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Showing posts with label Cut and Run Series. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Cut and Run Series. Show all posts
Monday, April 8, 2013
Review: Touch & Geaux by Abigail Roux
Touch & Geaux
Author: Abigail Roux
Release Date: April 8, 2013
Publisher: Riptide Publishing, LLC
Cut & Run Book 7
ISBN: #978-1937551872
Genre: Romantic Suspense, GLBT, m/m romance
Format(s): Paperback (288 pgs), e-book
Book Source: Purchased with my own funds
About the book:
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After having their faces plastered across the news during a high-profile case, FBI Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have become more useful to the Bureau posing for photo ops than working undercover. Just as Zane is beginning to consider retirement a viable option, Ty receives a distress call from a friend, leading them to a city rife with echoes from the past.
New Orleans wears its history on its streets, and it’s the one place Ty’s face could get him killed. Surrounded by trouble as soon as they land, Ty and Zane are swiftly confronted with a past from which Ty can’t hide—one with a surprising connection to Zane’s.
As threats close in from all directions, both men must come to terms with the lives they’ve led and the lies they’ve told. They soon discover that not all their secrets are out yet, and nothing lasts forever.
What B is talking about:
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It takes a very special series to engender true loyalty, never mind complete dedication, among its readers, but the Cut & Run series by Abigail Roux has done just that. Following the lives and relationship of FBI Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett, two characters that become more endearing, frustrating, and challenging with every novel, it is a series that consistently hits nearly every note just right. With the newest addition to the series, Touch & Geaux, this is more undeniably true than ever before.
In many ways that the previous novels only hinted at, Touch & Geaux is a kind of reckoning for Ty and Zane and presents them with what is certainly the most difficult test they have faced together thus far. Ty’s past, in particular, and the repercussions of his actions, makes the journey they set out on an especially brutal one. While we’ve had glimpses into Zane’s history, and how it’s shaped the man he’s become, Ty’s adult life has largely been a mystery until now. The entire story is a lesson in truth as well as faith, and serves as a reminder that anyone who’s set on too high a pedestal is bound to fall sometime. Even those we love the most.
One thing that makes Touch & Geaux such an important step in the series is that a sort of balance of errors is achieved between Ty and Zane. Whereas before, Zane’s mistakes heavily influenced the evolution of their relationship, this time it’s Ty’s past that threatens to destroy everything they’ve fought for. With a terrible truth he’d never allowed himself to consider suddenly staring him in the face, Zane’s faith in the one person he’s ever given himself to completely is shattered, leaving him scrambling for equal footing on unfamiliar ground. Confronted with his own heartbreak and the unmovable force of Ty’s convictions, Zane falls back into old habits, eventually wanting nothing so much as for Ty to hurt as much as he does.
Although the romantic moments between Ty and Zane are some of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure to read, they are primarily a reward for the torture Ms. Roux gleefully casts on her characters and readers alike. As with the other stories in the series, Touch & Geaux is a race against time, forcing both men to use every bit of their knowledge, skill, and determination to survive. While every time Ty and Zane find themselves in danger is a nail-biting experience, Touch & Geaux takes that fear and desperation to an entirely new level, pushing them well past any reasonable breaking point.
Now about those romantic moments…
Aside from being some of the hottest, sexiest, most amazing scenes I’ve ever read, these moments show just how incredible Ty and Zane are together. What began with awkward expressions of attraction mixed with full on, want-it-right-this-instant sex has evolved into a physical need for one another that has more to do with their hearts than it does anything sexual. In Touch & Geaux, their encounters take a painful, dark turn that left me speechless, but makes it clear that vengeance and sex should never be engaged in simultaneously. Fortunately, from there the journey back to each other begins again, albeit with shaky steps and more loss, and is colored by a hard-won sweetness and devotion that made my heart absolutely ache for them both.
Ms. Roux has a real talent for bringing her characters to life, and writes the disillusioned hero to perfection, never shying away from their flaws and shortcomings, but rather showing that even heroes build lives they can’t always be proud of. Dashing in and saving the day is a fine and romantic notion, but it doesn’t address the fact that sometimes those same heroes are the only ones who remember that they’re human, and being deserving of the trust that’s placed in them is a burden in and of itself. While their actions may lead to more than a few restless nights, occasionally the ends do justify the means, and the cold, hard truth is that that’s as good as they’re ever going to get.
