Review: Ball & Chain by Abigail Roux

Home from their unexpected deployment, the former members of Marine Force Recon team Sidewinder rejoin their loved ones and try to pick up the pieces of the lives they were forced to leave behind. Ty Grady comes home to Zane Garrett, only to find that everything around him has changed—even the men he went to war with. He barely has time to adjust before his brother, Deuce, asks Ty to be his best man. But that isn’t all Deuce asks Ty to do, and Ty must call for backup to deal with the business issues of Deuce’s future father-in-law.

Nick O’Flaherty and Kelly Abbott join Ty and Zane at the wedding on an island in Scotland, thinking they’re there to assuage Deuce’s paranoia. But when bodies start dropping and boats start sinking, the four men get more involved with the festivities than they’d ever planned to.

With the clock ticking and the killer just as stuck on the isolated island as they are, Ty and Zane must navigate a veritable minefield of family, friends, and foes to stop the whole island from being destroyed.

***may contain spoilers so watch out!***

OK, so here’s the deal.  I have been anticipating this book ever since I finished Touch & Geaux.  I was jealous of everyone who got an ARC and I couldn’t wait to read more about Ty & Zane and see what kinds of shenanigans they could get up to.  When I learned that it had been released early on Riptide I jumped on it right quick.

Then I started to read…

I was eager to see the reunion.  I just knew it was going to be epic.  I was expecting one of the hottest sex scenes I have ever read.  I knew they were going to reunite, it was going to be so romantic and joyful, and then burn up my screen with the wild monkey lovin’.  I didn’t get that.

And I was pissed!!!

Only 5% in and I was already disappointed.  Big, epic reunion at the base and they go home and fuck like bunnies, right?  NO!  All of a sudden it is two weeks later and I’m left looking for the missing scene, thinking I got a defective copy because surely Ms. Roux wouldn’t skip over something like that!  I mean, who does that?!?!?

Then they go to some castle on a cliff on a remote island off of Scotland for Deuce’s wedding.  Already my eyes are rolling because, yeah, I can see where this is going.  As I progress through the story my eyes just keep rolling until I think they’re gonna detach from their sockets from the strain.  Really?  Secret passageways?  Come on!  It was like watching the movie Clue or seeing really bad mystery dinner theatre.  Then someone is murdered, all communication with the mainland is cut off and all the boats float away in a storm.  Yep, I’m watching Clue.  

Oh, and this book is funny.  I’m telling you it is.  See, right here in the book it tells you that this book is funny.  Why aren’t you laughing?  You should be laughing because this shit is funny dammit!  The book says so for crying out loud!

I’m so freaking disappointed by this time that I consider DNFing the book.

But then I read one sentence, just five little words strung together by Nick and my entire perspective changes.

She did this shit on purpose y’all.

Suddenly my eyes are open and I’m seeing this not as a serious book (or a book trying to be serious) but for what it truly is.

Entertainment.

Now it’s gone from horrible, rant worthy mystery dinner theatre to entertaining blockbuster movie.  Because that’s what it really is.  Just pure entertainment.  So much more enjoyable that way!  I started flying through the book with glee.  Here are the shenanigans I wanted.  Oh, this is gonna be good!

As I continued reading though, I couldn’t help but notice that I was getting less and less Ty & Zane and more and more Ty & Nick and Kelly & Nick until it became just Nick.  Nick, Nick, Nick, Nickety Nick.  All Nick, all the time.  I was now watching the Nick channel.  Why is that?  I thought this was book 8 in the Cut & Run series, not book 2 of the Sidewinders novellas.  Did i buy the wrong book?  What the hell is going on around here?!?

And I’m back to being disappointed.  

But!  I persevered because, hey, it’s Ty & Zane!  Well, kinda.  I think I was hoping Nick would fade into the background so we could get back to the MAIN CHARACTERS of this story.  Sad to say, that never happened.

Then at 69% (heh) I was thrown into a big ole batch of WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK IS GOING ON AROUND HERE?!? Chaos has ensued and I’m digging it.  I’m digging it hard.  I am just going to come right out and say this:  I love shenanigans.  I love over-the-top storylines.  I love chaos.  Needless to say I am back to loving it.

I’m not even going to touch on the ending because it was just more of Nick the Great and I don’t wanna get mad again.  I will tell you this though.  There was a scene in this book that just about gutted me.  I won’t tell you what it was and I won’t tell you where in the book it was.  Just know this:  it made me bleed.

So to sum up, I both loved and hated this book equally.  I will give it 3 stars and hope that Abi Roux gives the boys (Ty & Zane, NOT NICK) the face time and the HEA they deserve in the final book of this series.  ‘Cause they really do deserve it.

Review: Shock & Awe by Abigail Roux

After barely surviving a shootout in New Orleans, Sidewinder medic Kelly Abbott has to suffer through a month of recovery before he can return home to Colorado. He’s not surprised when fellow Sidewinder Nick O’Flaherty stays with him in New Orleans. Nor is he surprised when Nick travels home with him to help him get back on his feet—after all, years on the same Marine Force Recon team bonded the men in ways that only bleeding for a brother can. He’s very surprised, though, when Nick humors his moment of curiosity and kisses him. Nick knows all of Kelly’s quirks and caprices, so the kiss was a low-risk move on his part . . . or so he thought. But what should’ve been a simple moment unleashes a flood of confusing emotions and urges that neither man is prepared to address. Now, Kelly and Nick must figure out what they mean to each other—friends and brothers in arms, or something even deeper?—before the past can come back to ruin their tenuous future.

Mmm... delicious.  I enjoyed this introduction to Sidewinder, a spin-off series from the popular Cut & Run books.  The chemistry between Nick and Kelly was off the charts, and the sex scenes were intense, raw and gritty, just the way I like them.   I also liked how the good times continued outside the bedroom.  Their dialogue and private reflections revealed a deep friendship filled with loyalty, trust and humor. It was great how they knew each other so well and could call each other on their BS. 

Why not 5 stars?

It felt rushed; I would have liked a slower build, with a little more tension before they got together.   The transition from Kelly considering Nick a good friend to wanting him sexually happened too suddenly for me.  The process also felt a little too analytical, almost as if he was evaluating the idea without emotion, just checking things off a list:

Kelly likes Nick, check

Kelly likes sex, check

Nick is hot in bed, check

Maybe Kelly would like sex with Nick, let's try it, check

Sex with Nick is amazing, check

His conclusion?  Nick and Kelly should be together because the sex is hot and the relationship would be easy. 

And that amazing sex? Happened while he was recovering from a bullet wound and could barely move.  That distracted me because I kept thinking, wait, doesn't that hurt?

As the story progressed, though, you could see Kelly getting more emotionally involved, which I appreciated.  I also appreciated Nick's reactions to Kelly's questions, propositions and enthusiastic responses ;)

For all that I enjoyed this story, though, I think it’s important to note that it is an introduction to a series, and a lot is left hanging.   So consider it a hearty appetizer, not a main course.

Side Notes:

The dirty talk...oh the dirty talk...*shivers* so good.

The ending shouldn't be a surprise if you've read Touch & Geaux. 

A bonus Sidewinder short story, Bait & Switch, was included with Shock & Awe.  Just a quick peek, really, but it gave us an update on Sidewinder and it included a very steamy scene that complimented the first story nicely.