Make Me Stay

Panic Series, Book 2

By: Sidney Halston

Narrated by: Joe Arden, Aletha George

April

Walking away from Matt Moreno was the hardest thing I've ever done. Lying to him was a close second, but for his safety, I had no other choice. I was undercover, working to put some nasty people behind bars. But when Matt nearly recognizes me on Lincoln Road a year later, all those very real feelings come rushing back. Now that my assignment's almost over, will he understand why I lied? Why I had to leave? Most important, can he ever forgive me?

Matt

I was madly in love with June Simpson...or, at least, with the woman I thought was June. Then she just disappeared while my family's nightclub went through hell. And after months of searching, when I think I've finally found that sexy, raspy voice and those exquisite blue eyes, she slips away once more. Turns out "June" is actually Detective April White. She's been playing me the whole time. And she's about to rock my world all over again.

©2017 Sidney Halston (P)2017 Tantor

Secrets and Lies!

Pull Me Close by Sidney Halston was AMAZING and completely unique. Make Me Stay is the second standalone in the Panic Series, concentrating on Matt, the hero from the first book’s twin brother. In fact, Make Me Stay starts out before Pull Me Close and ends after. To be honest, I don’t really remember Matt from the first book beyond loving him and being excited for his story, and I am tempted to re-read Pull Me Close now to see it from another perspective. So you absolutely don’t need to read these in order.

Make Me Stay was very different from the first book, though it took place at the same nightclub in Miami. The story is told in two parts, the first in flashback, the second present tense. When Matt met June Simpson at his club, he was instantly intrigued by her. Working two jobs, both as an attorney and at the club, he had no time for relationships, but June made him re-think it all.

“You have a dirty mouth, Mr Moreno.”
“Woman, my mouth is the least dirty part of me.”

June was keeping secrets, we know that. She actually kind of sucked at it, but Matt was so enthralled, he never noticed. You see, June is an undercover cop. (I would not have revealed this, but it’s in the blurb.) Her name isn’t even June, but she still fell for her mark.

“Whatever happens, remember this. This is me and you. This is real.”

When Matt’s dad gets arrested (and so does he for a bit) and everything falls apart for them, June disappears. The love of his life is gone, and he has no idea what happened. Private investigators find nothing. Until Matt finds out on TV that June is actually April, the undercover cop responsible for putting his dad in jail.

“I know this doesn’t mean anything to you, Matt. But I wasn’t lying when I said I love you. I still do.”
“Yeah, well, I (bleep) hate you.”

Matt wanted nothing to do with her. Her disappearance changed him into an angry, stressed, confused guy, and he wasn’t going to have anything to do with the girl who destroyed him by lying to him then disappearing for a year.

Until something happened, and he had to see her again, because he’s a good guy. I have to say, while it was fun and kind of soap-operaish to read, I don’t really like when this trope is used, it’s just too unrealistic. (This is very hard to review without spoiling.) With this development came a few story inconsistencies, as well as what seemed to be a general personality change for April from cool, tough cop to whiny, unsure girl.

There were a lot of twists and turns to this story, and it was sexy and kept me turning pages but it wrapped up a little quick for me, and sadly didn’t live up to the first book in the series which quite honestly would be hard to beat.

Likes:

•Can completely stand alone easily.
•The fact that the heroine had Crohn’s disease.
•Lots of surprising twists and turns.
•Seeing some of the things we know about from the first book (like Nick’s ex) because the first part took place before.
•Kept me engaged and involved the whole time.

Dislikes:

•I never really liked June/April that much.
•A plot trope was used that I don’t care for.
•Some inconsistencies within the plot trope.

Narration:
Excellent narration, I loved the hints of cuban (Miami) accents that just made it even better. The narration enhanced the story for me.

The Down & Dirty:
Make Me Stay, the second in the Panic series, didn’t quite live up to the first for me, though that would be a really tough act to follow. Though I like Sidney’s writing style, there was a trope used in this story that I am just not really a fan of, and after so many realistically accurate details in the first book, I was surprised to find this type of thing in the next book. There were a few things that didn’t really add up to me, which made the trope work even less for me. But, the story kept me engaged and dying to know what would happen next. It was a very engaging read with excellent narration that I truly enjoyed, but never fell completely in love with.


Rating: 3.75-4 stars, 4 Heat, 5 Narration

Action Packed Romance

This book was so good that I ended up not sleeping and listening to the book. I thought it was a really good storyline. I read the second book 1st and while it was good I really liked this one better. I love the Merano Brothers! I would definitely recommend this audiobook. Was so romantic an action packed.

categorized wrong

the story is good. I placed in the search "bwwm" and this story populated. once I started listening to the story I realized the female was not African- American. I should be placed under a different category. other then that, it's a good story.

Don't sleep on this story

This book is number 2 of a 3-Book serial. As I said in the 1st book review, this serial is a winner. I asked myself, did I really want to read about a nightclub? But twist was different & I understood how the Panic name came to being. I did enjoy the entire serial. So the setting is about the goings on in the nightclub business. For years the Daddy ran One of the most popular nightclubs in Miami, called the Panic, it was also known to be a hub for all the celebrities. Well the father gets charged to drug trafficking and sentenced for 20 years. His sons who had impeccable reputations were held in custody too. Their focus changed careless, single & free to serious young businessmen. Their determination is to focus on running a highly successful business and clean up the wrecked reputation that hovered over the nightclub. And once again the distractions entered in & changed them forever. I truly enjoyed the author's method of inviting the reader to see how a curse can turn into a blessing. The narrators brought life to every character. The whole story was on point.

Storyline was terrible

Story was ridiculous to me. April lied and helped send Matt’s father to prison for the rest of his life and he still wants to be with her. It was too much of a stretch. Disappointed.