Criminal Intentions S2E1 – The Golden Ratio by Cole McCade (audiobook) – Narrated by Curt Bonnem

This title may be purchased from Audible via Amazon

The boys are back, and an old face from Seong-Jae’s past plunges BPD Detectives Malcolm Khalaji and Seong-Jae Yoon from a two-month suspension right into the depths of hell—and into one of the most horrific, grisly cases of Malcolm’s life.

He’s never seen anything like it. Macabre ritual killings, and the only one who’s ever been able to crack the killer’s pattern has been his partner and lover.

But Malcolm and Seong-Jae aren’t the only ones tracking this case.

And with the return of FBI Division Chief Aanga Joshi, Malcolm may have to contend with more than a rogue killer.

A jealous ex. More of Seong-Jae’s buried secrets. A prison break turned into a blood-soaked crime scene.

And two men, far from home, standing on the brink. Where nothing may be safe. Not even each other.

Rating: Narration – A; Content – A-

The second season of Cole McCade’s enthralling Criminal Intentions series takes a slightly different format to the first one. In Season One, the cases to be solved were mostly standalones although some were loosely linked and there was an overarching plotline that gradually became clear as the season progressed. In Season Two, there are individual crimes to be solved, but they all link into one major plotline – the search for the so-called Golden Ratio killer, a serial murderer who has been dormant for a number of years but who has resurfaced to go on a killing spree the like of which Malcolm and Seong-Jae have never seen.

As in the previous books, the author doesn’t shy away from showing violence and the results of violence, and the opening chapter of The Golden Ratio is possibly one of the goriest yet and absolutely not for the faint-hearted. But I wouldn’t say it’s gratuitous; it’s there to show us just what – who – Mal and Seong-Jae are up against, just how twisted their mind is and how utterly depraved they are.

The story begins as the two men – now romantic partners as well as professional ones – are still on the suspension meted out to them at the end of the last series. An unexpected phone call from their boss sees them heading into the office to find a blast from Seong-Jae’s past waiting for them. FBI Division Chief Aanga Joshi from the BAU – Seong-Jae’s former boss (and ex) – wants Seong-Jae’s help with the unsolved case of a serial killer who has eluded capture for decades. Seong-Jae absolutely does not want to be drawn back into that life, but Joshi knows exactly what buttons to press and how to guilt Seong-Jae into agreeing. Backed into a corner, he reaches for the one thing he hopes can keep him sane through what he knows is going to be a total mindfuck of a case and insists that he and Malcolm come as a package deal.

This first instalment covers a fair bit of ground with Mal and Seong-Jae heading out to the crime scene in Arizona to get a first hand look at what went down, trying to work out what the killer’s next move will be and who he might be. The plot is compelling, but so is the central relationship; just because they’re together now doesn’t mean they don’t still have some work to do, and in this season, a lot of the emotional heavy lifting is Seong-Jae’s. We get to learn more about his time with the bureau, how terrified he is of being sucked back into the creeping dark that lets him project himself into the minds of the worst murderers and understand them, and how he doesn’t want to return to that cold, emotionless state that was the only way he could function. This time, though, he has Mal at this side to ground him and remind him of what’s truly important, that whatever happens, they have each other, and it’s a measure of how far he’s come since we first met him that he’s now willing to open up and allow himself to be vulnerable with Malcolm. They’ve both grown as individuals, but their coupledom is still relatively new so there are still doubts and insecurities hiding in little corners of their minds, and this new case is really going to put them to the test, both personally and professionally.

Although I’ve read this story – this season – with my eyes, I was really looking forward to listening to it because Curt Bonnem does such an outstanding job with the narration. He absolutely IS Mal and Seong-Jae, Mal’s gravelly tone and Seong-Jae’s smooth, deep notes depicting them perfectly, and he completely nails their emotional connection, whether it’s in the sex scenes or in their banter or simply in the way they care for one another. We do get to spend a bit of time with some of the Baltimore gang in the book even though Mal and Seong-Jae are elsewhere, and the recurring characters – Sade, Anjulie and Gabi, for example – are all consistently voiced. I also liked that Mr. Bonnem adjusts his ‘narrator voice’ when he’s reading different PoVs, so that the narrative portions of the story sound different when they switch. I don’t hear narrators do that very often, so kudos!

The Golden Ratio is a gripping (and gruesome!) start to Criminal Intentions’ second season and I can’t wait to listen to the rest of it.

Just a reminder that this is Season Two of a long-running series, and that it’s essential to have read/listened to Season One first.

Frostbitten (Deep Ops #6) by Rebecca Zanetti (audiobook) – Narrated by Stephen Borne

This title may be downloaded from Audible via Amazon

Enigmatic. With a wildly gifted mind, and an untamed head of hair to match, petite powerhouse Millicent Frost is brilliant when it comes to gadgets and electronics—less so with people. After an attempt to bust a bank scam goes awry, Millie is in hot water with Homeland Security and targeted by lethal enemies. In the midst of the trouble, she heads home to help out with the family hunting and fishing business. But when their rival competitor and Millie’s ex is murdered, she’s the number one suspect . . .

Irresistible. Former Marine turned lawyer Scott Terentson devotes himself to getting his clients out of tricky binds. A loner, the last thing he wants is to belong to any team, yet the Deep Ops group considers him one of their own—and he pays the price by getting shot at by their enemies. Now Millie is seeking his help—just as he’s dealing with a brutal fail regarding a recent trial. Both are a headache, yet he’s drawn to Millie in spite of himself. They’re opposites, but maybe the old adage is true . . .

Electric. Working together, Millie and Scott soon have more on their hands than they bargained for as the danger escalates—along with the sizzling heat between them. And when a disappearance is thrown into the mix, all bets are off . . .

Rating: Narration – C+; Content – C

I’ve enjoyed listening to the five previous books in Rebecca Zanetti’s Deep Ops series of romantic suspense novels, so when I saw there was a sixth book on the way, I made a note to look for the audio. I was pleased to see there was going to be one, although sad to see that Roger Wayne wouldn’t be narrating it. He did such a great job in the other books and I knew he’d be a tough act to follow; his replacement, Stephen Borne, isn’t someone I’ve listened to before, but I’ve seen his name around quite a lot and Audible shows he has well over a hundred titles to his credit, mostly in romance and romantic suspense, so I thought I’d be in a safe pair of hands as far as the narration was concerned.

In my review of the previous book, Unforgiven, I made a comment as an aside that “I certainly wouldn’t mind more of Scott the hot lawyer” – and lo and behold, here he is! A former marine, Scott Terentsen now deals with bad guys through the courts, and in the previous book, he was shot when helping out the Deep Ops team on one of their operations. While he’s recovered physically, he’s still a bit of a mess on the inside and has been on autopilot ever since; his work keeps his mind agile, but he’s lost interest in it and just goes through the motions.

Millicent Frost has appeared in some of the previous books as a secondary character who has sometimes worked with the Deep Ops team. Her speciality is gadgetry – she’s often referred to as their version of James Bond’s “Q” – and when we meet her again here, she’s working undercover as an air conditioning engineer, planting surveillance equipment in the office of high-powered investment banker Werner Dearth. The same investment banker with whom Scott has an appointment. Millie is the last person he expects to see there, but he doesn’t blow her cover; after his meeting with the deeply unpleasant Dearth, he waits for Millie outside and then insists on driving her home while questioning her about what she was doing in that particular office. She can’t tell him anything – and unfortunately, their association creates a serious problem for the HDD a couple of months down the line when, during his divorce hearing, Dearth alleges that Millie and Scott were conspiring against him, which exposes the HDD’s investigation into his activities.

