Armed & Dangerous

Blurb

Left alone in Baltimore after his unpredictable lover bails, Special Agent Zane Garrett takes his frustration out on everything in his path until he is ordered to Chicago to back up an undercover operative. When he gets there, though, he finds himself face to face with his wayward partner, Special Agent Ty Grady.

They have to deal with the uncertainty lingering between them while they work to retrieve their intended mark, a retired hit man and CIA wet-works operative named Julian Cross.

Ty, once a Marine and now an FBI hotshot, has a penchant for being unpredictable, a trait Zane can vouch for. Zane is a man who once lived for his job but has come to realize his heartbreaking past doesn't have to overshadow his future. They're partners, friends, lovers, and the go-to team for unusual cases. With Cross and his innocuous boyfriend, Cameron Jacobs, in tow, Ty and Zane must navigate the obstacles of a cross-country trek, including TSA pat-downs, blizzards, their uncooperative prisoners, CIA kill teams, a desperate lack of sleep and caffeine, and each other.

Ty and Zane are determined to get Julian Cross to DC in one piece, but it's starting to look like it might be the last thing they do.

 My Review

The fifth installment of the Cut & Run Series certainly lived up to its name, and then some. That "some" would be Julian Cross, Cameron Jacobs, Preston (forgot his last name), Blake Nichols and yes, even Smith and Wesson made an appearance here.

This book picked up where Divide & Conquer left off, where Zane woke up finding a note and Ty gone. Well, I'm happy to say that all is well in paradise once again for these two. Ty got his head on straight and is in deep cover for another case and Zane was sent to back him up. Thank you, Dick!

Anyway, Zane wants Ty to grovel. Ha! So cute really. I was smiling the whole the time during their reunion at the airport, all the way to their hotel room where the proper reunion took place. And boy, what a reunion it was! I was thinking maybe they should be apart more in the future just so I can witness another reunion between them. It was that hot!

Turns out that our boys are tasked to transport a very important witness and bring that witness back to D.C. The witness is, of course, Julian Cross. Julian was a hostile witness. He wasn't up to cooperating with Ty & Zane. With Cameron in tow, he made Ty & Zane's job hilariously difficult. Yeah, the four of them inside one car and even sharing hotel rooms in between was funny. I found myself laughing out loud many times. Julian stoic and deadpan humor was a match for Ty's snarky one-liner. Haha! I won't list them all here but you can check out my statuses to see what I mean.

The whole mystery with who wants Julian killed was a little obvious to me but it was still fun reading about it especially the ending. LoL! But I was a little sad too when Ty & Zane realized that they could never be as free to express their feelings especially since they work together. And when Zane thought that Ty could never introduce him to his family the way Deuce can with his girlfriend, I felt really bad for them. 

This series just keeps getting better and better, and I can't wait to read more of Ty and Zane! Five down, two more books to go!

The Unwanted Wife Review

 

4.5 stars

WARNING: This is going to be a long-winded review with a few rants thrown here and there, and will certainly contain some spoilers.

I call this my "angst done right" book. Very angsty and very emotionally charged read, which could have been a disaster if it wasn't for the fact that the author did a good job with the characterization and the pacing of the story. I read it in one sitting and I was captivated with both Theresa and Sandro's story from start to finish.

First off, the story. Sandro was basically blackmailed into marrying  Theresa by Theresa's father in exchange for something that Sandro wants very badly. Thinking that Theresa was in on the scheme, Sandro proceeded to make Theresa pay for her father's sins by making her life a living hell. He was downright cruel and hateful to her during this time. This went on for 18 months until Theresa decided she had enough and asks for a divorce. In other words she grew a backbone.

Let me tell you, the first half of this book was difficult to read. I couldn't believe how much Theresa had to endure during those 18 months when all she really did was to fall in love her husband who didn't want her. I felt for her but at the same time I was also angry at her for being so gullible and for being a victim. Not fair to do to a book character but there I was, fuming silently and cursing my cousin for bullying me into reading this book. 

Well, it turns out that this victim mentality started way back during her childhood where she was constantly being rejected by her father. And let me tell you, though I hated Sandro for what he did, I hated her father more. He was downright cruel and not once did he show remorse. He was the one who instigated the deal and led Sandro to believe that Theresa was in on it.

Her ass for a father gave an out to the deal. If Theresa can produce a son, then the deal is off and Sandro can have his freedom and the thing he wanted the most. So on and on it goes. For 18 months, Sandro doesn't kiss Theresa even during sex, he doesn't touch her outside the bedroom, goes on to ignore her until he wants sex of course--and get this, every time they finish doing the business, he says the same thing over and over, 'Give me a son, Theresa.' For 18 months every time they have sex, he says those words afterwards.

