Author, A. J. Llewellyn

Review by Christy Duke, Rainbow Book Reviews

http://www.rainbowbookreviews.com/book-reviews/bonded-mingo-mccloud-3-by-aj-llewellyn-at-the-pele-press

Mingo and Francois are BACK! I love these guys. They make me laugh, a lot, and fabulous A.J. always has interesting history about the Hawaiian islands and their culture, and the sex is always smoking.

Mingo and Francois have a case together which is exciting, except that it involves men breaking into Iolani Palace and damaging the original koa wood floors and other items. This is the only true palace on American soil, and the Hawaiian people are heavily invested in retrieving many of the treasures that disappeared when the US dethroned the last reigning queen in 1893. So when Mingo’s aunt calls and asks for his and Francois’s help, they are eager to get to the bottom of this latest lunatic “king” who claims the palace is his. Mingo and Francois have already assisted with security for the palace and they also work hard to help retrieve missing treasures, so they are very invested in the continuation of this historic and beautiful Hawaiian heritage.

Francois takes this opportunity (HA!) to tell Mingo he has a thirteen-year-old son, Ferric, who lives in Florida with his mom but is coming to stay with them in two days. What? Francois was basically just the sperm donor in this situation and has only had limited contact with his son. Ferric doesn’t know his dad is gay and living with a man, so Francois is going to meet them at Disneyland, alone, to tell Ferric the situation. What The?? Mingo is a way better man than I as he takes it all in stride and just hopes Ferric likes him. So, in two days Ferric will be coming to live with his gay father in a gay household and within the week they’ll all be traveling to Connecticut for Leilani’s lesbian wedding. That’s a lot to drop on a teenager.

Typical of A.J., and why I love these books, is that this isn’t all that’s going on. Oh no. Benny calls Mingo from jail having been arrested for using a counterfeit hundred dollar bill at the grocery store, and Benny needs Mingo to bail him out and investigate. Of course, as is typical of Benny, there’s a strong possibility his on-again, off-again lover, Kaolin, is responsible for the counterfeits. When it rains, it pours. Even worse, Ferric and his mother just show up at Mingo and Francois home, with the mom obviously working some attempt to get Francois back. Women. Sheesh.

As usual, I adored this latest book in the ‘Mingo McCloud’ series. I pretty much laughed through the whole thing and got hungry over all the delicious food that was described. These books are great and I thank you, A.J., for another fun one!

 

5 Nymphs from Literary Nymphs

The one constant in an A.J. Llewellyn story is that the main characters are never going to have a normal everyday-type romance. This holds true for Mingo and Francois from the Mingo series. You would think our heroes would get a little down time after surviving a hurricane, but no, the author throws these two right back into the deep end. With the arrival of Francois’ ex, his teenage son and Mingo’s mother’s new boyfriend, Mingo and Francois battle one adventure after another. While the passion between the two men is as hot as ever, it is really the story of the men’s growing love for each other and their families that kept me glued to the book. I loved the new addition to the men’s family, and when it came to Mingo and his mother, I couldn’t decide who I felt sorrier for. Bonded had me laughing almost from the first page and I can’t wait to see what the author has in store for Mingo and Francois next.

Review by Critter Nymph