Millie is already on shaky ground with the HDD, and this could get her fired. But before she can worry about that too much, she gets a call from her brother, JT, telling her that their Aunt Mae – who brought them up – has had a heart attack. All Millie wants to do is get home to River City to be with Mae – but before she can make her way out of the courthouse, Dearth grabs her and threatens her: “I take out my enemies and you just became one. You won’t see me coming.”

The next time we see her, Millie is waking up in a room not her own, her head pounding, her mind groggy and her body naked. She looks down at herself to see blood on her chest – and then notices the man in her bed, an ex she hasn’t seen for years, together with a fishing knife of her own making, both of them covered in blood. The man is definitely dead and Millie has no idea of what is going on. She doesn’t remember coming home with him or getting into bed with him – she doesn’t remember anything of the previous day after she left Mae’s bedside at the hospital. The only thing she IS certain of is that she didn’t kill anyone.

Scott is surprised when he gets a call from the chief of police in Shalebrook County and even moreso when he learns that Millie is suspected of murder. Scott – accompanied by Roscoe (he’s dog sitting for Angus and Nari while they’re away in Europe) – drops everything and makes his way to the small town of River City to do whatever he can to help Millie to clear her name.

Frostbitten gets off to a great start, quickly bringing Scott and Millie back into each other’s orbits and setting up the mystery, but the story is nothing we haven’t seen/heard/read before, and the author doesn’t do anything to freshen up a very tired trope. Millie’s being this crazy-smart inventor-type is woefully underused – we never see her inventing anything new or having to cobble something together on the fly to get them out of a tricky situation, and honestly, she’s kinda dull. And for a supposedly intelligent guy, Scott does some really dumb stuff. Right at the beginning when he corners Millie outside the investment bank, he insists she gets into his car or he’ll make a scene. Seriously? A grown man and tough lawyer and he’ll make a scene if she doesn’t do as he says? And he never thought they might be caught on camera before they get inside? (Which is exactly what happens and tanks the HDD’s case.)

The story is overlong and overly busy, and the chemistry between Scott and Millie is barely lukewarm, so the romance falls completely flat. There’s no growth for either character (Scott still has largely untreated PTSD by the end) and apart from a late-book appearance from Wolfe, the Deep Ops team is largely absent which, as their camaraderie and interactions are some of the things that made the previous books so entertaining, left a really big hole. And the ending… no spoilers, but it made no sense.

Sadly, I can’t say that the narration helped make listening to Frostbitten less of a chore. Stephen Borne has a naturally deep voice with an attractive huskiness to it that is a good fit for the romantic suspense genre, but there’s a kind of monotonous quality to his performance that often had me zoning out and having to rewind. I checked to see if any of the Gals have reviewed him before – and while I agree with Kaetrin’s observation about his ability to differentiate well between male and female characters, the problem is that there’s a fairly large secondary cast here, and almost all the men sound the same, as do almost all the women. And he reads Scott’s dialogue in his ‘narrator voice’ so that it’s sometimes hard to tell if Scott is speaking or if Mr. Borne is reading a narrative passage. I doubt I’ll be rushing to listen to him again.

If this is the final book in the Deep Ops series, I’m afraid that Frostbitten ends it with a whimper rather than a bang, and I’m going to pretend the series ended with book five.

The Family Man (The Mind Hacker #1) by AJ Rose

This title may be purchased from Amazon

Special Agent Jon “Ice Man” Anderson is one of the FBI’s best monster hunters, catching predators using their darkness against them. It’s his purpose, and he’s relentless.

Rookie Special Agent Tracey Smith is Jon’s opposite, shining light in the shadows and counteracting the dark with hope. Together, they may be the perfect combination to catch The Family Man, a sniper terrorizing St. Louis, dealing death through the scope of a high-powered rifle.
They can’t afford distractions.

Jon can’t ignore the feelings Tracey has evoked.

Feelings he hasn’t allowed himself in years.

Jon’s not the only one compelled by Tracey…

In a city held hostage, the FBI races to stop the killing.

Before the sniper finds them,

And they lose everything.

Rating: B

The Family Man is a promising start to a new romantic suspense series, The Mind Hacker, from new-to-me author AJ Rose featuring a small team of special agents who work for the FBI’s Behavioural Analysis Unit. There are a few stock-in-trade tropes here and the author sometimes gets bogged down with too much description and explanation, but I enjoyed the story overall. The action sequences are tense, the sex scenes are hot and the two leads are interesting and likeable. Their relationship is in the early stages here, but that’s pretty much what I expect from book one in a same-couple series, and the eventual HFN feels right and promises more to come.

Special Agent Tracey Smith is the youngest agent ever to join one of the FBI’s elite NCVAC (National Center for the Analysis of Violent Crime) teams within the BAU. He might be young, but he knows he’s good at what he does and he’s no stranger to hard work, having worked as a police psychologist for three years while also earning his PhD. The small, four-person team he is assigned to is headed up by Supervisory Special Agent Jonathan Anderson, and Tracey has barely had time to get his feet under his desk when they, together with their colleagues Sarena Mercado and Perry Vaughn, are sent to St. Louis on the trail of a serial killer – a sniper – who is picking off victims seemingly at random and often in broad daylight.

I’m not going to say too much about the plot, save that it’s intricate, clever and well-executed, with some really tense moments that are nicely balanced with humour, character interaction and the slowly unfolding attraction between the two leads. The author has clearly done their research about the way the BAU works and what their role is within an investigation such as this one, but the downside of that is that there’s the odd step into a bit too much minutiae and an occasional ‘flabbiness’ in the pacing, but I appreciated the attention to detail for the most part.

The central pairing is something of a staple of procedurals – the old hand and the rookie. Jon is one of the BAU’s top agents and is enigmatic and inscrutable, nicknamed the ‘Ice Man’ because he’s so focused and tightly controlled. He’s an excellent mentor though – I really liked that he so strongly encourages Tracey to pursue a life outside the bureau for the sake of his personal well-being, and his willingness to let Tracey take the lead in certain areas of the investigation once he’s shown a real aptitude for them. Jon compartmentalises his life for a very good reason – some of the stuff he has to deal with is the sort of thing no human being should ever have to see – but it’s led to the break-down of his few personal relationships because his desire to keep his loved ones away from the darkness that is a part of his everyday life means they’ve felt he’s shutting them out. (I get it – but the profiler-who-feels-tainted-because-he-has-a-knack-for-getting-into-the-minds-of-killers is such an overdone stereotype.) Jon has resigned himself – for the time being – to casual hook-ups that don’t require any emotional investment, until the newest member of the team starts to get under his skin. But getting involved with a colleague – and a subordinate – is a very bad idea, and he is determined to keep his distance.

It doesn’t take long for Tracey to develop a serious case of hero worship over his mentor. Although when the man starts to appear in his dreams, he quickly works out that it’s not just Jon’s keen mind, work ethic or solve rate that is drawing him to the older man, and that he – Tracey – is clearly not as straight as he thought he was. It’s just a crush – or that’s all it can be, because the bureau’s fraternisation policy is very clear – but, sensing Jon’s deep loneliness, Tracey thinks maybe he can be what the other man might need in another way. A friend.

I really liked the progression of their romance. It’s a smoldering slow-burn with sexy almost-kisses and lots of longing – and it doesn’t feel implausible (there are no ‘we’re under fire so we must shag’ moments, here!) or get in the way of the plot. Jon and Tracey have strong chemistry and the author does a good job of developoing their emotional connection; they hook up a couple of times and the book ends on a firm HFN, but they still have a way to go – and things aren’t going to be easy because they’re going to have to keep everything on the downlow at work if they’re going to try having an actual relationship.

