A Necessary Sin: The Sin Trilogy Book I Kindle Edition

3.75 stars--A NECESSARY SIN is the first installment in Georgia Cates’s adult, contemporary The Sin Trilogy erotic, romantic suspense series focusing on twenty five year old, former FBI Special Agent Bleu MacAllister, and heir to the Scottish Fellowship Crime syndicate twenty six year old Sinclair Breckenridge.

Told from alternating first person points of view (Bleu and Sin) the focus of the storyline is two fold: the building relationship between Bleu and Sinclair; and Bleu’s revenge for the murder of her mother. Eighteen years earlier, Bleu’s mother was murdered and a seven year old Bleu was left for dead-asphyxiated by a well dressed man with a Scottish brogue. Fast forward to present day and Bleu’s need to avenge her mother’s death has become all encompassing. In order to get near the man she hopes to kill, Bleu will have to seduce the son and make him believe that she is the woman of his dreams. Falling in love with the enemy was never in the plans. Bleu is ‘obsessed with finding her attacker’ and she will have to infiltrate the world of organized crime.

The relationship between Bleu and Sin is one of immediate attraction but Bleu is in Scotland to complete a job-kill Thane Breckenridge-the man she believes murdered her mother. Sinclair Breckinridge is a sexy, powerful, intelligent and dangerous man-the heir to the Fellowship Crime Syndicate and a man Bleu has been led to believe has no problems killing on demand. His attraction and need for Bleu finds Sinclair claiming Bleu as his own but in order to protect the woman with whom he has fallen in love, Sinclair must risk his own life at the hands of the people he calls family and friends. Both Sin and Bleu face both internal and personal conflicts. The sex scenes are erotic and sensual. There is plenty of sexual tension between our leading couple.

The secondary and supporting characters are an interesting mix of people with questionable pasts including Sinclair’s friends and fellow members of the Brotherhood (Leith, Jamie); former lovers; and Sinclair’s family (his father Thane, Uncle Abram , and mother Isobel) whose connection to Bleu’s mother’s death may not be everything Bleu has been led to believe. Bleu’s adopted father Harry MacAllister is a former FBI agent who has trained Bleu from an early age to protect and kill whenever necessary.

The world building takes the reader behind the scenes of a dark and dangerous crime syndicate where proving your worth means risking your life at the hands of those in charge. Trust must be earned through pain and blood; fidelity must be sworn with your life; no one is safe when betrayal is discovered. Outsiders are definitely not welcome.

There is some graphic violence and imagery but mostly implied behind the scenes. There is plenty of tension as the reader waits for Bleu’s true identity to be discovered. The plot takes an interesting twist when hints and clues are dropped about who may have been responsible for Bleu’s mother’s death. The storyline ends on a cliff hanger so be forewarned-you will want to read what happens next.

A NECESSARY SIN is an enjoyable and fascinating read; an interesting take on the mob; revenge; and betrayal but there is an important detail left out of the equation. It is never revealed (or at least I am unable to find the information) how Bleu knew the identity of the man who murdered her mother and left Bleu for dead. Also, it was too easy for Bleu to get ‘inside the mob’. For a secretive organization, too many people were willing to reveal too much information to a stranger they knew nothing about.