Sticks & Stones

5 Stars! - Reread 3/12/24

This.

This right here.

The denial the longing the fear the caring the need the struggle the antagonism the chemistry the fighting the snark the lust.

And yes, the love.

Heady stuff, this imperfect duo. *sigh*

———————

5 Stars!

*Update - Reread 2/5/15*

The boys are back again, and despite becoming official work partners, each wonders how their romantic feelings fit in their new dynamic, if at all.

As Ty and Zane soon find out, their forced vacation is anything but a nice escape. They're faced with extreme life and death situations, all of which solidify their trust in each other and strengthen their new partnership. It also forces them to reflect on feels they don't want to have or are too afraid to look at show more closely.

What's not in question is their insatiable lust for each other, and their chemistry is combustible. Actions do speak louder than words, and it's an exciting ride as we watch these two fall more for each other despite their own hang ups and reservations. Though they don't know it yet, neither stands a chance at the inevitable,and we wouldn't have it any other way.


Cut & Run Series
1. Cut & Run - 5 Stars
2. Sticks & Stones - 5 Stars
3. Fish & Chips - 5 Stars
4. Divide & Conquer - 5 Stars
Warrior’s Cross - 4 Stars
5. Armed & Dangerous - 5 Stars
6. Tigers & Stripes 5 Stars
7. Touch & Geaux - 5 Stars
8. Ball & Chain - 5 Stars
9. Crash & Burn - 5 Stars show less

I started this series some time ago and had actually read this book but it had been so long ago that wanted to reconnect with the characters. And what characters they are! The tough... hard working,...chance taking...FBI agents with hearts as big as Zane's native Texas. What a pair! Along with being those FBI Special Agents..they are also two partners that want to be more than working partners. A trip to Ty Grady's home in West Virginia allows the reader to meet the family that shaped Ty into the reliable...willing to die for his country and those that he loves man that he is in both his professional and personal life. The series is not going to be for everyone but you just can't help falling in love with these two. The biggest question show more in this episode of their lives is can they survive the "vacation from Hell" and can they survive one another? show less

Ty and Zane have been relegated to desk duty for the past six months, and they're seriously chafing at their restraints. Unsurprisingly, this shows in their psych evals, especially Zane's. So their boss very kindly forces them to go on vacation to Ty's home town. An excellent opportunity for Zane to see that Ty's craziness runs in the family. For maximum impression, a bit of dangerous hiking is added, with a generous serving of therapeutic chatting courtesy of Ty's psychiatrist brother. Just a bit of Grady family hospitality.

The story itself didn't impress me too much. There's a lot of hiking, hiding their relationship from the parents (the brother has a 6th sense), and getting pissed off at Ty's authoritarian father. A far cry from the show more action-packed investigating of the prequel, but we can't have it all.

On the plus side, there's a ton of character development to be had, along with some important changes in Ty and Zane's relationship, even with their relatively sparse interaction. Plus Ty's family's idiosyncrasies are hell'a funny. In a, you know, these people should be certified kind of way.

"It's not that weird. I sleep with a gun," Zane said with a shrug, though he was bemused. "You used to sleep with any number of weapons. Why not a shovel?" He paused and bit his lip. "What kind of damage can he do with that thing?"
"Broke my nose when I was fifteen," Ty answered with a fond smile. "He can hit a snake from ten yards away. Moving target's iffy since his eyesight started going," he added seriously.

Score: 3/5 stars

Not quite at binging level, but there's noticeable improvement in the writing and the character development fronts. Also, Deuce is brilliant and should feature more prominently in future books.
All in all: the series shows definite promise.

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Review of book 1: Cut & Run show less

Still love Ty and Zane! On top of their totally dysfunctional relationship, we get to meet Ty's family. (And doesn't that just clarify a whole lot about the man!) This book was much more an adventure than crime/mystery and I was sucked into it quickly and thoroughly. But Lord, these boys need to get their heads outta their asses 'coz it should be absolutely obvious to them how much they lo... care about each other!