I liked both characters a lot – there’s a bit of a grumpy/sunushine vibe going on and they’re very different in many ways, but the intellectual and emotional connections they form feel very real. I enjoyed the secondary characters and their chemistry and interactions, too – Sarena and Perry are not just window dressing and are important to the investigation. One niggle, though – I was surprised at finding out that Jon is thirty-five, because that seemed young for him to have the experience and the seniority that he has; I’d expected him to be early forties at least. Maybe the author didn’t want a big age gap between the leads (Tracey is twenty-eight), but having Jon ten or twelve years older would have felt more realistic.

Despite my criticisms, I was pretty much glued to The Family Man from start to finish, and would definitely recommend it to anyone looking for a new romantic suspense series to try.

This review originally appeared at All About Romance.

Where All Paths Meet (The Adventures of Holloway Holmes #3) by Gregory Ashe (Audiobook) – Narrated by Greg Tremblay

This title may be downloaded from Audible via Amazon

Holmeses. Moriartys. Adlers. What’s a Watson to do?

When Jack Moreno receives an anonymous invitation to the Zodiac anniversary gala, he’s inclined to ignore it. His best friend (and more), Holloway Holmes, vanished from his life five months ago, and Jack has no desire to bump into Holloway’s terrifying father, Blackfriar. But included with the invitation is an offer Jack can’t refuse: the promise that he’ll learn what really happened to his mother.

At the gala, an anonymous text sends Jack on a collision course with an amateur thief and, more importantly, with Holmes. Together, they must race to recover what the thief has stolen—information not only about Jack’s mom, but about the Holmes family. Information that could bring down Blackfriar’s empire.

By the time they reach the thief, though, she’s dead, and the stolen information is missing. To recover it, Jack and Holmes will have to learn who killed her. But other people, powerful people, are searching for the information too, and someone has already tried to kill Jack once. He’ll need luck and quick thinking to stay alive. And, of course, he needs Holloway Holmes.

Rating: Narration – A; Content – A

Note: This review contains spoilers for the previous books in the series.

Where All Paths Meet is the exciting finale to The Adventures of Holloway Holmes – an intricate, gripping mystery entwined with a heartfelt and endearingly sweet romance – which sees our heroes up to their necks in trouble again as the author pulls together all the plotlines he’s threaded through the series so far – so you need to have listened to the previous books before tackling this one –

At the end of The Old Wheel, Jack discovered that he’s actually a Watson (on his mother’s side) and that Holloway had been keeping it a secret from him, which led to a huge row and to Holloway completely disappearing from Jack’s life. Time hasn’t healed any wounds and five months later, Jack is still a mess of emotions; angry at Holloway for keeping secrets, angry at himself for falling for it – and for him – hurt and upset at the way Holloway just cut him out of his life so easily, and miserable without him.

Then, completely out of the blue, Jack receives an invitation to an event at Zodiac (a multinational tech corporation in which Blackfriar Holmes is the major shareholder and CEO, and Maggie Moriarty is the chief of AI), which encloses a note saying: “Come if you want to know the truth about your mother.” No way is Jack going to pass up the opportunity to find out the truth about his mother’s death or about what he now realises were several attempts on his own life over the past few months. After he arrives, he quickly finds himself confronted by the Holmeses – Blackfriar, his icily beautiful and enigmatic wife and Holloway’s sister, Noneley – and as they drift away, he receives an anonymous text telling him to go to Maggie Moriarty’s office straight away. Still hoping to receive the information he’s been offered, he’s just exited the elevator when the power goes out. As he’s making his way cautiously along the corridor in the dim emergency lighting, a young woman carrying something small in one hand hurries past him and crashes through the fire exit door; after she disappears, Jack enters Maggie’s office to see a figure standing on her desk and then notices the open wall safe. The thief runs; Jack gives chase and corners them, but in the tussle that ensues finds himself caught in a very painful – and very familiar – wrist lock.

There’s no time to savour their reunion or for Jack to let out all his months of pent-up frustration by having a good yell at Holloway because shouts from above are followed by bullets and the shriek of alarms. It’s not until they’ve managed to evade their pursuers and are once again on the road in Jack’s beat-up old truck that he unleashes his anger and demands an explanation. And, at last – and in bits and pieces – Holmes tells Jack the truth. That before Sarah Watson was killed, she’d left something important (Holmes doesn’t know what) in a portable safe with instructions that Jack should open it; that he’d hidden the safe in Jack’s room from where it had been stolen; that he was at Zodiac that night to steal it back… and Jack realises what the woman who’d passed him in the corridor earlier must have been carrying. They head to her apartment to see if they can retrieve the safe only to discover it missing and the woman dead – murdered, but staged to look like a suicide.

Once again, Jack and Holloway have got themselves tangled up in something dark and dangerous, going up against powerful people who will stop at nothing to prevent them from finding and revealing the truth. The mystery contains all the author’s trademarks; it’s clever and twisty and gut-wrenching, but the beating heart of these stories is the relationship between Jack and Holloway, the depth of the affection and love between them leaping from every page. But even though they fall back into their established patterns fairly quickly – Jack teases and talks shit, Holloway blushes and takes things too literally – there’s a new tension to their relationship, the cause of which can be summed up in one word – Blackfriar. Jack knows he’s responsible for Sarah Watson’s murder and suspects he’s responsible for many others, including that of his mother; he’s seen what Blackfriar has done to his son, how his insistence on perfection and control has forced Holloway to become a ruthlessly efficient, emotionless shell which, without Jack’s humanising influence, he would probably have continued to be. But whenever Jack voices his suspicions, Holloway shuts him down; he believes that his father has his best interests at heart and has been so hard on him to help him to eliminate his weaknesses. It’s tough to hear, especially when it puts them at odds; Holloway – perhaps understandably – is unable or unwilling to see himself as a victim of abuse, and it’s heartbreaking to see Jack so desperately wanting to help him and Holloway stubbornly refusing to be helped – especially as we know that Holloway is too intelligent not to see the truth and is clinging to his beliefs because to believe otherwise would hurt too much.

Jack and Holloway are fascinating, loveable characters, Jack’s humour, honesty and big heart providing the perfect foil for Holloway’s logical mind and tight control. They’re smart and funny and kind and screwed-up, but although they’ve been through things that have forced them to grow up quickly, the author juxtaposes that early maturity with typically teenaged antics (on Jack’s part) or innocence (on Holloway’s) that reminds us they’re still in that weird space between adolescence and adulthood. And even after serious disagreements and heartbreaking betrayals, there’s no question that they’re devoted to each other or that they make each other better – just as every Holmes and Watson have done for each other over the decades.

Greg Tremblay is always good, but it seems to me that this series has afforded him the opportunity to really exercise his acting chops – not only because of the large number of characters and the different accents involved, but because so much of the heavy lifting in these stories is done by the emotions. Jack’s rage and anguish over Holmes’ abandonment are visceral and the vulnerability he works so hard to hide is closer to the surface than ever and very present in his voice; Holmes’ speech – which was stilted and almost robotic when we first met him – is more frequently infused with emotion and frustration, and Mr. Tremblay does a magnificent job with his portrayal of Jack’s dad later in the book – a terrified father desperate to keep his son safe but furious with him at the same time. The performance is perfectly paced, superbly acted and absolutely spot on in every single respect.

I admit that I wasn’t convinced this series would be for me before I started it. YA isn’t a genre I usually enjoy and I’ve never been a big Sherlock fan, but I am a Gregory Ashe fan and he hasn’t steered me wrong yet. Where All Paths Meet is an exhilarating and compelling finale to The Adventures of Holloway Holmes – and keen-eared listeners will no doubt have picked on a couple of hints that there may be more stories to come for this Holmes and his Watson. I’ll definitely be here for them.

