If you can picture Stephanie Plum as a gay man… you’ve got a pretty good idea of what to expect from Catch Me If You Can, by L.B. Gregg.

Caesar Romano is penniless, car-less, and apartment-less (he’s living in his Nana’s basement); not to mention woefully underemployed.  In a desperate attempt to impress gallery owner Mallory Albright, he arranges a spectacular show for his unappreciative gallery-owner-hopefully-soon-to-be-ex-boss, featuring the busts of celebrities formed out of “found” materials.  Unfortunately – or maybe fortunately – the show turns into a gin-lubricate, half-naked free-for-all, complete with Ce’s obsessively closeted actor-ex-boyfriend.  Yep, that’s a lot of hyphens.  The story seems to call for ‘em, as it races along at a break-neck pace.  Once the hangovers clear, Ce’s left with a naked ex in the gallery bathroom, a missing bust of Justin Timberlake, and a blackmailer on the loose.  Enter Detective Dan Green.  Detective Dan took one look at Caesar and liked what he saw – just not enough to cross him off his list of suspects in the blackmailing of Mallory Albright.  Dan methodically pursues his case, but Caesar seems to bumble effortlessly a step ahead of him at every turn.  Can Dan and Caesar catch a criminal, unravel a mystery, deal with Caesar’s semi-connected Italian family, and still find time for some hanky-panky?  Oh, hell yes!  Or they’ll die trying.

I’ve come to expect a fun, sexy ride from L.B. Gregg’s books, and Catch Me If You Can certainly doesn’t disappoint.  Witty and smart, Caesar’s down-on-his-luck dilemmas never fail to amuse, even as he’s sucked deeper and deeper into the deceptions of almost everyone he loves and trusts.  Detective Dan, out and proud, and openly interested in Caesar, makes the perfect, pragmatic foil.  Now, face it, one of the main reasons to read Gregg’s books is the sex.  Well, Detective Dan’s unexpected nasty side (not to mention his proclivity for semi-public sex) is hot enough to scald.  It also gives new meaning to “coming out of the closet.”  Catch Me is Gregg’s most sophisticated and satisfying book to date, and lovers of comic romantic suspense will love it – I certainly did!