One Life to Lose

Starred review from November 7, 2016
Love, BDSM, films, and murder take center stage in this moving and suspenseful erotic romance, the fourth in Ripper’s Queers of La Vista contemporary series (after The Queer and the Restless). Cameron Rheingold runs an independent movie theater in present-day fictional La Vista, Calif. Though he’s part of the local LGBTQ community, he largely keeps to the fringes until he meets Josh and Keith, who have just opened a queer-youth center in town—and who begin to show a romantic interest in Cameron. Meanwhile, a serial murderer, whose attacks began in the previous books, continues to target the local queer population. As Cameron tries to determine how he fits into Josh and Keith’s romantic and business partnership, the diverse and thoughtfully crafted community struggles to find comfort and safety. The various plot threads are expertly woven together, with particularly strong attention given to establishing healthy kink relationships and to the effects of post-traumatic stress. Erotic-romance readers and series fans will be thrilled by this sweet and often intense exploration.

December 1, 2016
An independent theater owner meets two young men who take his breath away, but a murder in La Vista has everyone on edge.Cameron Rheingold, owner of the Rhein, is a mild-mannered film buff known for being a little strange. On the opening night of his Cary Grant film festival, he meets Josh and Keith, a promising younger couple who run La Vista's new center for queer youth. He is instantly attracted to them and is fascinated by their goals and passion. Cam is sure friendship is all that's on the table, until one night they pose an unexpected invitation: they want Cam to play with them--no sex, just kink--placing him in a position of trust he never believed possible. The three find that they work well in this setting; they not only have amazing chemistry, but they have good rhythm in both life and play. They share a different kind of intimacy, where hot scenes and steamy kisses become the norm. Meanwhile, a killing sets the community on edge. This isn't the first murder in Ripper's soap-opera-titled Queers of La Vista series (The Queer and the Restless, 2016, etc.), but it breaks the patterns of the previous ones while seeming to be by the same person. While the serial killer brings a morbid complexity to the story, you can't help reading this book with a grin (unless you're bawling your eyes out, lost in Cam's lostness). Don't let the cover fool you; Ripper writes deep characters who must deal with serious situations--external and internal--while still providing quirky levity and the necessary happy-ever-after. A sweet, different kind of love story that brings new light to a murder mystery four books in the making.

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