jilrene reads

4.5 stars

Excellent story! I don’t know much about the Yakuza, but I do know just a little about Japanese culture. I believe this author has done her research and created a story with a solid foundation. The writing is also well done. I really felt like I was there, listening and observing. In the beginning, it feels like a somewhat light hearted romance with a little angst. Then a kidnapping is added and it just explodes from there. While I did guess correctly who the bad guy really was, I almost got sidetracked by the red herrings. I truly enjoyed reading this book. If I could have made my real life just leave me alone long enough, I would have read it in one sitting. I felt compelled to read from the first scene. I wanted to know how Shigure and Ken make it work. Ken’s friend Ryu causes some of the angst by being a bit of a brat, but I still liked Ryu because he really was concerned about Ken’s happiness. The story closes with a fun scene. I didn’t give the story 5 stars because one scene just didn’t make sense for me. Why did Shigure cut off his finger and send it to Ken’s father? If the point of cutting off a pinky finger is to apologize, Shigure had no reason to apologize to Ken’s family. I don’t get it.