.. often) but he does show his softer side.  Finn comes across as a wimp at times (when it comes to Max) but it wasn't the entire book so I was able to overlook it.  

Overall, this was a pretty good story.  Normally if I don't like the main characters (much) I don't like the story.  In this case, I did. The mystery was a surprise and the dangerous situations were written well. Because of that, this is probably my favorite in the series so far.  A good addition to the Men of Smithfield series.

I love the cover.