REVIEW: The Long Con by Lori Toland

The Long Con by Lori Toland
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

The Long Con had smut, and I love smut. I liked its BDSM-lightness, meaning there was one BDSM-y sex scene. I liked the dirty talk; it’s a small shame there wasn’t more of it. I liked how insatiable of a bottom Tony was and how eager Nate was to satisfy Tony. On top of the yummy smut, the book actually had a decent plot and a good twist so it wasn't just a PWP. I should have been a happy camper, but I wasn't. I couldn't bring myself to fully enjoy the story, and I felt annoyingly nitpicky.

When it comes to smut, I can tolerate insta-love a great deal, a very great deal. However, I couldn't tolerated it in this book. I was okay with the fact that the couple lusted for each other on first sight. Nothing about that was unrealistic. I was not okay with how that lust magically developed into love, and it bugged me.

My issue was that the couple got too intimate too quickly to be believable considering who they were, especially who they were. Nate was an undercover agent, one that is on an unofficial international mission. Tony was a Mafia kid, and not just any kid but the heir to a major Mafia family. They should have been on their guard. Instead, they slept together overnight and ended up cohabiting for the length of Nate's mission.

During the cohabitation period, neither of them was carrying a gun or throwing looks of suspicion at each other or anything that openly suggested distrust. They acted more like they were a regular, lovey-dovey couple instead of the dangerous, suspicious people that they were supposed to be. The insta-love brought on an unnatural level of trust between the couple, which made the romance surreal.

I expected a high level of anxiety as both try to come to term with their love against who they were and what they were supposed to be doing; I didn't get that. Don't get me wrong; I don't want angst. I just thought the characters were not believable in their role. Because of that, piling on the emotions being rather subdued, I couldn't connect to the romance.

In Conclusion

I rate The Long Con 2-stars for it was okay. Trust was a theme in this book, and it was not properly played. The issue eclipsed the smut. Ay. I want to slap my brain.

For what it's worth, I liked the twist about Tony. I think it would have been a better story if it was told from his POV instead of exclusively from Nate's 1st person POV. Nate wasn't boring per se; Tony was just way more interesting.

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