A Matter of Duty is the first book in the Hong Kong Nights series by author J.C. Long. I loved this story. Has a good action-packed mystery going on and the characters connection whew that is scorching hot.
Noah has come to Hong Kong to find his sister. He has a ton of personal baggage about her and finding her. He loves her he wants to find her; he is also upset with how he last left things with her.
I liked Noah his love is boundless both for his sister and for Wei.
Wei is a complex character. The vigilante hero vibe he gives off makes him dangerous to betray. He has spent most of his life fighting for the people in his territory.
These two their connection is really good. I loved getting to know both of these complex men. I did not want this book to ever and it is going on my keeper shelf. When you want a good mystery thriller romance this is a great book to pick up.


Five Shooting Stars

This was...good. It had to be good, since I started it at 9 pm and stayed up til midnight finishing it in one go. If a book's not good, I'm not going to do that. It's just that my feelings are vaguely mixed about certain aspects; specifically, that I feel like the romance doesn't actually add to the book all that much. But on the whole, it was an interesting and fast-paced book with a gripping plot and a rich setting, and I would recommend it on those grounds for sure.

I'll start off with the things that I liked:
-The setting was pretty cool. I've never been to Hong Kong, but the descriptions and the bits of Cantonese (although I didn't understand it) brought me back to my time abroad in China and Taiwan. It actually made me want to visit Hong Kong, even though the book was about a lot of dark stuff happening there.
-The plot was fast paced and interesting, and definitely kept you interested. I really enjoy mysteries, and the mystery in this book was well constructed and also nicely set up to continue on to future books in the series.
-I enjoyed the dynamic among the Dragons a lot. Although I do find it a little unrealistic whenever everyone is just ridiculously cavalier and accepting of LGBTQ folks (and most of them are LGBT, based on what I've seen about the future books), but it didn't bug me too much this time. I did think that the constant joking about their boss's sex life was a little overdone, but it is nice to see a bunch of characters that are super masculine, but not threatened by the idea of queerness.

And a few things I didn't like:
-Good lord, the romance took up way too much of the time. It's not that I was opposed to the couple; I thought they were fine. But they didn't give much basis for them having a relationship besides being super attracted to each other and going through scary situations together. I mean, the whole book takes place over what, a week? Within a week of meeting they're exchanging "I love you"s and planning their future together. It's just...a little much for me.
-The other thing about the romance that bugs me is the constant mention of how the two leads get erections whenever they see each other. Not having a penis, I can't say how realistic or unrealistic this is, but when Noah first sees Wei, I highlighted a sentence and put the note, "I am so sick of the insta-erection trope." And that trope kinda carries over throughout the whole thing. The author does not want to let you forget that they are very attracted to each other, but it's like...I get it! They're two hot people who are attracted to each other! Great! Now please show me whether they're actually compatible based on their personalities and not just their dicks.
-This is not actually an issue, but I was confused that at one point they threw in a line of Mandarin, while the rest of the lines in another language were Cantonese. I mean, I know that a lot of people in Hong Kong speak both, plus English, but Wei saying a sentence in Mandarin to Noah, who doesn't speak Mandarin or Cantonese was just random to me.
-Although it was realistic, I was a little disappointed that it turned out that Lianne had been dead the whole time. I mean, yes, it would have been a stretch for her to be alive, but knowing that she was dead already by the time that Noah even got to Hong Kong...I don't know, that was a bit of a bummer. Like, Noah found love and all, but Lianne ended up raped and murdered? It was just a bit of a bummer, and not something I love reading as a woman who plans on travelling in East Asia. But so it goes. It was a gritty book, I shouldn't've expected otherwise. It just gets tiring to hear about so many crimes against women after a while.

To sum up: Great plot, gritty and fast-paced and enjoyable for those aspects. The romance was a little underdeveloped/overemphasized, but not to the point that it ruined the book. I did really enjoy the gradual reveal of the background of Wei and the Dragons, and the situation in Hong Kong on the whole, and I would read the other books. I would recommend this book, with the caveat that people who have a weak stomach about women getting raped and murdered might have a tough time with some parts.

This was an entertaining story with likable characters and a good plot. I didn’t love it, nor did I dislike it. I did however find myself getting slightly bored with the pacing of the story.

