Love and Murder

Love and Murder #1

by W.S. Long

Jake Chandler is a struggling small-town Florida lawyer, and his life is falling apart. His ex-wife makes seeing his daughter difficult, his boyfriend Noah may be cheating on him, and his money woes are growing. Jake hopes that a new murder defense case will help with his money woes, but his ex-wife Elena is the prosecutor. It’s bad enough she has to fight with him over custody of their daughter. Now she wants nothing more than to beat him in the courtroom, too.

And then people around him start dying.

First, an ex-lover gets his brains blown out while he and Jake have coffee. The danger comes even closer. Then Jake meets handsome FBI agent Xavier, who is investigating the crimes surrounding him. Can Jake trust this new man in his life? Is Xavier who he says he is? Or does his involvement put Jake and those he loves in even more danger?

Genres: M M Romance, Mystery, Crime, LGBT

170 pages, Paperback

First published February 17, 2014

About the author

Married; lawyer; gay veteran; plant-based lifestyle; traveler; he/him/his; lover of books, and weaver of tales, mostly as happily-ever-afters.

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Reviews

[Candice · Rating 2 out of 5]

To be honest, I don't know how to rate this. I think I am going to go through the book and write my "rant" and then I will throw a number up and make it stick.

Since I will probably go off on a tangent, I am going to put the rest of what I have to say in a spoiler.



First off, SO MUCH INFIDELITY! UGH! I could not take it. I don't read books about cheating. I can't stand it. I thought this might have had Jake being cheated on, not the other way around. Jake cheated on his wife MULTIPLE times, then cheated on his boyfriend, Anton, with his current boyfriend, Noah. Noah cheats on Jake, a lot. UGH! It made me sick. Granted none of these cheats were on page, but still to have to hear about it was gross. I don't blame Elena for being a bitch (but was she really?) Come on, let's face it, no 9 year old needs to be out at Midnight. Your alimony and child support needs to be paid, ON TIME. No sleepovers? Sounds like a good rule to me. If that were me? I would be a lot more bitchy!

The relationship between Noah and Jake was disastrous. Ugh. They needed to go separate ways a LONG time ago. It sounds like Jake was faithful to Noah while they were in a 3 year relationship, but Noah couldn't keep it in his pants.

The murder case? So what happened? I was interested in that and then it just disappeared. Who killed Hannah? Was it Frank? Who was the 3rd person in the room? Was she really an informant or was Ivan feeding that stuff to Jake?

Alright, so here's the kicker. Your boyfriend of 3 years gets killed right in front of you, BECAUSE OF YOU!, but yet, you are thinking about another man that you just met? Then said guy is actually someone you know from law school and says he has a crush on you, which you found out by SNOOPING THROUGH HIS PHONE!. The guy doesn't care though and tells you you need to be happy and why not start a life with him? What do you do? Say yes, of course. Because after all...you have no lasting affects from the shooting or the beating that ended in killing both your ex boyfriend and your current boyfriend. Oh yeah, and you were shot in the leg and arm and beat. But, by all means, you are completely stable to start up another relationship.

Why not get your own life straight first? Huh, Jake? Doesn't that make sense? Maybe get a job? Maybe spend some quality time with your daughter, since she's going to be crushed about "Uncle Noah". But, let's not forget, you want Xavier to meet Chel. Seriously? Bringing men around your daughter you honestly barely know? Hot damn, if I were Elena I would whoop your ass! Maybe he can be "Uncle Xavier" or "Uncle Ben".

UGH! Get your life in order, Jake. Then, if you really want to go back for Xavier. You have a lot on your plate. No need to mix a new man into the mix. Isn't that what started all of this? Men? Yeah. I thought so.

Oh and if I have to hear the words "man pussy" ever again, it'll be too soon!

Overall, *sigh*

[Louis Stevens · Rating 5 out of 5]

WS Long's narrative voice is engaging and moves you effortlessly through the story. A well-executed plot with flawed, sympathetic characters and deeply emotional story lines at times will have you crying out in vexation and amusement.

A thoroughly enjoyable read and definitely recommended - I'm already looking fwd to his next release.

[Maame · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sure hope this is a series of some kind because l really enjoyed it. Always nice to discovered a new author and a new book.

[Maggie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great story!

I loved this story. Full of mystery and intrigue, Jake finds himself on the wrong side of a killer and is trying to deal with everything going on in his life. Divorced and close to losing his law practice, he is juggling trying to keep his practice going, dealing with his ex-wife and daughter, as well as a cheating boyfriend. He ends up in the middle of a murder mystery and everywhere he turns, disaster follows. An ex is shot in front of him, he has sex with Ivan, an old boyfriend who is a cop, but it turns out the cop is a bad guy who murders Jake's boyfriend Noah, and is responsible for the murder of Jake's ex.

Jake is hurt in the process and the FBI wants to use him as bait to draw Ivan out. The agent assigned to him is someone from his past, and after Ivan is caught, sparks fly between them and Jake finally has a chance for a happy ending......

Well written, great pace, and characters you either love or hate. I cannot wait to get into the next book and see where Jake's next adventure takes him!

[T]

Sorry, didn't finish it. The MC cheated on his now ex-wife repeatedly. I hate cheating, and he didn't seem very upset about it.

