Convicted of murdering his mobster lover and his lover’s fiancée five years ago, Baxter Kavanagh has been an inmate in a California mental institution ever since. The time has been a nightmare, and Bax is just waiting for his lover’s family to finally decide to put a hit out on him. He dreads his monthly psychiatric appointment, but when he is assigned a new psychiatrist, the future opens up for him once again. Dr. Rory Quackenbox is a blond-haired, blue-eyed, golden god and the most beautiful man that Bax has even seen. After meeting Rory, Bax’s nightmares begin to turn to fantasies starring a blue-eyed angel.

Rory is intrigued by his new patient’s case and believes Bax’s protestations of innocence. He is also extremely attracted to the man, and even after their session is over, he finds himself thinking, or rather daydreaming, about Bax. Convinced he is falling in love, Rory takes it upon himself to investigate Bax’s case and to see if he can possibly prove Bax’s innocence. As Rory insinuates himself into the heart of the mob, what begins as a simple fact-finding mission turns into a dangerous game of chance – a game that could very possibly end his life as well as Baxter’s.

Blue Eyed Angel by B. J. Powers is a story of love, passion, and suspense. The plot is interesting, and the suspense keeps the story moving, but the characters seem to be contrived ideals rather than real people. Bax and Rory are both sympathetic characters, but they just seem to be too perfect to be true. Most of the action in Blue Eyed Angel revolves around Rory and his machinations, making Bax an almost incidental figure.While these would-be lovers are the main focus of the story, the mobster Toni Giordana steals any scenes that he appears in from them. Toni is a comically revolting character who is almost larger than life. He is someone that you love to hate, and while his behavior doesn’t feel all that realistic, it is extremely entertaining. While I cannot say that Blue Eyed Ange is the best story I’ve read in awhile, I certainly found the story to be engaging enough to be on the lookout for more of Mr. Powers’s work in the future.

Reviewed by: Whitney