This review originally appeared at AudioGals.

The Evening Wolves (Iron on Iron #4) by Gregory Ashe

This title may be purchased from Amazon

Every victory comes at a cost.

The trail has gone cold. For months now, Emery Hazard and John-Henry Somerset have been trying to find something—anything—that might help them uncover the truth about the criminal organization operating out of the Cottonmouth Club. But every lead has turned out to be a dead end, and every step forward has cost them two steps back.

Until, one night, John-Henry is arrested for a terrible crime.

As their friends gather again in Wahredua, Emery and John-Henry must rush to prove John-Henry’s innocence. The falsified evidence used to implicate him provides them with fresh clues, but as the charges against John-Henry ripple out into the community, they find themselves without their usual resources, and facing new and unexpected opposition.

Putting an end to this evil, they discover, might be possible.

All it will cost them is everything.

Rating: A

Gregory Ashe brings his compelling Iron on Iron series to a close with The Evening Wolves, a gripping and gut-wrenching read that ties up the overarching plot while also circling back round to where-it-all-began for our beloved Hazard and Somerset.

The story picks up several months after the events of The Spoil of Beasts, when it looked as though the guys were never going to get to the bottom of exactly what was going on at the Cottonmouth Club. Someone – who always seemed to be one step ahead – had been doing an exceptionally good job of cleaning up and disposing of any loose ends and the trail had gone cold. And then, one day just before Christmas, John-Henry is accused of being in possession of child pornography, and arrested. Obviously, he’s been set up, and obviously it’s somehow tied to their investigations into the trafficking operations run out of the club – but with no real leads, how is Emery (and, by extension, North, Shaw, Theo, Auggie, Tean and Jem) going to prove it and find out who is behind it all?

This is very much a Somers book (which suited me down to the ground because while I love Hazard, John-Henry Somerset has always held a special place in my bookish heart) – and it’s a tough one. He’s come such a long way since we first met him in Pretty Pretty Boys, and in this series in particular, he’s shown just how good he is at what he does, treading a very fine line between being chief of police, husband, father and friend (especially when some of those friends are somewhat… lively.) But he’s always known, deep down, that he’s led a charmed life – courtesy of his parents’ wealth and position, and the good looks and charisma that have always bailed him out of the tight spots he got himself into – and wrestles with a tightly-lidded sense of self-loathing because of how easily he’s been able to coast through life. So when he’s accused of a truly horrendous crime there’s a little voice lurking at the back of his mind telling him that now he’s paying the price for all those years of using his privilege and popularity to get away with all the shit he pulled.

I’ve said several times in reviews that one of the (many) things that continues to impress me about this author’s work is the way he continues to find new ways to explore an established romantic relationship and to have his characters working through things in a completely organic way, because the issues that arise are never manufactured and are always there because of who the characters are. After thirteen full-length H&S books, several novellas and short stories, and the four books in this series, this still holds true for Emery and John-Henry, and in this novel, with his life crumbling around his ears, Somers is forced to examine what it means to be John-Henry Somerset in ways he has never done before, to think about the man he was raised to be, the man he’s needed to be and the man he wants to be. The high point of the story is the way it revisits – with a more mature, experienced perspective – Emery and John-Henry’s origin story, while also showing how they’ve grown as men and as a couple.

My heart broke for John-Henry as his deepest fears become reality and he goes from respected and well-liked member of the community to pariah overnight. His sense of self, his career and his reputation are in tatters, and the author’s descriptions of his feelings of despair and helplessness are intense. But despite the pressure this brings to their relationship, his and Emery’s love and commitment to one another doesn’t waver. Seeing them working together so seamlessly was one of my favourite things about their first story arc, so it was wonderful to see them slipping so easily back into that dynamic.

Of course, as soon as the news reaches North and Shaw and Jem and Tean, they all make their way back to Wahredua to do whatever it takes to prove John-Henry’s innocence and support him and Emery however they can. Their interactions bring some much needed lightness and love to the story, and as has been the case throughout the series, the scenes that feature all eight of them are an absolute delight. I love seeing the smaller groups and pairings – North teasing Auggie, the quiet, introspective moments between Emery and Tean… these guys have become family and you just know that they’re going to be a constant part of each others lives from now on.

(And that scene near the end with Emery and …. (spoiler!) was completely unexpected and breathtakingly brilliant.)

The Evening Wolves is painful to read at times – the emotions are raw and close to the surface and it was very hard to read about someone as essentially decent and kind as John-Henry going through what he goes through in this book – but it’s completely gripping and had me on the edge of my seat from start to finish. It’s an outstanding finale to what has been an absolutely fantastic series.

Solstice (Lake Prophet Mysteries #1) by Eli Easton & R.J. Scott

This title may be purchased from Amazon

Gabriel is a former undercover cop haunted by the things he’s seen and done. He returns to his small hometown of Prophet, taking on the role of sheriff, hoping to mend his fractured relationship with his estranged brother and rebuild his life. But when a chilling murder occurs at Sentinel Rocks, a sacred Makah site on Lake Prophet, Gabriel’s dreams of peace and reconciliation are shattered.

Gabriel navigates a web of intrigue, where suspects abound; from local tribal elders to fervent Solstice worshippers and even those hunting the elusive Big Foot. When the brutal murder leaves Duke, a loyal Labrador retriever, as the sole witness, Gabriel stumbles upon an unexpected ally—a local animal behaviorist named Tiber.

Tiber, a newcomer to Prophet, seeks refuge in this remote haven, attempting to escape his own inner demons. Armed with his extraordinary ability to communicate with animals, he offers his expertise through video consultations, helping pet owners with their beloved companions. While he attributes his skill to his academic background, his intuition and flashes of insight owe as much to his Navajo heritage as to science.

With the relentless rain washing away sins and good intentions alike, Gabriel and Tiber must begin to confront their own vulnerabilities and unravel the truth.

Rating: B-

I’ve become a fan of Eli Easton’s over the past couple of years, and although I wasn’t wowed by RJ Scott’s foray into romantic suspense (the Lancaster Falls series), I decided to give this first book in their new Lake Prophet Mysteries collaboration a go. I enjoyed Solstice on the whole – the mystery plot isn’t especially complex and the bad guy is telegraphed a mile off, but having an animal behaviourist as one of the leads is unusual and I liked that the mystery has a slightly different angle as a result.

Gabriel Thompson, a former undercover cop in LA, has returned to the hometown he left after his religious father disowned him when he came out as gay. He’s still haunted by the time he spent deep undercover and the things he had to do – many of them things he isn’t allowed to talk about. He’s returned home to Prophet in search of a quieter life, and in hopes of repairing his fractured relationship with the two younger brothers he left behind when he walked out – one of whom, Ezra, was only ten. Ezra is now in college, but the middle brother, Sam, is full of boiling resentment towards Gabriel, who left him to deal with their increasingly difficult father as well as to run the family business single-handed.

The mystery kicks off when the dead body of a park ranger is discovered in the nearby national park, spread-eagled with an X carved into his chest. Any potential forensic evidence has been washed away by the rain, and the only witness to the crime seems to be the man’s traumatised golden labrador, Duke, who appears to be standing guard, but runs into the undergrowth whenever anyone approaches him. Gabriel is directed to Tiber Russo, a specialist in animal behaviour who lives on the outskirts of town and who has, in the months since he came to Prophet, pretty much kept himself to himself.

