Review: Third Son by Mickie B. Ashling

American Niall Monroe returns to Hong Kong—a city he calls home—after being away for eight years. He hopes to finally find happiness with Peter Wei, his closeted lover of fourteen years, but is disappointed to find Peter has been put in an untenable position. He must marry and produce the long-awaited grandchild or get cut off by his millionaire father.

James, Peter’s younger brother, has been Niall’s best friend since they were schoolmates. He encourages Niall to ditch his brother and move on. He encourages Niall to ditch his brother until he finds out Niall is thinking of dating Gerard Sun, a talented artist.

Gerard Sun, a talented artist, bursts back into Niall’s life after a one-night stand in Las Vegas. Circumstances force the men to deal with their attraction, especially when Niall’s firm considers Gerard to help promote tourism in the People’s Republic of China.

Coming home seemed like a great idea until it wasn’t. Niall finds himself a stranger in a familiar landscape, slammed on multiple fronts by broken promises, jealousy, intrigue, unimaginable deceit, and undercurrents of evil. As his dreams quickly turn into nightmares, Niall reaches out to new allies for support.

Niall has been away in the USA for a long while and is returning to Hong Kong for what he believes to be a lover’s reunion. But things do not go the way he planned and instead of getting a commitment from his lover, Peter, he is picking up the pieces of his heart and trying to stay away.

Niall seems to be a magnet for troubled men, (or maybe Niall is the troubled man). All except Gerard. The artist seems to have a decent head on his shoulders but the other people in Niall’s life are quickly falling apart.

Niall is recovering from his breakup with Peter, and leaning on his best friend James, but after a tragic event, James isn’t able to be there for Niall and help his family, which leaves Niall calling on Gerard for comfort.

I liked this story. I enjoyed Niall’s and Gerard’s friendship. Gerard seems to be a solid guy, and someone who knows what he wants and goes after it.

There is some crazy in this story. Niall seems to be the centre of it, and I’m not really sure how I feel about it. But the story was engaging, interesting, the plot was solid, and I enjoy this author’s writing style. I think the characters were all well fleshed out, and there was a clear storyline that was being followed. I didn’t feel blindsided by any of it, even though it was surprising.

This story has a bit of suspense in it, so readers who enjoy plot twists will like this. I would recommend it to most readers of romance, who like a little bit more to their stories.

A review copy was provided for an honest opinion.