Review: Tied Up In Knots (Marshals #3) by Mary Calmes

Miro Jones is living the life: he’s got his exciting, fulfilling job as a US deputy marshal, his gorgeous Greystone in suburban Chicago, his beloved adopted family, and most importantly, the man who captured his heart, Ian Doyle. Problem is, Ian isn’t just his partner at work—Ian’s a soldier through and through. That commitment takes him away from Miro, unexpectedly and often, and it’s casting a shadow over what could be everything Miro could ever dream of.

Work isn’t the same without Ian. Home isn’t the same, either, and Miro’s having to face his fears alone… how to keep it together at the office, how to survive looming threats from the past, and worst of all, how to keep living without Ian’s rock-solid presence at his side. His life is tied up in knots, but what if unknotting them requires something more permanent? What would that mean for him and Ian? Miro’s stuck between two bad choices, and sometimes the only way to get out of the knot is to hold tight to your lifeline and pull.

Reading a book by Mary Calmes is like being the passenger in a car being driven by Mario Andretti.  The only thing you can do is hold on, enjoy the ride and hope you don’t end up in traction by the end.

But, man!  What a ride it is!

It’s been a year since all the shit in book two went down and Miro is on loan to the DEA in San Francisco while Ian is on deployment.  So, of course Miro is up to his eyeballs in the shit again.  The man just can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble.  I’m going to pause here for a minute because that beginning… whoa!  At 1% I knew this was going to be a five star read.  Just 1%!  That was the beginning to end all beginnings.  It was so unexpected and just fabulous.  I may or may not have done a little happy dance.  There’s a reason why Mary Calmes is one of my most favorite authors and beginnings like that just reinforce that reason.

We get into the heart of the story once Miro arrives back home in, you guessed it, Chicago.  Ian’s on his way home from his mission and Miro’s about to pee himself from excitement.

And so begin the shenanigans.

Can I just say how much I loved reading this book?  It was nonstop action the whole way through; jumping from one crisis to the next.  My ADD brain ate it all up like it was a steak and lobster dinner.  And, to make it even more exciting, mixed in amongst all the action was quite a bit of feels.  It seems that the honeymoon phase is officially over with Ian and Miro so now they have to learn how to actually be together without killing one another.  Now, that’s not to say there was no passion because the passion was there in spades.  Just about burned up my screen with all the heat.  The Fuck Truck was officially driven to Pound Town, my friends.  Repeatedly.  But a rough and tumble fuck session does not a relationship make.  There was quite a bit of relationship development in this installment too and I loved that we got to go through it with them.  

And Mary (who I not-so-secretly call my crack dealer) couldn’t write a book without the cray-cray.  And let me tell you, there’s some seriously fucked up craziness in this book.  Creeped me right the fuck out!  You thought Landry was nuts in Mine?  He ain’t got nothin’ on the psychopath in this book.  I was scared that Miro wasn’t going to get out of the shitstorm this time.  Mary’s been known to go dark so I read a lot of this with my heart in my throat and at one point I had to put my phone down and take a few breaths before I could screw up enough courage to read on.

I was thinking about going more in depth with a few of my favorite moments from this book but I don’t think I could say anything without spoiling the book.  I will say, though, that the cameos were flippin’ fantastic.  Every time there was a cameo I squeaked a bit and drummed my feet on the floor in excitement.  

Honestly, if Mary Calmes stopped writing I think I would die.  Or at least cry bucketfuls of tears.  There would be some serious sobbing and most likely snot would be involved too.  This author is my crack and I need my fix, dammit!  I don’t know what I would do without her addicting words.  To paraphrase my first love, the magnificent uber-alpha Logan Church, I can’t live without her.  

She’s like cheese.

Find it at Dreamspinner Press and on Goodreads!

An ARC was provided by the publisher in exchange for an honest review.