[Debbie McGowan · Rating 4 out of 5]

OK, first up, this is a definite 5 stars for the story. It's fast-paced, exciting, emotional, hard to predict where the ending is going to fall. I loved the characters and felt an emotional bond with some of them, to the extent that I was really feeling what they were at times.

There are issues with the editing and proof-reading, which I won't go in to here, other than to say that the story and characters were strong enough for me to see past these (but do mean I can't give this 5 stars). W.S. Long is a great story teller, and has created a thrilling, emotionally charged novel that couldn't have had a better title really!

I will definitely read more by this author.

[Kenneth Larsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love and Murder is the debut novel from a writer to watch and definitely read.

I known some of these characters. They frustrate me in real life, too. While I would have liked to have read more about the relationships in some places, I couldn't be happier with the pace at which the story kept unfolding...with love, infidelity, desire, secrets, sex, and, oh yes, murder.

There was a nitpicky detail about the ending that bothered me (hence my rating). Still, the ending satisfies. W. S. Long has crafted such a wonderful story, I could easily see a possible series. I’d love to find out what Long has in mind for some of these characters. I'm looking forward to his next book, whatever it is.

[Lucy Marker · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love and Murder by W. S. Long:
At the beginning of 'Love and Murder,' Noah is a divorced attorney with a small daughter, an angry ex-wife, a declining law practice and an iffy relationship. Then someone is murdered. As the crime is investigated, Noah, meets Xavier, the detective who draws him forward into greater maturity. "Love and Murder" is an interesting mystery that allows us to watch a man grow in honor and love, and we're drawn to read the next book in the series.

[Jon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read; great storytelling and fast-paced thriller. Glad to see there is a follow-up, which I will be reading. There are editing issues that were overlooked through proofreading, but not distracting enough to pull the reader out of the story.

[Dawn Sister · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very enjoyable read. The characters were believable and real. The plot was complex and well thought through. I will be looking for more from this author.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thought it was very good. It had a little of everything (action, mystery, romance etc) and was a very engaging read.

[Jackie · Rating 2 out of 5]

By half way I was rooting for the murderer.

[RE Reader · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pretty mixed on this, but I'll give it 3 stars because it held my attention.

What I liked:
~ the mystery aspects -- those are the main parts which kept me reading.

What was okay:
~ Jake -- man, he's wishy-washy. I found it a little icky that he cheated on his wife and then his f-buddy. And then he got so upset with his boyfriend's cheating (though I get that); I felt like he didn't have much of a leg to stand on there. I liked aspects of his character, but his weak areas were pretty weak, imo.

What didn't work for me:
~ the emotions -- Jake waffled so much about his feelings for poor Noah, and then, in the end, he decides he's interested in Xavier, just like that? I think I just didn't like Jake enough to want to spend anymore time with him.
~ his relationship with Noah -- probably by default, since I didn't like the way Jake's emotions were so unsettled, the relationship with Noah seemed very surface-y. It didn't help that Jake seemed to get over his death in an instant -- and also didn't appear to feel more than deep remorse when Noah was killed. I don't know...it just didn't work for me.

So all in all, I was engaged for much of the book, but I didn't really love the story or the characters.

[Brandilyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

This title was originally reviewed for Prism Book Alliance®

Love and Murder by WS Long is a shining example of why a writing needs a solid editing team at their back. While L&M is not the best mystery I have ever read, it isn't to worst either. However, I had such a hard time getting past surface mistakes that I could never enjoy the story the author was trying to tell.

For complete Review see http://www.prismbookalliance.com/?p=4...

[Peter Leslie · Rating 1 out of 5]

I originally gave this a three star rating and down graded it to two. It’s well written from a very technical point of view. The author has a good command of the language and, my two principal tests, the dialogue is comfortable and I always know who is speaking. The plot of the book is quite stupid. SPOILER ALERT The law is bad. Ex husband and wife defending and prosecuting a case wouldn’t happen in a non-corrupt setting. Frankly, the police questionning buddy without a miranda warning wouldn’t happen. The murder of the main character’s lover, right in front of him, appears to make him a little sad and he’s on to his next man. There are really two books here, there are two plot lines and you wonder why they’re in the same book. This is a very weak book. Unrealistic events are forced into the narrative and they end up making the book silly. I wholly do not recommend it.

[Joelle Mendes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was not expecting that to happen

I'm not sure what to say. There's a lot to like about this book. It's a good mystery. Lots of twists and turns. I really loved that aspect. It kept me guessing. I had a harder time with the relationships. Honestly I felt bad for Jake. I was on the fence about Noah for a long time. Wasn't a fan of the ex wife, Jake's client or the cops either. But I liked the story. A lot. It kept me flipping page after page when I really wanted to smack these people. Something really big happens (that I won't spoil) that changed the trajectory of the whole story and while I didn't like it (at all), it definitely made for a better ending.

[LA Bard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is a faced paced who done it with some romance mixed in. As the bodies pile up it’ll keep you guessing who’s next. The characters are complex and you can’t help but fall for Jake and suffer his losses right along with him. ‘Love and Murder’ definitely left me looking forward to book two.

[Bobbi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has an excellent story and great characters. I found it very hard to put down. Can't wait for more.