The Sinner and the Liar: Seeking Asylum Book 1, Alice Winters

Dark and twisted, not something I expected from this author, yet I couldn't help but truly enjoy the story as I watched Sin and Eastyn battle feelings, deception, angst, and the hard life in their world.  Neither man had a lot of glowing morals to hold them through the tough times, but it was their grit and the passion and compassion they brought out in one another that moved me.  While the story felt quite long because it got bogged down in the dark, hard things a little too often, it wasn't enough to diminish their triumph or my enjoyment.

Sin had a lot of hurt and bitterness within him all buried beneath a shallow grave of apathy.  He says he doesn't care, but the truth is he cares too much and if he were to give in to all those feelings, he'd crumble.  When he "meets" Eastyn it's as if his soul is drawn to him despite knowing that the beautiful young man is an unapologetic liar.  There's something that connects them and when we finally learn the "six degrees of separation" that links them, it's a doozy, I tell you.  Wow...did not see that coming until Eastyn finally started sharing what gave him the mental fortitude to survive.  It's big, heartbreaking.

The banter and snark between them was just as entertaining as their chemistry.  It was definitely a codependent situation as it deepened, but it couldn't truly be anything else under their circumstances.  Despite that, I felt they could really be everything the other person needed to find their peace and freedom.  I was never bored by everything they experienced.  There were a few moments that I thought were a bit predictable and a little over the top, but there was enough going on in the story to distract from that and to keep us revolving around their twisted story.

It's the world around them that we get a sense of, but nothing concrete enough for me to build it in my imagination.  We get quite a bit about this particular city, some about the walls, and definitely enough about the social dynamic between law enforcement and the mob in this city.  What I needed was a more solid world build.  The setup was there, the immediate circumstances were there, but it was missing the rest of the world to give us a clearer picture of why this city was so bad, how it compared to others, what life might be like if escape were truly possible, what the implications would be of life elsewhere...just something to give perspective.  Not that I wanted to get stuck in details that didn't directly pertain to Sin and Eastyn's stories, but just a bit of something to secure their world in my mind.

I'll be back for more from this series for sure.  For me it's because even though the darkness was a departure from her normal style, this author hasn't yet failed to move me in some way.  I'm interested to see where we go next in this world and if the second one improves on our introduction of it.

*$3.99 on Amazon!

Sin is a hard man caught in a crumbling city filled with crime. Drifting through life, he takes on mercenary jobs by day and drinks away the memories of a happier time at night. Life has no color and little direction until he saves a gorgeous young man from a vicious attack. Resisting the determined, feisty, and seemingly innocent young man presents the first challenge Sin has had in ages. Eastyn brings brightness and humor to Sin’s previously dark and grim world, but there’s far more to Eastyn than he lets on.

Eastyn is trapped, a victim of circumstance, and he wants only to find a way out. He gambles everything to bend one dangerous man to his will in order to escape another. Falling in love was never part of that plan, but with Sin, he suddenly has the power to become the person he has always wanted but never dared to be. 

In a fractured city poised between order and chaos, two men find the chance of a love stronger than the evil that surrounds them. But claiming and keeping that love will be the riskiest thing either of them will ever have to do. Because Eastyn is unlike anyone Sin has ever met before, and he might be the very thing needed to save Sin from himself.