Review: The Company We Keep by Kay Simone

Title: The Company We Keep

Author: Kay Simone

Length: 310 Pages

Category: Contemporary

At a Glance: Kay Simone is quickly becoming an auto-buy author, owing to my love of a plotty romance, which she is adept at delivering.

Reviewed By: Lisa

Blurb: Dirty money. A wanted man. The deal of a lifetime.

Crime lord A.R. Carrow made billions with his gang, The Company. The seemingly-invincible, hand-picked team ruled Southern California with outrageous heists and a flare for the dramatic.

When Dustin Wrenshall asked to join The Company, Carrow should have been cautious. But something about the brash young demolitions expert and his raw desire to please made Carrow ignore every alarm bell.

From the moment Dust entered his life, Carrow wanted him.

And Carrow always got what he wanted.

Federal agent Charlie Judge knew that infiltrating The Company would be dangerous. What Charlie didn’t know was just how much he would enjoy becoming Dust Wrenshall.

He steeled himself for fear. What he found was something entirely different.

The world of The Company was nothing like Dust imagined — full, satisfying, and populated by a family of criminals that he cared for more than he thought possible.
Carrow and Dust crashed together in a wreck of chaos, lies, and lust that neither man could control. What they brought out in each other terrified them both, but the broken half-truths of their lives slotted together in a way that made perfect sense.
Dust was in love with the enemy.

Rough justice was inevitable. But when the truth was revealed, which version of him would emerge: fearless and passionate Dust Wrenshall, or the naive federal agent who saw the world in black and white?

And more importantly, armed with the truth, would Carrow allow either to survive?

Review: Dustin Wrenshall works for the American Investigation Intelligence Bureau, shortened to ‘Abe’ for the sake of ease. Dust has left behind his old life as Charlie Judge and has burrowed deep into his new identity as a ballistics specialist in preparation of infiltrating The Company, a group of criminals who pull off heists to the tune of enough money to make the boss, Ansel Carrow, a billionaire. The AIIB takes care of disposing of the current explosives expert to make room for Dust, but this is not the point where we meet Dust and Carrow. Readers meet them at the beginning of their end, which was a lovely way to build some instant intrigue and draw me in. Kay Simone then directs us to the real starting point of the story where we watch Dust work to assimilate and insinuate himself into The Company. In spite of the necessary caution and suspicion of the group, he is soon welcomed into a close-knit family whose hallmark is their diversity. It’s not long after that Dust plunges into the conundrum of falling in love with a man who would destroy the world before he would allow anything to happen to the people he considers his to protect.

Carrow and Dust’s relationship builds quickly, though not in a way that is without some substance. Their chemistry is palpable and there’s no doubt they get along in bed, but there’s more to their relationship than what could have been just a shallow sexual component. There’s the building of trust and respect, and the harder Dust works to prove he belongs to The Company, the more he grows to care for them as family, which goes hand-in-hand with him struggling with the reality that he’s supposed to be there to take them all down. It’s this ethical challenge, the loyalty component to the AIIB weighed against the dawning realization that he’s exactly where he’s meant to be, which adds to the secret keeping on the part of both men and leads to a good bit of suspense, the waiting for the inevitable implosion that adds a nice buildup of tension to the story. Simone keeps the suspense of Dust’s exposure spread consistently throughout, leaving readers hoping against hope that Dust’s true identity will never be revealed—but knowing it’s only a matter of time until his moment of reckoning.

What I’m finding I love about this author’s work, in addition to her characterizations, which are layered and often expose realistic flaws and a poignancy that insinuates them into a little corner of my heart, is that her books—at least the two I’ve read so far—are plotty. The criminal element and the lies and secrets are prominent enough to give the story an added depth and a broader appeal than a straightforward relationship focused book, but there’s no question they are still very much romance-centric. The most obvious difference between this novel and One Giant Leap, apart from their storylines, of course, is the deeper focus on the relationship from start to finish in this novel. A lot of that can be owed to proximity. Unlike Curtis and Patrick, who aren’t even on the same planet for a good portion of their book, Dust is entrenched with The Company and, by virtue, is in Carrow’s orbit (pun intended) from the start, so it stands to reason.

Having been so wildly impressed by One Giant Leap, I was anxious to sample more of Simone’s work and was immediately drawn to The Company We Keep. Because what is there not to love about the moral gray area of inherently good people who do what are understood to be corrupt things? It also has the advantage of being another age gap romance—my total slow jam—though the number of years in this gap is never specified (at least not that caught my attention). I’m not sure which of this author’s books to read next, but I do know I’m excited to sample more of Simone’s work. For those of you who like a complex story that complements rather than overshadows the romance, this book is a great choice.

You can buy The Company We Keep here:
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