The Cut & Run series is one of the best I’ve ever read, in any genre, and Touch & Geaux is my favorite yet. Ms. Roux has crafted a story that pulled me in from the first page, and refused to let go until long after I’d finished reading, making the real world feel a little less true for a time while the story continued to play itself out in my imagination. Ty and Zane are among those rare characters that stay with me long after the cover has been closed, their missteps, cleverness, humor, and passion giving them life beyond the page. With only two more books planned for the series, I am both nervous and excited to know what else Ms. Roux could possibly have in store for Ty and Zane, given how far they’ve already come. Regardless, I’ll gladly see the series through to the end. It’s been one hell of a ride so far.
B’s Rating:
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Personal favorite - a must read (A+)
Purchase Info:
Reviews in the Series:
Touch & Geaux Web Hunt
Welcome to the Touch & Geaux Web Hunt. Today we are celebrating the release of Touch & Geaux by Abigail Roux by participating in this super fun event sponsored by Riptide Publishing. For additional details about the Web Hunt, including a list of all of the participants, click HERE.
Touch & Geaux is the seventh book in the Cut & Run series by Abi Roux. The Cut & Run series is B’s favorite series. You can read her reviews of the first five books in the series, as well as Stars & Stripes, the sixth book in the series. In addition, we will run B’s review of Touch & Geaux later today, so be sure to stop back!
Here is one of B’s favorite quotes from the series, taken from last year’s Stars & Stripes:
“Call whenever you want. Mostly I’ve been in the office, trying to inflict a paper cut on myself serious enough to require medical leave.”
Zane grinned. “Mac would just tell you to suck it up.”
“Hence the many failed attempts at tripping on the rug at the entryway. The one time I managed it, I tucked and rolled and popped back up before I could think twice about it.”
Zane laughed—the first real laugh he’d managed in days. It was hard to tell if Ty was serious or just playing with him, and that was one of the things Zane loved so much about him. Ty really was the type of guy who would ninja roll through the lobby of a government building and just keep walking as if nothing had happened.
Thanks for joining in the celebration for Touch & Geaux. Be sure to collect all of the favorite Cut & Run series quotes today to be eligible for great prizes from Riptide Publishing and Abi Roux! More details about the web hunt can be found HERE.
Finally, Riptide Publishing is sponsoring their first ever live chat, with Abi Roux, at 12:00 PM EDT on April 10. Please use this RSVP link.
Go out and keep hunting for those quotes and be sure to come back later today for B’s review of Touch & Geaux.
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Review: Stars & Stripes by Abigail Roux
Stars & Stripes
Author: Abigail Roux
Release Date: Aug. 13, 2012
Publisher: Riptide
Cut & Run #6
ISBN: #978-1937551582
Genre: Romantic Suspense, GLBT – m/m
Format(s): Paperback (292 pgs), e-book
Book Source: Purchased with my own funds
About the book:
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Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have managed the impossible: a few months of peace and quiet. After nearly a year of personal and professional turmoil, they're living together conflict-free, their work is going smoothly, and they're both happy, healthy, and home every night before dark. But anyone who knows them knows that can’t possibly last.
When an emergency call from home upsets the balance of their carefully arranged world, Ty and Zane must juggle family drama with a perplexing crime to save a helpless victim before time runs out.
From the mountains of West Virginia to a remote Texas horse ranch harboring more than just livestock and childhood memories, Ty and Zane must face their fears—and their families—to overcome an unlikely enemy and bring peace back into their newly shared world.
What B is talking about:
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For several months of relative calm and stability, Ty and Zane have finally been able to enjoy being together. Aside from the constant need to hide their relationship from their coworkers and families, things are going better than ever. But, as living magnets for chaos, it’s a sure bet that such bliss couldn’t last for long.
Stars & Stripes covers a lot of ground, both figuratively as well as geographically. From the mountains of West Virginia to the Hill Country of Texas, Ms. Roux puts her heroes to the test, and proves once again that she is adept at multitasking; writing not only an endearing romance, but a compelling whodunit, as well. Subtle where it counts, and funny in the most unexpected places, this story expands on the solid foundation that’s been built by the previous novels in the series, while giving the two main characters a chance to evolve along with the relationship they’ve been working for.
I was very happy to see Ty’s family again, even though I have serious issues with Ty’s father, as was certainly intended. Every family is different, and things turned out well, but I couldn’t help feeling a strong connection to Zane and his desire for retribution during one particular scene. However, meeting Zane’s family was a real eye-opener, too, his mother being of the most fascinatingly abhorrent characters I’ve read in a while. She defies every idea I have of what a mother should be, and I absolutely hated her. Zane’s father, Harrison, on the other hand, has garnered a solid place in my heart, right alongside Chester, whose reappearance thrilled me through and through.
