Yakuza Pride novel

Yakuza Pride by H.J. Brues is one of the first BL novels I ever read. After reading S series by Saki Aida I was eager to read more in the genre and so I came across Yakuza Pride. Since then I re-read the novel (re-read S too) a few times and it is one of my favourites. I am surprised I didn't write about it yet.

The main characters are the yakuza underboss Shigure Matsunaga and the son of an American congressman, Kenneth 'Kenshin' Harris. They meet at a boring event and almost immediately fireworks start sparkling. Both for them and for me because I was hooked from the first pages.

The novel follows the start of Shigure and Ken's relationship, the struggles they have to face, the way Shigure's people view Ken, how Ken can cope with it all, as well as unexpected threats and complications.

“I don’t need to put my cock in you to make love to you, you intractable son of a bitch. And I call it making love because that’s what you do when you love someone, even if he’s one stubborn, foul-mouthed gaijin.”

This quote alone makes me want to re-read the novel again and again.

Characters

Shigure is a man that had to fight for everything he has. Having an unfortunate background when it comes to family, he had to work for it and prove himself, but he is now a respected man (not necessarily liked) and knows his worth.

Kenneth is a foreigner in Japan, a gaijin, who is seen as an outsider although he is well versed in Japanese culture and speaks the language fluently. He is still trying to fit in, to find his place and having different coloured eyes doesn't help either.

There is instant attraction between Shigure and Ken. The moment they lay eyes on each other it is obvious where this is headed: steamy hot complicated relationship. Whereas Ken is ready to go into it head first, things are not so easy for Shigure and he has to figure out what he wants and what he's willing on giving up on.

Besides the main characters we also have Ken's best friend and Shigure's people, friends, and enemies. I liked pretty much everyone, except for the enemies crowd, one especially, but I was anxious about how Shigure's people would view Ken and their boss' relationship with him. Not that they had much to say about it, but things were a bit squeaky for a while.

The thing is I understand perfectly why people wouldn't be as open to the relationship. Given Shigure's background it would have been weird for no one to not have an issue with it, so everything is forgiven, and I still like everyone very much.

Plot

As I already mentioned, things get complicated. Being in a relationship with a yakuza, and an underboss at it, things are bound to go bad at some point. Ken is faced with hostility from more sides than one, people try to make him go back, away from Shigure, but his heart (and his cock) wants something else, it wants Shigure.

With Shigure being thorn between his feelings for Ken and his duty, having his lover kidnapped is the last thing he would have anticipated. Now Shigure has to find Ken and figure out how important he is for him, all the while Ken is in a hidden place being tortured.

Overall

The characters are well written, they are likeable, more than that they are loveable, and the plot kept me glued to the book more than once. There are a lot of things happening, the focus isn't solely on the relationship of the main characters, and everything comes together in an interesting, exceptional novel.