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His Beautiful Samurai is a great title, and great titles are hard to find. The prolog has two beautiful samurai in 1848, arguing. Akira loves Kenji but wants to end their youthful fling. Gay affairs between immature youths are tolerated in medieval Japan as long as the boys grow up and get married – and not to each other! Akira wants to play by society's rules in order to gain prestige and power. Kenji puts love above everything and thinks that he and Akira should become ronin (masterless samurai, essentially mercenaries) so that they can be together. He talks Akira into one last tryst on the riverbank, but they are both murdered by a sword-wielding maniac. Chapter 1 brings us to present-day Tokyo: Toshi, a young detective named after famed actor Toshiro Mifune, is investigating a weird series of murders. Different killers are attacking lovers caught in the act of sex. The killers always stab their victims with a samurai sword. The victims are straight lovers, gay lovers, and lesbian lovers. Afterwards, each killer is always found dead by suicide with the name "Naomasa" written on his or her forehead in ink. The only common thread between the victims is that they were all involved in doomed, forbidden relationships – like Kenji and Akira in the prolog. Toshi's superior decides they need help and locates John Holmes, a Boston psychic who collaborates extensively with the American police. John is a Gulf War veteran who became psychic in the wake of post-traumatic stress disorder. He's beautiful with golden hair and big blue eyes. Before he gets the phone call from Japan, he happens to be watching t.v., and sees a news story about the "Ronin Killer" case to which Toshi is assigned. He also sees Toshi who is beautiful with dark golden skin, full lips, and soft dark almond-shaped eyes. Destiny has spoken: these two characters are meant to be lovers. John accepts the job and an airline ticket to Tokyo. As soon as Toshi meets John at the airport, he's smitten and glad that his boss has already arranged for John to stay at Toshi's luxurious apartment. After perhaps their first 30 minutes together, John and Toshi are deeply in love. Much sex ensues. The murder investigation also heats up. John's psychic visions outline the case: we're definitely dealing with troubled ghosts from 1848. But it's not just poor Akira and Kenji. There is jealous sword-smith Naomasa who desires Akira. Also wreaking havoc is sinister monk Shingen who desires Naomasa! Toshi and John had better figure it out because they themselves match the profile of the doomed, forbidden lovers who are getting killed! This is all Toshi's fault because, though he loves John, he must obey his parents and marry the nice girl they've picked out for him. Even with the great title, I at ObsidianBookshelf.com could not entirely enjoy this book. Part of it is because of the writing, which leans hard on the unnecessary adverbs: as in he whispered softly as he watched quietly. Part of it is the characters. John and Toshi are appealing but they are also too much alike, too immediately compatible, and too Ladylike. Also, an error or two pops up within the Japanese cultural background: for example, I questioned whether a lowly cop like Toshi could afford such a huge apartment in Tokyo. What I did like: the emphasis on true romance. This is the true love of soul-mates we're talking about: powerful enough to last through time. .
Relevant Links: A Soldier's Choice by D. L. Warner His Beautiful Samurai is on Amazon through this link:
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Review of His Beautiful Samurai by Sedonia Guillone. 
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