Ugh, I hated Sandro at first but I was happy when he finally manned up and realized how wrong he was about his wife. Don't worry, us, readers don't actually get to see those whole 18 months play out. It was all part of Theresa's inner monologue and it comes up during her conversations with Sandro as well. So the reader gets the whole picture of those 18 months without actually reading the whole thing, if you get my drift.

Anyway, as I've said, I was happy with this book and I've grown to love Sandro. You really get to understand his motivation and you will know why he did those things. Not that it was an excuse or anything but the author was able to paint a flawed, believable and most importantly, a redeemable character in Sandro.

Theresa, I also loved because she did grow a backbone. I wasn't annoyed at her for keeping Sandro at arms length and disbelieving her husband when he finally tried to win her back. I mean, if I was in her place, going through what she did with her father and Sandro, I would be very suspicious too. I was actually glad she made him suffer a bit.

So overall, a very satisfying read. I have long since forgiven my cousin for forcing me to read this, like, four hours ago. And oh, there is a short but sweet epilogue, which was absolutely wonderful. I cried during the epilogue but it was happy tears. 

Divide & Conquer Review

Blurb

Baltimore, Maryland, is a city in alarming distress. Rising violence is fanning the flames of public outrage, and all law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, are catching blame. Thus the FBI’s latest ideas to improve public relations: a municipal softball league and workshops for community leaders. But the new commitments just mean more time Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have to spend apart when they’re happily exploring how to be more than by-the-book partners.

Then the latest spate of crime explodes in their faces—literally—throwing the city, the Bureau, and Ty and Zane’s volatile partnership both in and out of the office into chaos. They’re hip-deep in trouble, trying to track down bombers and bank robbers in the dark with very few clues, and the only way to reach the light at the end of the tunnel together requires Ty and Zane to close their eyes and trust each other to the fiery end.

My Review

Let me just say that I didn't think it was possible for me to fall more in love with Ty and Zane or this series until I read this book. No joke. I'm pretty sure, I'm going to say that again in the upcoming books but for now, that's where I stand.

Emotions, emotions, emotions. I do love it when a book pulls out a myriad of emotions out of me. This book did it for me. One minute I was happily squeeing, the next minute, I felt like crying and wanting threw my Kindle across the room (yes, I'm talking about you, cliffhanger, you!!) Okay, that was a bit melodramatic but you know what I mean.

I was really happy with Ty and Zane's relationship in this book until that...oh, never mind! I felt for Ty more so than with Zane at first. Zane frustrated me a bit since the last book and he had to go through that momentary blindness just so he could realize his feelings for Ty. But I really did feel his vulnerability especially during that awful blindness thing. *shudder* It was ironic but fitting that he had to lose his sight just he could see how much he loved Ty. That sounded really corny but what the heck, I'm just going with the flow here. LoL!

The moment Ty told his recon buddies about him and Zane, I was so nervous for him and felt relieved when they took it really well. I was a little pissed at Owen but he was like a non-entity to me so I got over that really quickly. But Nick, hmm, Nick was a different matter entirely. I mean, dude, what the hell! He had the nerve to tell Ty he wished Ty had told him sooner? And what was that, "if you got tired of waiting for him, you know where to find me," crap? And the things he said about Zane when he didn't know him well enough? Not cool.

Another thing that wasn't cool? Those bombers. Yeah, I know some people think that was a weak plot device, but considering the things that happened recently, it's entirely plausible for bored teenagers with money and time to those things. I loved the action sequences in this book especially when with Zane getting caught in that blast. Of course, let's not forget what happened to Bronco! Poor Bronco! Poor Ty!

Hallmark card moments...hmm...It's safe to say that this book had them in spades. I squeed, and I oohhed, and I ahhed each time when there was winking, holding, spooning involved. I'm not just talking about the sex, although those were freakin' hot, I'm talking about the tender moments when they were being open and vulnerable to each other.

And that dance? Gosh, that was my favorite moment I think. I mean, I know the song that they danced to wasn't mentioned but I thought this song, All I Want Is You from U2 was the perfect for them. That song had been playing in my head since yesterday and I just had to share it. That moment was a definite highlight for me.

But the ending...I know they're going to be together but I still wasn't happy with that ending. I do not appreciate the rug being pulled under me. :(

Anyway, still a 5-star read for me despite the cliffhanger, and yes, I'm going to start book 5 ASAP, like tomorrow. Reading list be damned!