Both Ty and Zane are more overtly affectionate in this book, which I very much enjoyed. They’ve been together for nearly a year at this point, and have fought hard to make it this far. Combine what would have to be a substantial fatigue over having to hide their relationship from the rest of the world with the relief of giving in and letting themselves love simply and honestly, and it makes their increasingly demonstrative interactions quite lovely, indeed. They’ve travelled a long road together already, and they’ve earned it. Not that being able to love openly should be a thing to be earned in the first place, but they have, regardless.
Part of what made Stars & Stripes so interesting, was that I was truly surprised by the conclusion to the mystery Ty and Zane were trying to solve. While the villains were obvious and even fairly predictable on the surface, there was a deeper level of betrayal that I never saw coming, leaving me with the grudging satisfaction that can only come from being outwitted by a book.
The Cut & Run series continues to be an incredibly enjoyable one to read, and Ty and Zane are two of my favorite characters ever. The determined self-sacrifice each displayed earlier in the series has been transformed into the heartfelt unwillingness to live a life without each other in it. These two men are perfect together, and the more explicit depiction of the sex between them was undeniably scorching. Suspenseful and funny, Stars & Stripes is one story I know I’ll read again and again as I wait impatiently for the next novel in the series.
B’s Rating:
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Personal favorite - a must read (A+)
Purchase Info:
Reviews in the Series
Tuesday, August 14, 2012
Review: Cut & Run Series #1-5 by Abigail Roux
Cut & Run
A Series by Abigail Roux and Madeline Urban
The Cut & Run series is one of the best I’ve ever had the privilege to read, regardless of genre. The main characters are smartly written, the suspense is never overplayed, and each subsequent challenge faced has left me determined, if not desperate, to stay with them through to the end. It is a rare thing for a story’s characters to feel so alive on the page as well as in my mind, but this series neatly succeeds at both. With a delicate intimacy between the two men that is kept to being a facet of their relationship, rather than its sole focus, the series avoids any gratuitous lessening of the novels themselves. Ty and Zane have a permanent place in my heart, and I’m looking forward to reading Stars & Stripes with an anticipation I have felt for very few stories in a long time.
Cut & Run
Book 1
Release Date: September 29, 2008
Assigned to work together due to a combination of their unique skills as well as an inability to play well with others, Special Agents Zane Garrett and Ty Grady would almost rather shoot each other than the serial killer who continues to elude them. But when they become targets themselves, they must find a way to get ahead of a hunter who plays to the rules they know, even as the undeniable heat between them threatens everything they’re fighting for.
This is the first novel in the excellent Cut & Run series. Ms. Roux and Ms. Urban have not only written an engaging, suspenseful story that cost me more than one night’s sleep, but Ty and Zane are utterly engrossing characters who won me over from the very beginning. They are smart, conflicted heroes who are so achingly perfect together that I couldn’t put their story down. A fascinating mystery as well as an enthralling romance, this story delivers solidly in both genres, and left me wanting more. Cut & Run is an exceptional beginning to a wonderful series, and I’m happy to be on board for as long as the series lasts.
5 stars: Personal favorite - a must read (A+)
Sticks & Stones
Book 2
Release Date: January 25, 2010
They’ve survived a serial killer, secret missions, and undercover assignments among the dregs of Miami, but taking a vacation might just prove to be the most perilous undertaking of all for Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett. Hoping to help his unstable partner by bringing him home to West Virginia for some involuntary time off, Ty is faced with some harsh realizations of his own, both about himself and the family he loves. But when confronted by the cruelty of men and the wilds of the mountain, Ty and Zane prove that defying everyone’s expectations will help them beat the odds, and accepting what they have together may be the only thing that will keep them alive.
In Sticks & Stones, we are introduced to Ty’s family, who are the very best kind of insane, most of them easily as lovable and frustrating as Ty and Zane are themselves. They explain a lot about Ty, the unshakeable tenderness they have for one another not very well hidden beneath the tough demeanor of true survivors. Chester and Deuce, in particular, are new favorites, but I laughed openly at the entire family’s eccentricities and interactions, right along with Zane.
And that continues to be one of the best things about this series: the feeling that there’s nothing contrived about Ty and Zane. What you see isn’t always pretty, but every struggle has an emotional veracity to it that makes their evolving relationship undeniably addictive. While Ty and Zane would fight and die for each other without a second thought, their partnership continues to be anything but easy. Still, they’re fighting for it with everything they’ve got; making the moments of peace and acceptance they share even more wonderful and rewarding.
