Review: "Only Trick" by Jewel E. Ann

Note: This ARC was provided by Patchwork Press Cooperative via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I try to swallow back emotion as he catches my tear with his thumb. "You're not going to stop until you've claimed every single piece of my heart, are you?" I whisper.

He ghosts his fingers along my jaw, tilting his head to the side with a gripping intensity to his eyes. "I'm not going to stop until I feel your soul take my last breath."

Patrick "Trick" Roth has an aversion to women in general but he reserves his special brand of spite for rich, spoiled bitches. When he accuses Darby Carmichael of being exactly that, she does the one thing no one else ever has: she slaps him and gives him a piece of her mind.  Lo and behold, a friendship, albeit a curious one, begins between Trick and Darby, the make-up artist and the physician's assistant, the formerly homeless guy and the privileged Senator's daughter, and soon enough, they become best friends.

Trick lives and works with his gay partner and Darby's in a relationship of sorts with a doctor, but she can't help the attraction she feels for her best friend. She knows nothing will ever come of it, with him being gay and in a committed relationship, so she takes what she can get. But there's a lot that Trick hasn't told her--some are secrets he prefers to keep for now, others are lost from his memory, not sure of their return. The truth may set most people free, but sometimes, it leaves others trapped in all the rubble left behind.

I've been sitting here for what seems like forever, trying to come up with words sufficient enough to convey what's going on in my head and how I feel about this book, and the best I could come up with was: Only Trick by Jewel E. Ann is fucking brilliant! This story and these characters consumed me and I had a death grip on my tablet, refusing to let anything get in my way or distract me from Trick and Darby. The blurb intrigued me from the get-go but any and every single expectation I may have had was surpassed.

I had questions that needed answers and only Trick could provide them and when I got them, I was at at a complete loss. My mind blanked out in shock because I so didn't expect this book to go in direction it was going and that little event happened more than once! There were twists and turns and I'm the kind of reader that tends to anticipate what's going to happen next, so when things didn't go according to how I saw them in my head with this book, I can't help but bow before the creative genius that is Jewel E. Ann.

Both Trick and Darby are fascinating lead characters but Trick is the kind of male lead character that you become addicted to, wanting to learn more about him and needing a regular Trick fix, so I can totally understand how Darby felt whenever she was around him and more so when they were apart. The supporting cast of characters, whether they were likable or unlikable, were just as multi-layered, making you want to peel away any potential facades and find out what dirty little secrets they could be keeping.

This is the first Jewel E. Ann-penned novel I've read but if this book is how she writes in every other previous work she's released, I'm left with no other choice but to tack on even more titles to my TBR list which already burst at the seams countless months ago. Five-plus stars is the highest rating I give and that goes to books I simply can't get enough of, but if I could give Only Trick more than that I would. Heck, as far as I'm concerned this is worth double that rating. I absolutely recommend this 2015 favorite! ♥♥♥♥♥

Release Date: 13 April 2015

Date Read: 11 April 2015

Learn more about Jewel E. Ann here.

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