The pacing is leisurely, but I didn’t mind that because I liked the characters and getting to know a bit more about them. There’s just a hint of romance here, but I’m used to same-couple romantic mysteries so I wasn’t expecting a full-on HEA (and I’m glad there isn’t one because that would have been completely wrong in context). Tiber is extremely cautious about letting someone into his life again after getting out of an emotionally abusive relationship; he’s become something of a recluse, surrounded by his animal menagerie, and although he’s attracted to Gabriel, he doesn’t want to be. Gabriel is similarly smitten and would love to be more than friends, but despite a passionate make-out session late in the book, Tiber insists on their staying firmly in the friend-zone.

The very light supernatural element – can Tiber read animals’ minds because of his Navajo heritage? – feels a bit hokey and unnecessary, but otherwise, Solstice was an easy read and I liked it enough to continue with the series.

The Spoil of Beasts (Iron on Iron #3) by Gregory Ashe

This title may be purchased from Amazon

A jailhouse slaughter. A relentless killer. And way too much jackassing around.

When word comes that two key witnesses in an investigation are dead, North and Shaw are surprised—and pleased—to learn that their friend, John-Henry Somerset, is interested in hiring them as freelance contractors for the Wahredua police department. The department is stretched thin, and the investigation into the Cottonmouth Club (and the criminal organization operating there) is collapsing. Not to mention—in North and Shaw’s opinion, anyway—they’re the best detectives around. Tracking down the killer won’t be easy, though. The trail ends at the doors of a megachurch, where the close-knit family of the pastor is keeping more than one secret. Worse, a local politician seems to be involved, and he’s got secrets of his own. On top of that, a sheriff’s deputy has gone missing, and North and Shaw are convinced he knows who is orchestrating events.

Pressing the investigation takes North and Shaw into the crosshairs—literally. And when their friends become targets as well, North and Shaw must hurry to learn the truth before the killer can strike at the people they care for most. Because when it comes to his friends, the only one who gets to mess with them is North McKinney.

Rating: A-

We’ve reached book three of the epic Iron on Iron Asheverse crossover series, and it’s time for North and Shaw to pick up the baton. The Spoil of Beasts picks up immediately after the events of The Girl in the Wind; Theo and Auggie have just got engaged, and John-Henry has received the shocking news that the two suspects in their investigation – currently residing in the county jail – are dead, and Sherrif Engels has been murdered.

Immediately on the alert, our guys warily make their way to the Hazard/Somerset house to regroup. The atmosphere is tense; they all know that whoever murdered Engels and took out the suspects will likely be redoubling their efforts to dispose of them, too. Tean and Jem and Theo and Auggie have already been targeted and narrowly escaped with their lives; whoever is behind the trafficking and drug rings operating out of the Cottonmouth Club clearly has plenty of money and resources and will stop at nothing to protect their organization.

As ever, Gregory Ashe does an incredible job of combining a tense, gritty mystery with some of the most amazing character and relationship development I’ve ever read. The overarching plot becomes messier, more dangerous and more frustrating as our heroes seem to be outflanked at every turn, brutally so in many cases, as the bad guys are slowly picking off every potential witness or informant each time they – and we – think they’ve caught a break.

Although this is a dual PoV story, The Spoil of Beasts feels like a ‘North book’; his perspective is the more dominant one in the sense that we’re given greater insight into all the insecurities and fears he continues to struggle with – his increasing concern for Shaw and the way his unregulated empathy is in danger of swallowing him up, and all the defence mechanisms North built growing up as a reaction to his father’s insistence on his being a ‘real man’ and not showing emotion, and the sense of inferiority he felt as someone from a blue collar background attending a prestigious college alongside so many wealthy and privileged young men (like Shaw). We’ve already seen how deeply ingrained are his instincts to deflect and fight back whever he feels anything approaching vulnerability; North doesn’t ‘do’ vulnerability, and fear of it turns him fiercely combative and defensive. He’s seemed to be even more of an arsehole than before in this series, much of which is explained now, as his very real fear of losing Shaw (Shaw’s response to trauma is to turn inward), is causing him to take it out on everyone around him and rip them a new one. I remember thinking, when I read The Face in the Water, that North seemed even more of an areshole that I remembered, to the point where his barbed comments couldn’t be taken as anything other than nasty and insulting. He’s always been abrasive and maybe a bit close to the dividing line between teasing and meanness, but he’s been crossing that line more and more of late, and even though Shaw keeps reminding him that these people he’s treating like crap are their friends, North either can’t or won’t hear him and keeps lashing out. There’s a scene where he’s appallingly and viciously rude to Auggie just after Auggie has saved his and Shaw’s lives which had me asking myself why any of them would continue to put him with him. If even Shaw can’t talk sense into North, it’s got pretty bad.

All this is not to say that Shaw isn’t struggling, because he is, albeit in a different way – he feels things so deeply, but never seems to build any defences against hurt. The author doesn’t address what happened at the end of Codirection here – which is a wise choice, because there’s a LOT to unpack, and this series isn’t the place for it.  I think he’s said he’s going to write more books for North and Shaw, so I imagine that will be dealt with there. I’ve also reached the point where, much as I enjoy Shaw as a character, I need him to be a bit less of an enigma. We know he’s experienced terrible trauma and is very damaged as a result; we’ve occasionally seen the incredibly keen mind that lies behind the whacky exterior (although I’d like to see more of it) – and we know what he’s capable of when it comes to protecting North, but despite all those things, I still don’t feel as if I know him all that well. Perhaps it’s just me and the gears aren’t meshing, but it seems Shaw is still keeping a lot of himself hidden.

North and Shaw are two of the younger members of the group of eight main characters here (I think only Auggie is younger than they are?) and North does a lot of growing up in this story. There’s a lovely conversation between him and Shaw late in the book in which they acknowledge that they’re changing and that maybe it’s time for them to work out what life and their relationship is going to look like for them as they head into their thirties – and in which North confesses that no matter how much he wants to, he can’t protect Shaw from everything.  And it struck me that the ‘insular’ nature of their relationship (which has been shaped by so much shared history and trauma) means that they’re at a point where they really need to expand their horizons somewhat, to see other couples in healthy relationships and – for North, especially – to make some real friends of men he can actually look up to and learn from (not that he’d ever admit it!).

With the focus on North and Shaw there is, as you’d expect, a lot of ridiculousness (those hilarious tangential conversations, Shaw’s (not so) guileless shit-stirring and North’s outraged inventive swearing are works of art!) and seat-of-the-pants action, but being answerable only to themselves most of the time means they aren’t great team players, which causes a lot of tension within the group and problems for John-Henry.

The moments of insight and affection between North and Shaw help to alleviate the almost oppresive tension that permeates the book, as do several other scenes between North, Shaw and other members of the group. There is a terrific scene between North and Emery – which has been a long time coming! – that is beautiful in its brutal honesty, and I will be forever grateful to Mr. Ashe for that wonderfully life-affirming scene at the Pretty Pretty where the guys get shitfaced and do all the stuff that guys their age normally do when at a bar – karaoke, stupid contests, dance-offs, and generally making idiots of themselves while cementing the bonds they’ve already formed.

Once again, Gregory Ashe does a superb job of keeping all his plates spinning – plot, relationships, character development – and of giving every book in this series a different ‘feel’ that owes everything to the personalities of its lead characters. Clever, fast-paced and action-packed, The Spoil of Beasts is another fantastic instalment in the Iron on Iron series, and I’m already on the edge of my seat waiting for what is sure to be a hum-dinger of a finale in Hazard and Somerset’s book The Evening Wolves.

The Old Wheel (The Adventures of Holloway Holmes #2) by Gregory Ashe (audiobook) – Narrated by Greg Tremblay

This title may be downloaded from Audible via Amazon

Blackmail. Breakups. Boys. Trouble always comes in threes.

