Review of Nothing Good by R.J. Piper

Nothing Good (Goodreads) by R.J. Piper | My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Nothing good? More like Everything’s Good.

Nothing Good is a fast-paced crime-family romance where two crime-family henchmen reluctantly fall in love all while trying to kill one another. Miami is seedy and real, dangerous and sweltering. You’ll be transported to a world where all the action is dangerously real, and the two main characters stay so busy trying to kill one another that they completely avoid their developing feelings until they sneak up on them and cannot be ignored any longer.

This review will be sprinkled with minor spoilers, but I don’t think anything major is revealed. Overall I strongly recommend this book, and I cannot wait for the continuation of the Gratuitous Violets series by Piper.

Adler and Rainy

In this debut novel from R.J. Piper, Adler and Rainy have super explosive chemistry from their very first encounter. It’s hard to believe that this is Piper’s first novel. Nothing Good (Amazon) is a tight novel, written well and full of nuanced characterizations that ring true to life. The action is fast-paced, thrilling, and seedy enough to keep you on your toes. What will happen next? The main characters are compelling, their motivations are human and real and make you root for them and want to smoosh them together so they can realize they’re both doofuses who are avoiding their developing feelings as if their lives depended on it.

Action Packed

The action is intense in this story and at times is quite violent. I do think it’s important to note that the characters do hurt one another at times. There is actual blood drawn, which is appropriate for a Mafia-type story, but it’s not all daisies and roses down in Miami. There is blood drawn, ribs broken, with both of them in mortal peril.

Even though they do hurt one another, which is appropriate and not gratuitous for the story as it’s a mob story, and one should know what they are likely to encounter when they start a story like this, Adler and Rainy are still drawn to one another in a way that they can’t make heads or tails of.

And it’s that attraction that ends up masking the feelings that sneak up on them. It’s not until the end when Rainy cannot fulfill the orders given to him by his boss (but not entirely his boss, it’s complicated) that he realizes it might go deeper. However, that late realization is likely a substantial amount of denial on Rainy’s part. Everyone around them can tell they are really into each other, like really into each other.

3rd Person POV

3rd person pov is a controversial choice in the romance genre, with the majority of books being written in 1st POV. However, the 3rd POV is done well here, so I still felt connected to the thoughts and feelings inside Rainy’s head, but not necessarily Adler’s. I believe this was a stylistic choice.

The author chooses to write in the close 3rd person with Rainy but not Adler so we are left guessing. We are left feeling that small glimmer of hope that Rainy feels but is so, so unsure of. The reader feels that uncertainty at times, but Adler is a consummate professional tasked with the same task as Rainy. But will he have the same difficulty fulfilling his orders? We have to hope so, but ultimately we don’t know for certain. The reader is left to imagine that Adler is in much the same position as Rainy emotionally, with his feelings burgeoning, unwelcome, and being actively pushed down and ignored. This is why I think there was a purposeful choice made to use 3rd POV.

What Comes Next?

I do wonder if the next book in the series will be from Adler’s point of view, because I want to have some time to get to know his inner workings beyond what we learned about in this first installment. It’s evident by the end that Adler is feeling the same sort of way as Rainy but I want to go deeper and know him more.

I also worry about how the series will end. We all know one can’t easily extricate themselves from a mafia-type job situation. Even Rainy’s mentor mentioned how the only way out of their sort of life is through the grave. So I worry how Rainy and Adler will ultimately get free from the confines of the situation they have found themselves in. I do hope there is a happily ever after waiting for them at the end of this riveting new series. I can’t wait to read and see.

ARC Review of Nothing Good

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