Single Malt

Wow! Holy fuck! Amazing! Those were my exactly thoughts and words I said out loud as I finished this book.

This story had me from the grief at the very beginning, to the slow, slow-burn and built-up sexiness and attraction that was one of the most tangible and real and hot that I have ever had the privilege of being voeuyer to, to the cases, technospeak (I don't dare say technobabble!), intricacies, and the unseen divulgence at the very end. This is all going to keep me guessing and wondering and in shock until I read on.

A love story. A man in mourning, wracked with survivors guilt. Two men with a true connection, complicated emotions, and a great deal of lust. Crimes and terrorism. Twisted past hurts and so many layers to peel back in show more the present. Great, developed friends and family. Laughs, music, intense flavor in every scene. This story was a perfect home run. I honestly do not have one thing to criticize in this book.

Added to my all time favorite list because I was so far into this, beyond just imagination, panting along with Jamie and Aiden, feeling every facet of their lives with them. This dug so far into my heart and head.

Highest recommendations to all. show less

Originally posted on Tales to Tide You Over

I’ll admit I chose to read this novel based on the blurb without realizing it was a male-male romance. I haven’t read very many as that’s not my thing, but once I realized, I decided to go ahead anyway, a decision I’m happy about.

The novel has a strong narrative voice and a powerful, complicated plot. Aidan Talley is just returning to his position at the FBI after losing both partner and husband in a horrific car accident with him as the driver. Jameson Walker, his new partner, is a former sports hero with a love for hacking computers and a full on crush on Aidan that’s lasted three years. He wants to stay out of the spotlight, but he wouldn’t mind one bit if Aidan noticed him.

I show more found the story involving, and the dynamics between Jamie and Aidan were tangible. Both feel the attraction, but Aidan thinks it’s a betrayal of his lost husband. The story balances between Aidan learning to love and heal, and the investigation into the car crash on the side (as well as their official case). It plays well with expectations, and the dialogue is layered with hidden meanings, both those heard and unheard. The story is very much relationship focused, both between the characters and broader, which happens to be my preference in reading.

That said, I did find it odd how almost every single encounter, or so it seemed, had a sexual undertone regardless of the gender mix or circumstances. This did add a few extra layers to the tangle of professional and personal barriers standing between Aidan and Jameson, though, as well as bringing jealousy in to cloud the evidence trail. Actual sexual encounters between the two main characters are explicit to the level of female-male contemporary romance, but I was able to skim those parts in favor of the rich story.

I appreciated how the cases they were investigating were much more than a backdrop for the relationship. Those also tied into the theme of having friends and family to count on nicely. The story isn’t limited to a focus on the two of them as some romances are, but rather brings in a large cast of mainly Aidan’s family and friends. Aidan is very much an active part of his big family, which includes his husband’s sister who is also his FBI boss. Parents, siblings, and nieces make an appearance while loyalty, trust, support, and friendship are all strong themes. The emotional punch of Aidan’s grief, and how the loss affects those around him, has a prominent place as well.

This is a many-layered story that only gets deeper as it progresses, with feelers stretching out to the next book in the series as well. I’m glad for the oversight that led me to pick it, because I would have regretted missing the powerful read.

P.S. I received this novel from the publisher in return for an honest review. show less

I found this to be a pretty enjoyable read and I will probably read the next book soon. This isn't the most realistic romance novel ever but I prefer to read action-romance or suspenseful-romance so this was a good fit for me.

This book started off kind of weird when we had a huge jump in time to skip over an action scene and we were only told about the details. It left me a little worried that all of the action scenes were going to be delivered like that but later in the book that was not the case which I was very happy about.

I thought the characters were all well developed and I liked their relationships, although it did kind of bother me that almost every character in this book were within the same family. That just made the story show more seem more unrealistic to me. I liked that Aiden was struggling with the loss of his husband and didn't just jump into a new relationship right away. I also thought all the surrounding characters helped to flesh out the story but I almost wish this book was a little longer so we could explore the other family members more since they are clearly important to the story. I also with more of Jamie's background had played a role in the story. He was good enough at basketball to be in the NBA but the only time it comes up is when people recognize him from college basketball. If you're going to give a character a unique backstory like that, I want it to be more important to the plot.

The plot itself was good. It definitely kept the story moving and had a good amount of action which is what I like in these types of romance. I thought the ending was solid and set a good foundation for the next book. I liked that the author let Aiden and Jamie have two very different sets of skills and the plot allowed for those skills to be demonstrated very well.

I will definitely continue with the series and while I have some hesitations about where the plot is going in the next book, I hope I'll be able to enjoy it.

Spoiler section!
The ending of this story made it seem like Jamie is going to have to investigate Gabe, Aidens former husband, and the rest of his family and keep it a secret from Aiden, which is also what the summary of the next book makes it seem like. I don't love that because having to keep a secret like that is basically just elaborate miscommunication plots and I already know it's going to lead to some sort of fight that I'm not going to enjoy reading about. Also if Gabe is working with the terrorists, I think it'll be revealed that he didn't actually die in the car crash, which I also don't love. Obviously all of this is speculation but I don't want Jamie and Aiden's relationship to go back to square one because of what could happen plot wise in book 2. show less

Is age really just a number? Aidan is back to work after eight months of recovery from a car accident and paired with the attractive, but far too young, Jamie. Aidan is prepared to take things slow--in work and life--but a case that pulls him and his new partner deep into dangerous territory makes that a hard thing to do. And maybe Aidan's original thoughts about Jamie being off-limits deserve to be challenged. Is he denying himself something good for the right reasons, after all?

Great start to a new series with interesting MCs. Whilst there's a solid age difference (not excessive) I liked that this was barely an issue; the issues surrounded a past husband and guilt. Looking forward to reading more on this team and solving the bigger mystery :D

Story: 8
First MC: 8
Second MC: 7
Secondary characters: 7
Mystery: 5
Sexual tension: 6
Humor: 5
Hotness: 6
Product placement: 7
Ridiculousness: 4
Annoying: 4
Audio: 7 (7h 42min)
To re-read: 5

When I see similarities between books its hard not to see them, in this case [b:Cut & Run|5199022|Cut & Run (Cut & Run, #1)|Abigail Roux|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327894486s/5199022.jpg|5266173] comes to mind. Having started reading book 2; I keep seeing the similarities. I won't list them because they are basically spoilers.
I hope book 2 has a more exciting mystery. Cyber and terrorist are boring to me; overdone.

Narrator Tristan James sounded different, slower, is he a smoker? Flu?
He sounded ehm…older? I almost didn’t recognize him and he had show more a hard time distinguishing voices.

sexy officials, cougars, fast cars, charming giants, and bad judgements show less