{"id":12369,"date":"2020-01-08T20:50:37","date_gmt":"2020-01-09T01:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/?p=12369"},"modified":"2022-08-30T15:39:42","modified_gmt":"2022-08-30T19:39:42","slug":"ramen-assassin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12369","title":{"rendered":"Ramen Assassin"},"content":{"rendered":"

Ramen Assassin<\/a><\/em> (2019) Rhys Ford<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Ramen<\/a>Trey Bishop’s life went up in flames, sprawled across all the tabloids. But he’s been sober for several years now–slowly putting himself back together. So stumbling across two men moving a dead body–men who then try to kill Trey–is not what he wanted or needed out of life.<\/p>\n

So long as he didn\u2019t put a whiskey bottle to his mouth, Trey was willing to put up with any kind of pain his body dished out.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Luckily for him, the owner of the ramen shop (who Trey has had a crush on for months) appears seemingly out of nowhere to save Trey.<\/p>\n

Kuro Jenkins was forcibly retired from field work after his picture was plastered across the news worldwide. <\/p>\n

\u201cWell then, Jenkins, it appears as if you\u2019ve just burned your own identity. There won\u2019t be a newspaper left in this world that won\u2019t have your beautiful face plastered all over it. Quite a feat. Saving a van full of stolen children held hostage by a terrorist organization. Pity about the photogs covering the garden opening, but that\u2019s how our lives go,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now he’s enjoying the peace of running a ramen shop and not having anyone trying to kill him. But when Trey literally falls at his feet while being chased by men with large guns, Kuro reacts without thought.<\/p>\n

I really REALLY liked this story.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt also makes us pretty itchy when a noodle shop guy lays down five shots in a perfect line exactly a few inches higher than the heads of the guys he says he was shooting at.\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cI figured it would be easier to identify them if I had an exact measure of the tall one\u2019s height,\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It’s pretty brutal describing just how hard Trey fell–and just how much damage he did to everyone around him as he went.<\/p>\n

He\u2019d taken his first drink in that office, stealing a sip of something expensive from an unmarked crystal decanter. It burned going down. Much like it burned coming back up. But the numbness it left on Trey\u2019s tongue and eventually his brain was glorious.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cOh yeah, eggs I\u2019ve got.\u201d He blinked again, his lashes throwing spiky shadows over his cheek. \u201cIt\u2019s common sense that I\u2019m missing.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That’s what I liked so much about Trey. He knows he completely fucked up his life and burned every bridge behind him, and he owns it, refusing to make excuses for himself–even if he might have deserved one or two.<\/p>\n

Kuro also owns who he used to be–and with a lot less guilt. And when Trey (who he’s been quietly lusting after for months) needs his help, he jumps right in.<\/p>\n

So there are two characters who I really like AND who are good for each other.<\/p>\n

Then we get the mystery, which is ridiculously complicated, but also fascinating and good. The twists wouldn’t have worked in a small town setting, but in LA it works.<\/p>\n

And there were the secondary characters who were fully-developed and nuanced.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I owe someone something, you would rather it be you?\u201d <\/p>\n

\u201cYou are not wrong.\u201d She smiled. \u201cBut mostly, it showed me how lackadaisical I\u2019ve become. You didn\u2019t feel as if you could come to me. That I wouldn\u2019t be able to find what you need. I didn\u2019t realize how much that would sting. How much a part of my presence in that sphere is so closely aligned with my identity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

And even the members Trey’s family that we meet–who are difficult and complicated and possibly why he went so far over the edge–are complex. <\/p>\n

And although Trey struggles and murder and death hang over everything, he and Kuro still managed to be sweet and funny (and adorable, but don’t let them know I said that.)<\/p>\n

\u201cWho the hell says whereas?\u201d Kuro stopped trying to open the condom\u2019s foil pouch, looking down at Trey with intense curiosity. \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ve ever said that in my life.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Rhys Ford is another author I came cross in an anthology, and I am delighted with this discovery and look forward to reading more.<\/p>\n

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press
\nRating: 8.5\/10<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Ramen Assassin (2019) Rhys Ford Trey Bishop’s life went up in flames, sprawled across all the tabloids. But he’s been sober for several years now–slowly putting himself back together. So stumbling across two men moving a dead body–men who then try to kill Trey–is not what he wanted or needed out of life. So long […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[191,8,148,26,56],"tags":[403,50,544,185],"class_list":["post-12369","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-8-5-10","category-mystery","category-queer","category-romance","category-sexual-content","tag-addiction","tag-boinking","tag-mm","tag-rhys-ford"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/piQkW-3dv","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":12424,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/12424","url_meta":{"origin":12369,"position":0},"title":"Dim Sum Asylum","author":"Michelle","date":"January 25, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Dim Sum Asylum (2017) Rhys Ford Roku MacCormick is part of the Chinatown Arcane Crimes Division, and things are not going well for him. He lost his love and his daughters, and there is nothing in his life anymore but following in his mother's footsteps and trying to be order\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "7.5\/10"","block_context":{"text":"7.5\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/7-5-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Dim Sum Asylum","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/01\/Dim-Sum-Asylum.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":24863,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/24863","url_meta":{"origin":12369,"position":1},"title":"Family Man","author":"Michelle","date":"August 29, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Family Man (2017) Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton Trey eventually went on. \u201cI hate that you know.\u201d That one threw Vince. \u201cWhy? Did you think I was going to be a dick about it? Didn\u2019t you think I\u2019d want to help you?\u201d Trey\u2019s cheeks colored as his rage simmered up\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Family Man","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/family-man.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":22019,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/22019","url_meta":{"origin":12369,"position":2},"title":"Family Man","author":"Michelle","date":"May 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Family Man (2013) Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton Vince is struggling with the fact that he still isn't properly settled down. It was finding out kids born the year he graduated high school were now legal to drink. And he's beginning to wonder if maybe it's because he's queer. Trey\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "8\/10"","block_context":{"text":"8\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/8-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Family Man","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/family-man.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":11888,"url":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/11888","url_meta":{"origin":12369,"position":3},"title":"Family Man","author":"Michelle","date":"May 2, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Family Man (2017) Heidi Cullinan and Marie Sexton After three failed marriages, Vincent \u201cVinnie\u201d Fierro has started wondering whether he family and religion are why he has denied to himself so adamantly that he might be interested in guys. 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They didn\u2019t have people helping them with their homework,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "9\/10"","block_context":{"text":"9\/10","link":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/archives\/category\/9-10"},"img":{"alt_text":"Rend","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/03\/Rend-674x1024.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":false,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12369","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12369"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12369\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12369"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12369"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/klishis.com\/reading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12369"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}