5 stars: Personal favorite - a must read (A+)
Fish & Chips
Book 3
Release Date: November 1, 2010
After the mind-numbing drudgery of desk duty that has filled their time since being reassigned to the Baltimore office, Ty and Zane’s new undercover assignment aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean should have been a welcome change. Told only to observe, take names, and not get killed, they instead find themselves the targets of a deadly fencing ring takeover, as well as in the crosshairs of an international sting operation. Still, when presented with the singular opportunity to explore what life might be like if they didn’t have to hide from the rest of the world, Ty and Zane will take what they can get, and in the process take a leap of faith that will change them both forever.
Aside from the fact that it is possibly the sexiest story in the Cut & Run series thus far, Fish & Chips once again proves that an m/m romance can be a gripping, intelligent, edge-of-your-seat suspense as well. Zane and Ty have plenty of scars, both inside and out, but it is Zane’s weakness that puts their partnership to the test here. The authors don’t sugarcoat the repercussions of addiction, and Zane’s failures hit hard. But, Ty’s forgiveness, along with Zane’s determination to deserve it, makes these two characters ever more remarkable and worthy of real happiness.
In Fish & Chips, Ty and Zane are assigned to impersonate an out and proud gay married couple, and I was thrilled to see them finally able to enjoy the heated glances and comforting touches that other couples indulge in while in public on a regular basis. Although the intimate scenes between Ty and Zane were beautiful, and, yes, completely scorching, it is these simple moments that added a new aspect to their relationship as a whole and made me love them even more.
5 stars: Personal favorite - a must read (A+)
Divide & Conquer
Book 4
Release Date: October 14, 2011
When a bomber uses the mounting unrest in the city of Baltimore as a cover for his own personal war, Ty and Zane find themselves the poster boys of the effort to take him down. Already notorious for being high-strung and unstable, Ty begins to truly unravel as first his beloved Bronco, and then Zane, become victims of the murderer’s attempts at retaliation. Thrown into even more uncertainty as Ty impulsively comes out to his former Recon team and his partnership with Zane begins to self-destruct, it will take Zane facing some hard truths of his own to help his best friend and lover and win back the man he loves.
Although it is an excellent addition to the Cut & Run series, I didn’t feel that Divide & Conquer was quite as strong as the other stories to date. Aside from my impression that the villains didn’t have the depth and frightening intelligence of earlier antagonists, the tension between Ty and Zane felt somewhat more imbalanced in this story. While Ty is understandably fed up with Zane’s mistakes, I felt he’d have been justified in defending him more against the poor opinions of others when given the opportunity, as well.
Those issues are minor, though, when taking the story as a whole into account. Ty and Zane are often absolutely hilarious and Divide & Conquer is filled with amusingly edited personal anecdotes and inside jokes that leave just enough out to make filling in the blanks a lot of fun. Sexually, Ty and Zane are explosive, their growing familiarity and commitment to one another fueling their mutual desire beautifully. Likewise, the affection they share feels more comfortable and substantial with each novel, making Divide & Conquer an essential and enjoyable continuation of the series.
4.5 stars: Loved it - enthusiastically recommend (A)
Armed & Dangerous
Book 5
Release Date: May 18, 2012
Assigned to bring in a hostile federal informant on a high priority secret mission, Ty and Zane learn quickly that blind trust can be deadly and innocence isn’t as certain as it seems. While racing halfway across the country with unfriendly operatives dogging their every move, they’ll have to trust each other more than ever, and question one of the strongest allegiances they’ve ever known. While they’ve always been willing to die for each other, it’s the determination to live for one another, along with the hope of a life together on their own terms, that helps them survive.
In Armed & Dangerous, Ty and Zane are back and better than ever. This is the first novel in the series Ms. Roux has written as the sole author, and she’s done so brilliantly. The entire story is snarkier, sweeter, and more enjoyable overall, and the partnership between Ty and Zane is delightfully solid. The two are irresistible here, their relationship having progressed to a level of familiarity and confidence that makes them as happy as it leaves others baffled, which is just fine. Perhaps most amusing is seeing others react with puzzlement, frustration, and even alarm to certain of Ty’s behaviors, which Zane treats with the nonchalance of long-lived acceptance. Ms. Roux has breathed new life into the series with Armed & Dangerous, and I feel certain that the rest of the series will be just as wonderful.
5 stars: Personal favorite - a must read (A+)
Be sure to stop by next week when B reviews the sixth Cut & Run book, titled Stars & Stripes.
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