Incognito by Miho Li

Incognito by Miho Li
Siren Publishing

Short Novella: 94pgs

Rating: 3.75 (seriously almost a 4)

Blurb:
When Ren sees the new transfer student—Shin, black hair, storm-cloud-gray eyes, and more beautiful than any guy had a right to be—he makes it his mission to get to know him. Too bad Shin is about as sociable as fungus, and about as likable, too. But Ren isn't good at giving up, so he takes on the challenge of cracking Shin's titanium shell. What he finds underneath, though, is way more than he's prepared to handle.

People are disappearing in Akita, and Shin might be behind it. As Ren's feelings grow for the reserved man, so do the number of missing person reports, and Ren doesn't know if their budding relationship is enough to withstand both the well of secrets and the organization Shin works for.

Review:
Ren is seriously into the new student Shin, but Shin is the strong silent type and he’s ignoring the crap out of him. Ren is a trooper though, he keeps on keeping on talking Shin, until he warms up to him in a totally Shin way. There is a somewhat friendship but Shin is keeping secrets, and keeping Ren at arms length even though the chemistry between them could set fire to pages.

Shin has secret phone calls and secret meetings, and Ren just wants to know what’s up. As they say ‘curiosity kills the cat’ and Ren becomes privy to information he shouldn’t know about, and Shin realizes that he can’t exactly keep Ren from his business because he’s persistent as hell.

The story becomes somewhat of a mystery with Shin’s secret life, which creates a great contrast between Ren and Shin. Ren’s light to Shin’s dark. It was fun to see their relationship evolve, the once aloof Shin becomes more than the robotic character he was when the book started. Ren remains himself through out the book, cracking jokes and just wanting to be with Shin.

This one was almost a four for me but there was some plot holes, and I found myself questioning some of the mystery part of the story. The writing is good, and there is great story to be found in Incognito but sometimes I felt like it could have gone further but never goes there. I found the writing to be bigger than the story/plot (if that makes sense) and I’m still waiting for the story to catch up.

Overall, liked the story but some things worked for me and others did not. I liked Shin and Ren as characters and their chemistry is intensely hot. I think this could be a good series because I did not get enough from the ending (IMO). In addition, the story surrounding Shin secret agent life could do with some more explaining. Good stuff!

SideNote- I am in loathe of that cover. Come on Siren, they all look the freaking same.

3 1/2 Pants Off with .25 More