Review - The Family Man by AJ Rose

Tracey Smith has just landed his dream job with the FBI’s Behavioral Analysis Unit, the elite law enforcement “profilers” who help catch the baddest of the bad guys. He’s eager to make a good impression on his new team, although the team lead sparks all sorts of unfamiliar feelings. Senior Special Agent Jon Anderson is known as “The Ice Man” among other things. He doesn’t share his private life with his team. They know he’s gay, but not all the details of events that led him to choose his career. His new rookie is very talented and pushes Jon’s buttons in ways nobody has for a long time.

It’s been a while since I saw anything new from this author after the last book of their Power Exchange series, but apparently I missed some new releases. “Family Man” starts a new series focused on a team of FBI behavioral analysts. As in the previous series, we have a heavy mixture of police procedural mixed with psychology with a little bit of gay romance added. Nothing kinky, yet, though.

All four members of the BAU team are very well fleshed out characters, but the focus of the story is on Tracey and Jon. The narration alternates between the two men’s points of view. Tracey is a very easy character to like. He seems to have a real aptitude for the work that goes well beyond his training. Tracey displays an empathy for the people he deals with, and that in turn helps us to empathize with him.

Jon is quite a different character. It takes a while to peel back the layers of protection he has built up to get at what makes him tick. He remains a hard man, but it’s easy to understand what makes him that way and he does reveal a very soft side once he comes to terms with his feelings for Tracey.

“The Family Man” is available from Smashwords or Amazon (commissionable link).