Life is different for Jack Moreno. Good. Definitely good. Well, better, anyway.

He’s back in school (although classes are harder than he expected). And his dad is healthy (which means he’s worrying again about things like Jack’s curfew and, oh yeah, grades). And he’s got a great girlfriend (who might, justifiably, be running out of patience with him). And Holloway Holmes is his friend (even though it’s the kind of friendship that leaves Jack wanting more). So, life is good. Better. Definitely.

Except when it comes to money. With his dad still struggling to pay a mountain of medical bills, Jack jumps at the opportunity to make some extra cash. After all, helping a fellow student deal with blackmail isn’t exactly new—just a few months before, Jack handled a couple of blackmailers on campus. With the help of Holmes, of course.

Only something is different this time. Something Jack can’t put his finger on, something that makes him suspect the blackmail is just a cover for something much more serious. And when one of the blackmailers is murdered and Holmes becomes the prime suspect, Jack and Holmes will have to race to figure out what they’ve missed. Before it’s too late for both of them.

Rating: Narration – A+; Content – A

The Old Wheel, book two in The Adventures of Holloway Holmes, opens up a few months after the events of book one (The Strangest Forms) and finds Jack Moreno now enrolled for classes at the Walker School, his father in much better health (thanks to the deal Jack ‘negotiated’ with the school’s board of trustees) and Jack’s friendship with the supremely enigmatic Holloway Holmes continuing to both enrich his life and exasperate him to the point of screaming. Things are mostly better than they were (if you don’t count Mr. Moreno’s improved health meaning he’s able to take more of an interest in what Jack is up to) although money and the lack thereof is still a major concern; medical bills are still coming in, and Jack’s reputation as someone who knows how to get stuff ensures a steady stream of lucrative side-hustles obtaining various kinds of contraband for the ‘troubled teens’ who have been sent to Walker School by families who don’t want to deal with them.

The Adventures of Holloway Holmes is a trilogy featuring the same central couple and overarching plotlines, so it’s essential to have read The Strangest Forms first. There are probably spoilers for that book in this review.

So Jack’s life has improved somewhat, but he’s still struggling with massive amounts of guilt and trauma over his mother’s death in a car accident a year ago, and the fact is dawning that maybe his one remaining parent wants him to be something he’s not. (Jack is bisexual but isn’t out to his dad.) He’s still a mess of emotions – angry, scared, resentful – and prone to indulging in high-risk behaviour as a coping mechanism, but the one constant in his life has become Holloway Holmes – his beauty, his quirks, the odd mixture of strength and vulnerability he tries to hard to hide, but has slowly started to allow Jack tiny glimpses of. Their relationship is full of messy teenaged feelings and it’s clear that Jack is already head-over-heels in love, but he’s decided that friendship is probably the way to go because Holmes is so far out of his league.

“I knew that he was something more than me, something vast and wonderful that I could only touch the edges of. But for someone like me, the edge was enough—just a glimpse was enough.”

The mystery plot kicks off when Jack receives a request for help from just about the most unlikely person ever – Aston Young. Aston is one of what Jack terms The Boy Band – the five most popular guys in the school – and is a member of a very wealthy, very strict Mormon family (his grandfather is an apostle, a major bigwig in the church). He’s also gay and a total dickhead, and in The Strangest Forms, was so desperate to keep himself from being outed that he actually tried to kill Holmes. So a teary, terrified Aston asking for help because he’s being blackmailed over video footage of him and his friend and fuck-buddy Dawson having sex is the last thing Jack expects – but the offer of five grand to find out who is behind it is too much to resist. (And nor is the rush at the prospect of getting to root out another blackmailer.)

Given the aforementioned murder attempt, Jack intends to keep Holmes out of it, even though he knows taking money from Aston when Holmes is his best friend is a shitty thing to do. Holmes being Holmes, however, very quickly realises what Jack is up to and certainly isn’t about to let him go it alone. Jack has to bow to the inevitable because, as Holmes reminds him, helping each other is what friends do.

When Dawson is found dead, Jack and Holmes begin to realise that the blackmail and murder are a smokescreen, and that there’s an entirely different game afoot. But what exactly IS the game? Who is pulling the strings? And what, precisely, does the cold, sadistic Blackfriar Holmes believe Jack has that he wants back? And worst, the very worst, of all – has Holloway Holmes been lying to Jack all this time?

The way the author constructs these stories, so that the mystery and the relationship development are so completely and inextricably intertwined, never fails to impress me. Even when Jack and Holmes are getting themselves mixed up in nefarious plots or running for their lives, their interactions show just how much they love and trust one another, and I think that, of all Gregory Ashe’s couples, their romance is one of his most, well, overtly romantic. Despite Holmes’ constant need for control, he can’t help but show Jack more of his true self than he’s ever shown anyone, and Jack’s feelings for Holmes are writ so large as to be visible from space.

            He sat there in silhouette, head down. I knew the curve of his spine. I knew the span of his shoulders. Anywhere, I thought. I could be anywhere and know you.

These two are wonderfully complex, beautifully drawn characters who are easy to fall in love with despite their faults. Holmes has come a long way since he met Jack; every time he takes even a tiny step away from his ‘conditioning’ makes Jack feel like he’s winning at life (even though it sucks the rest of the time) – those small but genuine smiles, the dry humour, his delightful dorkiness, and obvious affection for Jack are all softening Holmes’ sharp edges, although he still struggles to reconcile his feelings for Jack with his training to be unemotional and controlled at all times. And Jack is trying hard to be everything to everyone – a good son, a good boyfriend, a good friend, but he just doesn’t have the wherewithal to keep all those plates spinning. On top of everything he’s still not dealing with about his mother’s death, he feels like he’s disappointing everyone he cares about and he falls back on his old friends – booze and weed – to numb himself to it all. But despite his self-destructive tendencies, Jack is intuitive and compassionate and generally pretty self-aware; he fucks up and he knows he’s fucking up – but he does it anyway, because he’s sixteen and he’s hurting and he wants it all to go away, even if only for a short time. But he never gives up on wanting to get to the truth and do the right thing – even though it’s hard.

There’s a great bunch of brilliantly drawn secondary characters here – shout-outs to Emma, Glo and Rowe who will become really good friends to Jack when he most needs them – and I loved the scenes between Jack and his dad. They’re not always pleasant – mostly because Moreno Sr. is usually out of his mind with worry about his son, and as any parent will know, we’re not always completely rational when our children are in danger – but they’re very realistic, and I really enjoyed the way they’re moving towards a better understanding of each other.

Greg Tremblay delivers another outstanding performance that once again showcases his very real talent for finding the heart of a story and getting inside the heads of its characters. I love Jack’s narrative voice – he’s bright and brave, with a big heart and a nice line in snark and self-deprecating humour, and all those qualities come through strongly in the performance, as does the vulnerability he works hard to hide but which is never far from the surface. The portrayal of Holmes is also superb – his dialogue is clipped and precise, and sounds just a little unnatural, which fits his repressed personality very well, but now there’s a bit more emotion bleeding through. The interactions between Jack and Holmes are perfectly timed and Mr. Tremblay does an incredible job of delivering the emotional content of the story; the intensity of Jack and Holmes’ connection is perfectly conveyed, and the really BIG moments in the story are superbly realised. I defy anyone to have a dry eye at the end; I’ve read the book and knew what to expect, but even so, I was choked up thanks to the very raw emotion Mr. Tremblay injects into the words.

