Shiraishi is a young diplomat for a Japan's embassy in Thailand. Here he has the change to work with Yoshinaga, a very young diplomat whose genius and political ability helped him to make a fast career. Yoshinaga is also Shiraishi's sister fiancee, even if the engagement is more a interest bargain than a matter of love.

When Shiraishi sees Yoshinaga in a night club kissing another man, he has puzzled feelings: he is angry for a man of Yoshinaga's level to be so open in public, but he is also worried for his family and sister. So he corners Yoshinaga and pretends some explanations to a scandalous behavior. Instead Yoshinaga justifies all his unethical moves due to the context and moreover, he kisses also Shiraishi and soon after they start an affair, putting also Shiraishi in an embarrassing position and bonding him to not reveal anything otherwise he will put at risk also his career.

Between Shiraishi and Yoshinaga there is a strange relationship: obviously they are very attracted from each other, but both Yoshinaga than Shiraishi seem not willing to give up their career for love; on the contrary Yoshinaga has no intention to break his engagement with Shiraishi's sister, and Shiraishi seems right with having an extra marital relationship with him, betraying not a mere other woman, but his own sister.

The story is pretty complex, the graphic detailed and rich; this is, according to the author, only a first volume of several others, even if the American publisher released it as a one stand volume.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1934129151/?tag=elimyrevandra-20

I love Youka Nitta's "Embracing Love" series. It is one of the top 3 hard yaoi series available, and is a more or less a straight up romance. This, however, is not so simple. At first, I was a little off-put. The minister isn't very likeable, and the diplomatic storyline really requires attention. A person actually has to read this manga carefully to follow along. Not because of poor translation or misplaced bubbles, but because the language is that intricate. I quickly realized this could be Nitta's best work. The artwork is her typical high standard, with clean lines and well defined backgrounds. The men are attractive (and look suspiciously like Iwaki and Katou;), and undeniably male.

Nitta obviously did some research for this title. The conversations between the ambassadors are clever and have a lot of innuendo and hidden meaning. The story revolves around a young up and coming diplomat. There is a vicious rumor that he uses his body for negotations instead of words. However, readers learn that he truly is a brilliant diplomat. Those rumors aren't completely off-target though. He is hiding a scandalous secret - just not that! When another young diplomat, who happens to be the brother of his fiance, learns his secret he seduces him. And then proceeds to play mind games with him throughout the novel! This is what makes him not so likeable. However, the minister has demons of his own that make him crave destruction as much as success and he needs someone to love him. And I loved how Nitta shook up the traditional yaoi roles. The young diplomat is the seme but it's the minister who's obviously in control. Delicious.

The interplay here is fabulous. The sex isn't as frequent as in "Embracing Love" but it's actually a little more graphic and surprisingly crude at one point. These two men are having an affair that could destroy them. And they know it. They are complicated characters in a complicated plot. Nitta includes a note at the end that this was intended as a stand alone, but she loved the characters so much it will continue. Phew..boy are we lucky!

I would have given this more than 5 stars if I could. I hope volume 2 comes quickly. Highly recommended! ( )