It’s definitely a Instalove Romance. Noah and Wei only know each other a week or two before the Love word comes in play and the men decide they are in it for the long haul. While it fit with the story at the time, once you get to the end it becomes glaringly obvious that realistically there would have been a need for more.

The descriptions of Hong Kong were very detailed and painted a vivid portrait of the locations in the book. The author obviously took great pains to capture the realistic side of the city and culture. While also giving us a fictional world to enjoy.

This was not a great ready for me. I foind it hard to follow and difficult to get into. I ultimately enjoyed it, the writing was good, character development was there. Perhaps just not the read for me.

I'm sorry I just couldn't get into this book.

DNF'ed at 45%

Didn't leave a review on Goodreads as I don't think it was a bad book overall just not the book I wanted to read.

I really enjoyed this. I loved the romance between the two characters and thought it was so sweet. I thought the way that the sexuality of these two characters was portrayed was lovely

A Matter of Duty is an entertaining, well-written story of 2 men who meet under the worst of circumstances.

Noah has come to Hong Kong to find his missing older sister. The last he heard from her was a frantic voicemail saying she needed help. Who better to help him than the police? But, the police are absolutely no help, seem less than interested in the disappearance of some foreign woman who, according to the Superintendent, is "not even certain we can say she's gone missing at this point." But, it's while at the police station that Noah meets the man who will change his life in ways he can't even comprehend at first.

Wei Tseng is the leader of the Dragons, a group of men dedicated to keeping their area free from violence and crime like the triad bring. Sometimes the Dragons have to use illegal means to keep their territory free of drugs and crime, but so be it, as long as his people and his territory are safe, even if he has to overthrow competing gangs like The Twisted Vipers. When Wei sees Noah for the first time, something about the foreigner calls to him. Perhaps it's his beautiful, sad eyes, perhaps it's his sexy body. Whatever it is, Wei is intrigued. And when Noah walks out from the station dejectedly, he knows he has to help him find his sister, who is probably one of the many women who seem to be going missing from his territory, women he's determined to find and help.

As Noah and Wei navigate their new relationship, it might have to come in second to what's going on in Wei's territory and finding Noah's sister and all the other women who have been going missing. And if Wei and the Dragons need to resort to violence to defend their territory and help these women, they will do so gladly, especially when Noah goes missing.

I really liked A Matter of Duty. It's got all the right ingredients for the perfect mystery/action book, with the added bonus of a hot relationship developing between Noah and Wei. It's fast-paced, the plot is well executed and thought out, it's got a great cast of secondary characters, all of whom I hope get their own stories like Conroy, Winston, Steel and Smile, and Wei and Noah are excellent, well drawn characters. I can't wait for more of this Hong Kong Nights series!

**I received a copy of A Matter of Duty from Net Galley in exchange for a voluntary and honest review**

A Matter of Duty by J.C. Long is the first in the authors Hong Kong Nights series. This is the first time I've read anything by Mr. Long and was surprised how fast paced the story was.

When Noah Potter receives a call from his sister Lianne that gives him the chills as she 's in trouble in Hong Kong. So he heads there without any knowledge of who to ask for help. After receiving none from the police, a waitress in the restaurant beneath his sister's apartment gives him Wei Tseng the leader of the Dragons. They know everything but he's pretty sure that a rival gang, Nine Stars has most likely a part of Lianne's disappearance . Little does he know that when he meets him that there will be an attraction so deep between them. Will Noah find Lianne in time or will she become yet another casualty of an American in Hong Kong who vanishes without a trace?

Wei Tseng has a suspicion that Noah's sister is among the women that he knows are missing but the link to a night club may prove to be a clue to the who and why they are missing. When he hears that Noah is also looking for someone he decides to help him find Lianne. Wei also feels a instant attraction to Noah and offers to have him stay in his apartment. But will Noah stay in Hong Kong when and if he finds his sister? Will Wei and Noah find their HEA or will the Nine Star tong take it all away when Noah is kidnapped?

The middle part of the story is a bit dark and be aware there is a warning of rapes which could be a trigger for some readers. There is a Cantonese dictionary at the end as a lot of conversations are in this language. I'd give the book a high 4 star rating but am on the fence if I'll read the rest of the series which are due out in the next few months.