I’ve mostly written about the central relationship in this review because I don’t want to give away too much of the plot, but I’ll just remind potential listeners that despite the ages of the protagonists (sixteen), this is a typically Ashe-ian (?) mystery, so not only is it clever, twisty and full of red-herrings, it also contains some darker themes and violence.

The Old Wheel is a tough listen at times, but it’s a terrific follow up to The Strangest Forms and is highly recommended. There’s a humdinger of a cliff-hanger at the end, but my understanding is that the final book, Where All Paths Meet, will be released in audio in Oct/Nov, so there’s not too long to wait.

Note: this story contains scenes featuring drug use and an attempted (not graphic) sexual assault.

This review originally appeared at AudioGals.

Disrupted Engagement (Valor and Doyle #6) by Nicky James

This title may be purchased from Amazon

The ring has been bought, and all Aslan has to do is create the perfect setup for a proposal. No problem. Nothing to it. Quaid deserves the best, and he plans to deliver.

After choreographing a romantic evening to officially pop the question, Aslan is ready.

But things don’t go as planned, and the evening is ruined. Quaid’s insecurities rear their ugly head, making him suspicious. He knows Aslan is hiding something, but pessimism insists it isn’t a good thing.

When Aslan gets called out of town to hunt down a long-acting serial killer, there is no time to soothe his overanxious boyfriend’s worries or make a new attempt to propose.

Torn between a complicated case and figuring out the perfect way to ask Quaid to marry him, Aslan is left scrambling. Every idea falls flat. Every attempt fails. The more pressure he puts on himself, the more unsuccessful his efforts, and Quaid’s fears grow.

Aslan needs to solve this serial killer case and get home to straighten the mess he’s made.

Rating: A

Toronto’s finest are back in book six of Nicky James’ compelling romantic suspense series featuring detectives Quaid Valor and Aslan Doyle, Disrupted Engagement. Once again, the author skilfully weaves together an intriguing mystery with the ongoing development of the romantic relationship between the central couple, which has been absolutely stellar throughout. The title of this one gives away a fair bit – although if you’ve been following the series and recall how the last book ended (how could you not??) it’s not exactly a spoiler. After almost a year together, and weathering good times and some pretty bad ones, Aslan is ready to pop the question – and is determined to make it a proposal to remember. But finding the perfect setting proves a lot more difficult than he’d envisaged.

When the story begins, Aslan has everything planned out. He knows how much Quaid craves a family of his own and exactly how important this moment will be to him, so is determined that the proposal will be one Quaid can tell the grandkids about – a swanky restaurant and a nice, candlelit dinner will create just the right atmosphere. The trouble is, that even though Aslan knows how deeply Quaid’s insecurities run, he’s so caught up with wanting to make everything perfect for him that he fails to realise that he’s giving off restless vibes that cause Quaid to start getting suspicious. They’ve been out to nice restaurants before, sure, but never one quite this nice… and all his old fears roar back to life. Has Aslan done something he thinks he needs to apologise for?

Of course, both of them so tightly-wound turns out to be a recipe for disaster and Aslan ends up going home with a lapful of wine instead of a new fiancé.

Things at home are still a little strained with Quaid now certain Aslan is hiding something, but before Aslan can come up with a way to make things right – and another way to effect the perfect marriage proposal – he and his partner, Torin Fox, are assigned to to work a big case out of town. Two weeks earlier, on a remote farm outside Cornwall, a landscaping firm uncovered six bodies in various states of decomposition, indicating that the murders took place over a period of thirty to forty years. Everything was going smoothly with the investigation until one of the most recent victims was identified as a member of Cornwall PD – a constable who had gone missing eighteen months before. In light of this, the chief of police decided it was no longer possible for her department to continue to work the case, so has requested outside help. It’s a fascinating case and both Aslan and Torin are keen to get started – until it sinks in that Cornwall is four hours away so there’ll be no daily commuting – they’ll have to stay there until the investigation is concluded. It couldn’t have come at a worse time as far as Aslan is concerned; he knows that Quaid is on edge (thanks to the botched proposal and the new tension at home) and that he’s most likely adding two and two and making eleven, but Aslan hasn’t counted on quite how fast Quaid’s hamster-wheel brain – so logical and rational most of the time but a mess of insecurities when it comes to himself, his attractiveness and his ability to keep Aslan happy – is catastrophising. Even Torin has a better perspective on things than Aslan does –

“Now your incredibly insecure boyfriend will spend all his free time worried when all you had to do was…” Torin rolled his hand like an ass, encouraging me to fill in the blank.

“I’m not proposing on a whim. He deserves better than that.”

“He’s going to worry himself sick now.”

“He won’t.”

“He will.”

There’s more than a touch of farce going on here, as Aslan plans another proposal only to have it backfire (almost literally), and Quaid falls back into his old ways of not eating, not getting enough sleep and generally not looking after himself while he works himself into the ground and obsesses about the fact that Aslan has lied to him – something they’d both promised never to do. Thankfully, Quaid’s new bestie, Costa Ruiz, is on hand to get him out of the office and get some food into him, complaining loudly about not wanting to be Aslan’s messenger boy, but caring enough to make sure Quaid is okay. I really like the way their friendship has developed – Quaid doesn’t have many friends (although he’s getting along much better with his new partner) so it’s good to see him and Ruiz getting along and winding each other up.

The serial killer case Aslan and Torin are working on is an interesting one; not knowing who all the victims are is their biggest problem to start with, and I enjoyed watching them work the angles to find out their identities and the connections between them. Things are moving frustratingly slowly though, and Aslan is increasingly worried about Quaid, but he isn’t about to propose over the phone or video chat – Quaid deserves better than that. When Quaid arrives in Cornwall unexpectedly, Aslan is delighted, but also knows he has to stop procrastinating over the proposal – which, while it’s certainly memorable, ends up not being exactly the romantic tour de force he had hoped for!

Even though Quaid has taken some vacation days to go to visit Aslan, he’s intrigued by the case and asks to help. Energised by the idea of a different perspective and knowing how observant and insightful Quaid is, Aslan eagerly accepts the offer, despite a few grumbles from Torin. I really like their dynamic, and the way the author is always mindful of the fact that Torin is Aslan’s work partner and Quaid is respectful of that. And watching Quaid and Aslan work together and bounce ideas around is always such a treat; even when they were dancing around each other in the first couple of books, their different styles complemented each other and they were – and still are – dynamite when they work as a team.

Six books in, and I’m finding this series as engrossing as ever. The character development is stunningly good, and Aslan and Quaid’s romantic relationship continues to grow in a very satisfying way. We’ve seen each of them fall apart and watched the other pick up the pieces and be their rock; we’ve seen Aslan grow from a slightly immature, no-commitment kinda guy into a man who works hard to be a better person and to be the man he knows Quaid so richly deserves, and we’ve watched Quaid working to overcome some of his worst insecurities. So his taking a few steps backward in this book is hard to read – but it feels realistic; the abandonment issues and insecurities he is living with aren’t going to just disappear overnight (or be magicked away by twu wuv) and he still struggles to believe that good things can happen to him, or that he deserves them. He just needs a little reminder from time to time. And that reminder – in the form of a handsome Irish/Italian detective – is never far away.

Disrupted Engagement is another great read from Nicky James, a wonderful mixture of romance, humour, tenderness, snark and clever, tautly-plotted mystery that I’m sure fans of the series will eat up with a spoon. We’re left eagerly awaiting some promised Matrimonial Merriment later this year – although I’m already worried about Quaid tying himself up in knots trying to plan a wedding!

This review originally appeared at All About Romance.

Everything I Didn’t Know by Nicky James (audiobook) – Narrated by Nick J. Russo

This title may be downloaded from Audible via Amazon

It was supposed to be an escape. A new life living off the land. It was supposed to be a peaceful community. A family. But it was a lie.