Yeah so this ended up not being what I expected at all. 3 weeks off, a trip to Ty's family and a hike into the Appalachian mountains. Yeah, clear from one of my status updates, I had visions of Ty and Zane getting up close and personal in a tent. Would they run into some trouble...sure, but get sent into hell on earth both physically and mentally, I did not imagine this at all.
This book pulled hard emotionally on my heart. These men were guarded, secretive, and fighting their inner selves around family and each other. There are moments of compassion, unexpressed love and the realization that they would do anything for each other. However, they continue to believe that their feelings are not mutual...and that was just heartbreaking.

show more His greatest fears, in the end, were letting down those he loved and saying the words I love you" without any hope of hearing them in return.

While Earl, Ty's father, could have been slapped upside the head more than once, I loved getting his POV on his observations of these two men. Unable to pinpoint the true nature of their partnership, he does come to see them both for the men they are.
I look forward to more from these men and hopefully some private moments with true feelings revealed soon.

I also did not realize until after reading this that the authors image of Ty was Karl Urban. To get an image like this with him, even though he is my Zane, is just beautiful.

74% Update: Sweet lord...get these boys out of this living hell and into a broom closet!!

46% Update: "I may be an old man Beaumont, but at least I ain't a coward," Earl growled.
Yeah...NO NO NO!!!


13% Update: Ty Zane Tent



Starting:

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I thought I really loved the first book, but I just had no idea...
Now after book 2, I'm absolutely obsessed with Ty & Zane










I really appreciate how this book is totally different from book 1. Often in a series, the books all follow pretty much the outline, but this book couldn't have been much more different from the previous. The setting, the plot, the supporting characters, even Ty and Zane are different.

I had worked out a lot in book 1, but Sticks & Stones had so many things happen that shocked me. Also I love the aspect of the family dynamics showing and how the affect the storyline. Another plus, we learn so much about Ty from this book.

~That was one of the good things about having a partner who was so brutally honest and show more blunt. When he said something good, Zane knew he meant it.~

Both men continue to lower their guards more and more and we begin to see how much they truly mean to each other.

I'm off to feed or maybe fuel my Ty & Zane obsession with some Fish & Chips... show less

Sticks and Stones brings Ty Grady and Zane Garrett back together after the climactic ending of the first book. The Bureau separated Ty and Zane for six months after their last assignment. The FBI dropped Zane back into a meat-grinder of an assignment in New Mexico and Ty spent much of his time recovering from their last encounter. When their boss, Dick Burns, calls them into his office to give them the negative results on their latest unofficial psych evals, he makes it clear that they’re out if they don’t get their heads straight. Burns orders them both to go on an immediate vacation. Ty, in particular, he instructs to go home and visit his family in West Virginia.

The writing in Sticks and Stones is much tighter. Urban and Roux’s show more familiarity with the two characters makes for an intense and dramatic read. As Ty interacts with his father Earl, Mara, his mother, and Deuce, his brother, the reader gets to see a different side of his character. With Earl, Ty is someone who follows orders without question. His tendency to obey his father even against his own better judgment has horrendous consequences for the entire group during their “relaxing” hike into the mountains. His mother and father are unaware that Ty is gay, so he spends much of his time trying to control his sexual attraction to Zane.

Zane believes the reason he’s making the trip to West Virginia with Ty is so that he can act as a smoke screen for Ty. In reality, Ty’s brother Deuce is a psychiatrist. Ty wants his brother’s opinion on the soundness of Zane’s sanity since he’s already failed an unofficial eval. Zane has put aside his drug and alcohol use, but he’s chain-smoking and not sleeping. When he does manage to sleep, nightmares trouble his rest unless he’s sharing a bed with Ty, something that’s a little hard to do in a household where almost no one knows he’s gay.

Still Ty and Zane are real partners. Each has protected the other’s life. Crazed treasure hunters and wild predators notwithstanding, Ty and Zane follow Earl Grady up the mountain on a trek that may cost lives. During this harrowing vacation, Zane learns just how much Ty is afraid of letting down people he cares loves. He can’t let his brother Deuce down, nor his father Earl.

For more reviews by Barb Manning visit barbmanning.net

Review originally appeared on Queer Magazine Online show less