Dino Martini is a forty-something PI who’s into old-fashioned music and manners.  He cares about his car, his job, and his best friend Seth Donnelly, who’s always got his back in a fight.  Life is pretty good for him, until his building is slated for demolition.  Finding a new place to live, and a new office, eats into his time and his money.  He takes a few repo jobs to get some quick cash, with Seth along, and stumbles onto a very strange notebook.  Rather than putting it in the box with the car’s former owner’s other possessions, he keeps it.  Suddenly he and Seth are up to their necks in a dangerous new case, and things are starting to get weird between them.  Can Dino solve the case before he loses Seth in more ways than one?

My plot description above does not even begin to describe Like Coffee and Doughnuts, a fantastic mystery / romance with one of the most appealing heroes I’ve read about in a long time.  Dino Martini is a great character.  He’s set in his ways, and sometimes very uncertain, yet he has an old-world Italian charm I absolutely loved.  Whether he was dancing with old ladies, doing PI work, or getting into a fight, he somehow managed to maintain that classy attitude.  Sean, on the other hand, is wild, promiscuous, and a total slob.  On the surface, it didn’t seem like Dino and Sean should even be friends, but their friendship was believable.  Elle Parker did an excellent job of showing the slow transition from friends to something more.  The mystery element of the story is compelling as well.  There’s a lot of action, some violence, and some moral ambiguity I thought added additional realism to the story.  With a good mystery, a sweet and realistic romance, and wonderful characters, m/m and mystery fans can’t go wrong with Coffee and Doughnuts.  I’m happy to Joyfully Recommend Like Coffee and Doughnuts, and I can’t wait to see what Ms. Parker comes up with next.