REVIEW: “Filthy Acquisitions” by Edmond Manning
ABOUT:
Keldon Thurman hates his job, purchasing serial killer art for a private investor. He would quit if he weren’t completely impoverished, but with no life skills and no ways to generate income, Keldon has no options.
However, Acquisition Number Five proves to be more challenging than expected. Wheel-chair bound Irene Woullet and her handsome nurse caretaker, Joshua Greene, refuse to cooperate. Keldon’s only chance is to seduce the old-fashioned, simple-living Josh in the hopes that Joshua can persuade Irene. But Keldon has to work fast—he has only two dates to win Josh’s affection.
With love’s potential in bloom, how can Keldon live with his own worsening conscience as he gathers these filthy acquisitions?
REVIEW:
I’ve had this book sitting in my kindle for about 6 months. After reading and loving Manning’s Lost and Founds series, I couldn’t bring myself to let go of another one of his books. I wanted to keep some of his back catalogue in my back pocket – knowing that I still had more of Manning’s work was a solace; a reassurance that I hadn’t deplenished the well. So why did I give in and read Filthy Acquisitions? Because I needed something marvelous. Did it live up to my expectations? Absolutely. Did it thrill me the same way his other work has? Well, mostly.
Here’s the thing: Manning’s work is original. It’s obscure and intriguing. His characters are so well fleshed out that they feel alive and become instantly loveable. The flow of his writing thrills me and they way information is slowly unfurled delights me. Scenes are often vivid, funny, touching and poignant. There are these tiny little moments that are dropped into a scene like a weightless feather and deepen their relationship in the blink of an eye. My favorite books have always been character driven and Filthy Acquisitions certainly delivers on that. I loved finding out what brought these characters to this stage of their lives. What were their dreams and desires? What changed for them? How will they progress? And not only that, the way in which details are sporadically dropped makes you wonder which direction the story will go.
So what makes this a 3.5 star book instead of higher? Well, for me it felt a little flat compared to the Lost and Founds series. Mind you, that standard is far, far, far beyond fair. King Perry was my favorite book of last year – so clearly Filthy Acquisitions was fighting an uphill battle (poor baby). Furthermore, this book is clearly rooted in the contemporary pigeon hole. There’s nothing wrong with that, I mean, 90 percent of my bookshelf is contemporary, but still, I wanted more. And I think that’s the defining thought on my experience with this book. I wanted more. More romance, more wooing of the literary kind and more tension. But that’s just me.
I loved Josh and the life he created for himself and I hope that Keldon slots into that lifestyle, too. The ending is perfect enough that it’s left open to your own interpretation. In my mind, they achieve their HEA, but maybe it’s a HFN… Who knows?!
Oh! And the reason behind The Filthy Acquisitions… The scene in which the backstory comes to light was really fabulous.
RATING: 3.5 STARS
BOOK INFO:
Title: Filthy Acquisitions
Author: Edmond Manning
Publisher: Wild City Press
Pages: 145
Release Date: July 23rd, 2014
Purchase Links: Amazon, Wild City Press
