HJ Brues - Yakuza Courage

Ex-Navy SEAL Brendan O’Farrihy enrolls in kendo classes to investigate a Honolulu dojo acting as a front for a yakuza syndicate. Or at least that’s what Brendan’s client, Senator Harris, believes. Through his kendo instructor, the cocky, short-fused, gorgeous Kinosuke Yonekawa, Brendan learns the criminals who are supposedly using the senator’s son, Kenneth, to expand their activities into the US, seem to have severed any yakuza connections. The jaded, soul-scarred former soldier is captivated by the loyalty these gangsters show each other and the way they protect Ken like a tight military unit. Brendan wonders why the senator lied to him, and what the yakuza are shielding Ken from.
When Ken disappears, Brendan suspects foul play and decides to help the man he is falling for, Kinosuke, and his friends, find Ken. But when Kinosuke discovers Brendan has been on the senator’s payroll, all bets are off.

Comment: It's practically two years since I've read the first book in the Way of the Yakuza duology by author HJ Brues. I got distracted/occupied with other reads, as usually happens when things gets postponed, but I finally decided to read this second story. 

I didn't have high hopes because the majority of opinions was only average but I still felt like reading, especially since some characters would be familiar.

In this second story we focus our attention of Kinosuke, one of the small group's members who traveled to Hawaii with Kenneth Harris at the end of the first book.

The life in the island isn't as easy and laid back as he imagined, despite the dojo they all work in, the established relationships of Shigure and Ken and Tachibana with his wife and the interactions with other members of the community. Kinosuke still feels this isn't the life he imagined.

On the way is Brendan O’Farrihy, an ex SEAL who now works special security, with the task of investigating if the dojo isn't actually a front for a yakuza cell and if Ken Harris isn't there on his free will. However, the more Brendan investigates, the less clear things are so he decides to enroll in classes at the dojo to be closer to their members. He was certainly not counting on liking prickly Kinosuke so much...

In general, this book was as appealing as the first one and the cast of characters extremely interesting to follow. It's actually a very positive aspect that the characters get alive with the words used by the author and that it's so easy to get their emotions and thoughts even with the simplest descriptions.

The interactions between them all, especially when a situation had to be solved or dealt with were very well done too.

I think I understand the lower grades though. I share some other reader's POVs, in particular how the romance between Kinosuke and Brendan wasn't as amazing as it could. It's a fact their relationship progresses very quickly in an initial stage but as the plot moves on, they stop spending as much time together and the conflicts make it easy for them to avoid one another. I liked them together but it's indeed a pity they didn't spend more time together.

In the end, when things are all done and they are on the path to HEA, this actually happens in a very choppy way. Not even the sugary epilogue made it look better.

The plot is all over the place. I liked how the author introduced more characters, not only to help wit the evolution of things but mainly because it allowed the reader to have access to how the tight group of people we already knew would react being side by side with different people. 

The problem is that with so many people needing attention, even in the most basic manner, or for the most simplistic reasons, the focus was lost and it got complicated to be always interested in what was happening.

It also didn't help that things dragged. There are scenes and situations that take forever to happen, to be finished... I think a lot of precious time is wasted in unnecessary scenes whereas others are solved too quickly or without the emotional power I expected.

One thing that I liked were the characters we got to meet. This story had room for more romances, I bet so it's a pity the characters spend too much time worrying and describing the things they will do and are doing, instead of moving on or actually doing it on the page.

It feels like there was a lot of attention to things that didn't have to be as detailed and what mattered was just like an add on.

I really expected more from this and although it was a big book, which, in the right way could have been like a very long addiction, it was captivating in some parts, but boring in others. 

Nevertheless, it was great to see more of the characters I came to care about from book #1 and for that alone, I'd grade this positively.

Grade: 6/10

HJ Brues - Yakuza Pride

When yakuza underboss Shigure Matsunaga meets Kenneth Harris at a boring social event, he’s surprised to find himself attracted to the blond gaijin with the mismatched eyes. Shigure is even more pleased when he discovers Ken not only speaks Japanese fluently, but is fluent in Japan's ways, even the more violent of the martial arts. Ken’s expertise at kendo is not his most striking quality—it’s the passion beneath his quiet, almost fragile exterior that ignites Shigure's lust, and the two come together as explosively as they spar.
Shigure is a dangerous man in a dangerous position. He’s been trying to keep the peace with the Daito-kai—his hated rivals—but the danger on the streets is escalating, threatening those Shigure most wants to protect. He may claim to love his gaijin, but before he can keep Ken safe, Shigure will have to overcome hostility from his people, a hidden enemy, and, the most insidious opponent of all, his own hard-won pride.

Comment: I've decided to add this book to my TBR for unknown reasons now. It's been years now since I got it and I can't really remember why...probably because of the different culture of each main character and I was probably interested in seeing how a relationship would be played out.

In this story we meet Kenneth and Shigure, two very different people.

Ken is Caucasian and he is living in Japan, in a friend's house, because Japan's culture is something he likes and understands but one day he will need to get beck to the USA. His life changes when he meets Shigure Matsunaga at a reception and they start talking. Ken is an artist and they sort of bond over a drawing ken makes.

Shigure is a member and a yakuza boss, usually called the Japanese mafia. The yakuza, however, have rules in the way they act, always trying to maintain the traditional Japanese values of honor and rituals. Shigure feels very attracted to Ken and soon they start seeing each other frequently. But there is someone who doesn't like to see them together...

I admit I feel quite surprised by how much I liked this story. I'm not usually a fan of stories where the characters are part of gangs or mafias or stuff like that because the whole mentality usually attributed to these groups makes me angry, so I avoid that. I expected a lot more talk about the yakuza's actions abut thankfully it was so superficial that I had no problem with it. Or, maybe, it's a Japanese thing and it didn't annoy me as much as perhaps more western groups would.

The plot is quite interesting, it basically follows Ken and Shigure's relationship but the focus is not only on them. We see little glimpses of their interactions with others and how that affects everything, including their own relationship. I liked a lot to read about the difference in both cultures, how each one is perceived by others and, because the action takes place in Japan, how Japanese people and also the more reduced number of yakuza members see Ken who, being from a different culture, country and background, is always assumed to be too different. As the plot moved along, the way some people still see the western world can be quite the challenge but, as with everything, it's not a generalization.

There's also a mystery going on and Ken eventually gets himself int he middle of it. I liked how the author dealt with emotions and tricky situations but she didn't run from the biggest problems and, at the end, appearances still matter a lot.

When it came to the plot, I was pleased enough by how things worked out. Maybe some scenes were quite difficult to read through, there's some violence and abuse ( by the villain!) but I'm very happy to see things ended up well.

Still, the way some issues resulting from the abuse were dealt with in a way I can't say I agree 100% with...it felt too easy. I also think some sex scenes were unnecessarily detailed. It was interesting to see them give in to their attraction at first but from a certain point on, it just felt like it was on the way of the plot, so...

Ken and Shigure, as a couple, were likable enough. It was quite interesting to see them as individuals and also as a couple. Who they were as persons and who they were together allowed for a captivating comparison and I liked reading about them in both levels. It was interesting also how their feelings were explored and how much they thought about when it comes to others' opinions and such, especially Shigure's yakuza members (the closest ones to Shigure of course).

All in all, this is quite the story, very detailed and addictive to read. I saw there is a sequel, some people haven't liked it much but I have hopes it can be at least as interesting as this one. I'll try to get to it in the future.

Grade: 8/10