Review: Homicidal Instinct (Guns 'N' Boys #2) by KA Merikan

All Seth wants is to live free with the man he loves. But escaping death at the hands of the mafia is just the beginning of an uphill struggle. When Domenico wakes up from his impromptu surgery and doesn’t even remember Seth’s name, Seth’s world falls apart. Suddenly it’s him who has to plan an escape from New York City and navigate their way to Mexico. All that without even knowing if the man of his life will ever love him again.

Domenico doesn’t know who to trust and what to believe. The man who introduces himself as his brother seems to hide dark secrets behind a cheerful smile. With the mafia breathing down their necks, there is no time to piece together the puzzle of Domenico’s life, and each time he thinks he’s solved it, a new part appears to be missing. Dom needs to find out who he really is, what he’s capable of... and what is the real story hidden behind Seth’s intense eyes.

Book 2 in KA Merikan's Guns N Boys series was equally as good as parts 1.1 and 1.2. Everything is the same - yet different. Whereas before Domenico has been the driving force of the duo, he now has amnesia and it is Seth's turn to step up to the plate.

It would be easy for a series such as this to become repetitive, but Merikan manage to keep it fresh and exciting. Something as simple as a change in the balance of power makes for an interesting storyline, full of twists and turns and doubts and sighs of relief. Book 1.2 had me not knowing quite how things would play out, and to a certain extent so did this book. With his memory loss Dom has to rely on information from Seth, but Seth isn't quite sure Dom's ready to handle the full truth. This leaves Dom susceptible to the whisperings of others, and what happens when you are unsure if you can trust the one person in the world in whom you have placed all your trust?

Despite his amnesia Dom is still very attracted to Seth, who he knows only as his brother. I love that this is still evident even through the doubts. It is the relationship between Seth and Dom that keeps me so invested in these books. I'm a sucker for true love - and a love that has to fight to be, as theirs has done, leaves me rooting for the MC's so hard. I've cried with these two, I've loved and laughed with them. I want their dreams to come true. I want Seth to open up a bakery or restaurant, I can see him so clearly in a mafia free life, it is after all what he wanted all along. Dom, I have to admit, is harder to place outside the family. It has been his life, it is what he's good at, what he has strove for...yet he's willing to change that for Seth. *I need to bandage my heart right now.*

There were moments in this book that I wasn't sure I could carry on reading. Moments when I hated the family with all my heart. How dare they stand in the way and stop these two? I'm not lying when I say there were parts in this book that were downright awful, I always hate any kind of 'collateral damage' innocent people getting caught up in the fray. It makes me sick. At one point, despite rooting for Dom and Seth, I have to say I found it really hard to forgive their actions. Even Seth with his talks of forgiveness made me squirm (and not in a good way) because, you know, don't do it. Bad decision - you can't want to be clean of this lifestyle just some of the time and then make choices that affect innocent people the rest of the time. No, that's not how it works. Despite this though I still love them and their story - even if I don't always love their choices.

Another fabulous instalment of the Guns 'n' Boys series, one I would recommend to anyone not put off by the warning tags.

Find out more at Goodreads.
A copy of this book was given in exchange for an honest review.

Possible spoiler - story warnings.
Themes: mafia, homophobia, assassin, organized crime, amnesia, road trip, chase
Genre: Dark, twisted erotic romance / crime thriller
Erotic content: Explicit gay sex
Length: ~88,000 words

WARNING: Adult content. If you are easily offended, this book is not for you.
‘Guns n’ Boys’ is a gritty story of extreme violence, offensive language, abuse, and morally ambiguous protagonists. Behind the morbid facade, there is a splash of inappropriate dark humor, and a love story that will crawl under your skin.