BRAVO Ms. Jakes!!! Excellent… an exciting plot full of action with two gun wielding, knife carrying deliciously HOT Alpha males, both damaged souls finding passion and solace in the arms of each other... no love yet, but this is a fabulous start and I am incredibly excited about this series!
There are two authors that are responsible for my addiction, obsession and all consuming passion for M/M Romance, the first being Abigail Roux with the Cut & Run series and the second S.E. Jakes with the Men of Honor series! Can you see the pattern here? Yes… I LOVE me some HOT ALPHA MALES and Ms Jakes can write about those men till the cows come home and I will be chomping at the bit for every single word!
If you have read the Men of Honor series, you will already be familiar with Prophet, who has always been an enigma, the “go to” man in the background that gets things done. He is one of those characters that you are desperate to know more about, a powerful, controlled presence lurking in the shadows but never quite getting a glimpse of, so when I found out there would be a series based around his character, well, I think you probably heard me squee over on the other side of the pond I was that excited!
Catch a ghost is the first book in the Hell or High Water series, there is no HEA and at the end of this there is also no big love affair… in fact the end is one of those that will have you kicking and screaming and banging on the authors door for the next book NOW!
It starts off with Tom anonymously receiving a video and watching as a young man, battered and bruised is being questioned. This scene sets the tone of the book and is a clue as to which path the story will take… as the man in the video is Prophet, nineteen years old, undergoing a hostile interrogation from one of his own, and now his past is about to come back and haunt him in more ways than one.
Prophet… be still my beating heart… he is a bad boy but I love him! He is former CIA and Special Forces, a fighting machine, fierce and fearless with no consideration for his own safety, the mission, his focus and objective are paramount to achieving his goal. He is confident in his abilities, arrogant, cocky, annoying and impatient, intimidating those around him and unapologetic for each and every annoying trait. In fact he goes out of his way to totally piss everyone off, as if it’s his life’s mission to distance himself from any personal or work relationships, preferring his own company. So when Phil, his boss pairs him up with a partner, well… lets just say he was none too pleased with the decision and was not discrete in verbalising his objection to both his boss and the new boy Tom Boudreaux.
Tom Boudreaux… the poor man doesn’t stand a chance! Having said that he is no pushover and gives as good as he gets. Taking the job as a mercenary at Extreme Escapes is his opportunity at a last ditch attempt to get his life back on track… he see’s himself as a failed FBI Agent and more recently a Sherriff, believing that he himself is the reason for all his bad luck. He is desperate to get back to a life that gave him a purpose and to do this he needs to make a good impression, which is not an easy task when partnered with Prophet!
“Seriously, I’m going to kill you,” Tom told him, then muttered, “If I can’t hide the body well enough, it will be so worth going to jail.” “I heard that,” Prophet called over his shoulder as he left the room with donuts. “I meant you to”
Both these men are damaged and broken souls, each dealing with their own demons, internalising their fear and pain but on the outside they are the tough hard men they demand of themselves taking on the world head first. The case they are both assigned is personal to Prophet and brings back painful memories from the past he has tried to supress, whilst Tom is learning to deal with all the anger and frustration he has been holding back on that needs it’s own outlet.
Although they are attracted to each other… as yet there is no romance, the sexual chemistry between them however is sizzling and the pure lust and animal attraction is SO HOT! But this is only the first book in the series and although we get some insight into the make up of the men we are still no nearer to really understanding them, especially Prophet. Somehow I feel S.E. Jakes has barely scratched the surface with what makes that man tick, he is so full of anger and rage spurned on by guilt… pushing away those that get too close to him. Fear of being hurt? Fear of bringing harm to the doorstep of anyone he might become involved with? I feel this book has been an introduction to just how fucked up they both are …which means we have the healing to look forward to!
“This isn’t a good idea, Tommy. You’ll get hurt.” “I’d think you’d like to see me get the shit beat out of me.” “No, I’d like to be the one doing it.”
So you are probably wondering why I love this book so much… well that is where SE Jakes has excelled because we had glimpses of the boys behind the facade of the big macho men, where despite the action and uncertainty of their assignment we saw the child within Prophet, where his vulnerability was laid bare for the briefest of moments and with Tom we saw his compassion and genuine kindness, all little teasers for us to hope for more. Plus Prophet is the epitome of a bad boy, damn that man is hot, as in tummy tingling, I want to have your babies hot and that is what SE Jakes does so well and she didn’t just give us one smouldering male, oh no, she gave us two… because oh. my. friggin. God! Tom is a 6ft 5inch tattooed, pierced and Harley riding hottie and between the two of them I was in a complete and utter mess!
I was like an excited school girl reading this book… SE Jakes gave me everything I loved and more. The Men of Honor series is one of my favourites but this book and the promise of more has moved her up another level. Fabulous plot… a real action thriller with cage fighting, guns, torture, bombs… yes, I get excited about torture and bombs! with the mystery and intrigue keeping me guessing right to the end. Hot hard and dirty sex between two alpha males that left me in a puddle of lust… I am salivating at the promise of more! Oh, and not forgetting the humour, I do love some snarky banter and Prophet and Tom certainly went at it and had me laughing out loud… just LOVE IT! Also, not forgetting a secret spy that I have a feeling will be making another appearance… just hoping it doesn’t go in the direction it could.
Was there anything about this book I didn’t like? Yes! The End!!!
Thank God it’s not long till the next one.