Six months after he arrived, Bowie learned the hard truth about Oasis. There are rules, and they are made to be followed. The consequence of disobedience is deadly.

Once you’re in Oasis, you’re never getting out. And its cultish founder has eyes everywhere.

One year into his survival, with a plan to escape slowly simmering to life, Bowie is faced with a problem. New members have joined the community, among them a man who catches Bowie’s eye. Foster is attractive, older, and as far as Bowie is concerned, completely unavailable. This doesn’t stop Foster from flirting or poking his nose where it doesn’t belong. His reckless behavior will get him in trouble, but Foster doesn’t seem to realize he’s playing with fire.

One wrong step and history will repeat itself.

Bowie can’t allow that to happen, and telling Foster the truth about Oasis comes with risks. A fragile alliance forms. A budding romance develops. And more secrets are unveiled.

When their plans fall apart, Bowie and Foster find themselves in a tangled race to escape Oasis and expose the commune before it’s too late.

Rating: Narration – A; Content – B+

Nicky James’ Everything I Didn’t Know is a standalone romantic suspense title set in a remote commune where three hundred-plus people have chosen to leave their old lives behind to follow a simpler one, living off the land. All is not what it seems, however, and the author has crafted an intense, atmospheric story with some genuinely creepy vibes as one young man’s dreams of family and belonging are shattered in the worst way and he learns the truth about the corruption at the heart of the community he is now trapped in.

A couple of years earlier, Bowie and his best friend Collin, both disenchanted with life in general and not really having any idea of what their futures might look like, dropped out of college after becoming involved with a group of environmental activists. The energy, the sense of purpose, the message, and the crazy exploits of the group members appealed to them and offered them the chance to feel part of something important – and for Bowie to finally feel part of the family he never had. A few months later, Bowie and Collin were invited to join Oasis, a community dedicated to protecting the environment, back-to-nature living, and to fighting to save Mother Earth from the destruction being wrought upon her by man-made plagues.

But around six months after joining Oasis, the scales fell from Bowie’s eyes when Collin was caught trying to escape and was publicly executed by Father Wilder, the supposedly benevolent father figure at the head of the community. Collin’s murder was framed as being a way to purge his soul, his body a gift of nutrients for Mother Earth – and was calmly accepted by all. Bowie vows to avenge Collin’s death, no matter how long it takes; he’ll play the game and gain trust and privileges, then, when he’s able, he’ll escape and blow the whistle on Oasis.

A year later, and Bowie’s plan is working. He’s risen through the ranks to become one of the Second Branch – one of the higher ranking ‘officials’ of the organisation and one Father Wilder’s most trusted followers. He is tasked with overseeing the orientation of the latest group of recruits to Oasis, assigning brethren to explain the rules and help them settle in – and is asked by Wilder to look after the engaged couple in the group, a petite, auburn-haired woman and a tall, handsome man a few years older than Bowie – who immediately catches his eye. Bowie quashes his interest – the man (Foster) is engaged to the woman (Paxton) at his side and is firmly off limits, so Bowie must surely have imagined the slightly longer-than-normal handshake and the flirty grin that had been sent his way.

But as the days turn into weeks, and Bowie spends time with and observing the couple, it becomes evident to him that something isn’t quite right. They’re openly affectionate in public, but in private, their body language doesn’t scream “engaged couple”, and Foster is way too flirty for a man who is supposed to be in love with someone else. He also asks a lot of questions, and Bowie fears he’ll start drawing attention to himself if he doesn’t learn to tone it down. More worrying, however, is Bowie’s growing belief that Foster is only here because Paxton wanted to come and he wanted to make her happy. If that’s true, Foster will be in real danger once he realises Oasis isn’t for him and he starts looking for a way out – but maybe, if Bowie has guessed correctly, he could be a potential ally.

Bowie’s instincts prove to be pretty accurate. The listener knows from the start that Foster and Paxton are not what they seem and that their reasons for joining Oasis are not the usual ones. But Bowie has learned that trusting anyone with his secrets is dangerous – and no matter how strong the pull of attraction between him and Foster is, and with the stakes suddenly raised – he can’t afford to make the wrong choice.

Although the story is told in dual PoV, Everything I Didn’t Know is really Bowie’s show as he pushes forward with his plan to become one of Wilder’s inner circle in order to foil his latest and biggest scheme to create havoc and destruction. There are some truly nail-biting moments as Bowie skirts the edge of discovery, and you’ll find your heart in your throat as he’s forced to do some very fast thinking to keep his enemies convinced of his fervour and dedication. I really liked him as a character, and was impressed with the way the author presents his inner conflict. Bowie knows the compassionate father-figure Wilder presents to his followers is just an act, knows he’s ruthless and capable of great cruelty, yet despite all that, there’s something about the man that still draws Bowie to him. For someone like Bowie, who has been alone for much of his life, it was easy to buy the promise of family, home, and community Oasis was selling, and even though he knows how empty those promises were, something in him still clings to the fantasy and he has to remind himself of the truth sometimes. I’m no expert, but his thought-processes feel very realistic. I also appreciated the author’s choice to make Oasis something with a certain amount of appeal – a group of people dedicated to protecting the environment (a cause we can all get behind) rather than a crazy religious cult, because it provides some real grey areas and makes Bowie’s emotional conflict easier to understand.

Because Foster is new to Oasis and doesn’t have even the limited freedom Bowie has, his purpose is mostly as a sounding board and support for the first three-quarters of the book, but that’s exactly what Bowie needs. Their physical relationship begins as a way of blowing off steam, but their connection deepens quickly and realistically, and there’s a neat bit of role-reversal going on, with Bowie – the younger of the two – the more level-headed, and Foster – a former military professional – the more reckless and prone to impulsivity. I admit that I did have to side-eye a couple of potentially TSTL moments, but what I really liked about Foster is his ability to be honest with himself and admit that he’s out of his depth and not well suited to his current situation. He’s also a good partner for Bowie – he recognises his strength of mind and his determination and he never tries to wrap him up in cotton wool or insist he’s too young and inexperienced to do what has to be done.

Admittedly, the romance does play second-fiddle to the plot here, but that makes sense given the oppressive environment and the need for secrecy. I appreciated that both men acknowledge that their relationship was formed under extraordinary circumstances but that they’d like to explore it further, and their eventual HFN provides like a solid basis for a future together.

Knowing in advance that a book I’ve enjoyed reading is going to be equally enjoyable in audio thanks to the talents of an excellent narrator means I can just kick back and immerse myself in the story without worrying about odd quirks that get on my nerves! (There’s nothing quite like that sinking feeling when you see a book you loved coupled with the name of a narrator who just… isn’t up to the job, amirite?) Nick J. Russo has proved himself to be one of the most reliably good audio performers around – I haven’t given him anything lower than a B+ here at AudioGals, and he’s earned a good number of A grades, too – and he delivers another strongly characterised and expertly nuanced performance here. His portrayals of Bowie and Foster work really well – the humour in Foster’s dialogue comes through strongly and he does a great job of putting across all the complex emotions Bowie is going through, conveying his inner strength and determination as well as his constant and very real fear of discovery. Their emotional connection is strongly rendered and I enjoyed the warmth and humour on display in their more intimate moments – and as a veteran romance narrator, Mr. Russo really knows how to bring the sexy without going over the top. The secondary cast isn’t large, but is clearly delineated and the narration as a whole is well paced and expressive.

Everything I Didn’t Know is a tense and exciting story and another compelling listen from this favourite author/narrator team.

This review originally appeared at AudioGals.