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Nov 19, 2011

Lauraadriana rated it:

So after my fifth read I felt I should write a review that does this book (or how much I FRIGGIN LOVE IT!) justice. To start I'll say, that yes this book is not perfect, there are things that are far fetched, some are unlikely for the premise of the book, but I don't care! I LOVE IT! I come back to it time after time, because Danny and Miller are just such special characters to me. This book was an early M/M read, and it has not lost its charm one bit. It can still make me smile, cry and curl my More...

12 comments like (20 people liked it)

Jun 17, 2010

Ridley rated it:

I know it's not fair to compare this book to Zero at the Bone, but, I can't help it. It's sort of a similar storyline. Where I think Zero was a bit more ambitious, in the end I thought it bit off more than it could chew. Shades of Gray takes a smaller bite and is a bit more graceful about it as a result.

The book opens with Danny Butler sweating, and bleeding, it out while waiting alone in a police interrogation room. A cop pulled him over for running a red light and bags him on a wea More...

7 comments like (16 people liked it)

Feb 03, 2011

Beanbag rated it:

This book gets much better at around the 60% mark. I wasn't feeling the chemistry at first, and the whole attraction felt forced. It wasn't until later that it felt real.

Danny Butler and Miller Sutton are forced to spend their time together -- 24/7 -- thanks to Miller's investigation into Danny's boss, an infamous drug kingpin. Danny's been forced into a situation where he's going to have to testify against the crime boss and Miller has to protect him.

Once the real romanc More...

2 comments like (5 people liked it)

Apr 10, 2010

Kris rated it:

The Super Mini: A very engrossing work with flawed and complex, but still engaging, heroes. Even my issues with italicised text and flashbacks fell by the wayside given my fascination with the development of the relationship between these two unique characters, which was also a compelling exploration of the shades of grey in life. A thoroughly recommended read.

My Tasting:

Why I bought it:

I was hooked by Kassa's review: http://kassa-rvws.livejournal.com/71120.... More...

9 comments like (7 people liked it)

Jul 11, 2010

Smokinhotbooks rated it:

At first glance reading the blurb I said 'no thanks, moving on'. A drug addict turned state witness from the Mexican mob is not my usual cup of man love tea. But, after reading so many great reviews I decided to 'man up' and buy Shades of Gray.

I love when I am proved wrong - in my book life, not real life.

Shades of Gray is just plain awesome. The author did a wonderful job of writing Danny who is not your run of the mill squeaky clean hero. It takes a lot of skill to end More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 04, 2011

Mel rated it:

I tried to like this, I really did, but oh my God, the melodramatics! At a certain point I was imagining violins in the background and my inner reading voice relaying the story with a constant sobby infliction... No, this story wasn't for me.

I wanted to say it started well enough, but it didn't actually. No drama's there, I'll give you that, but the whole premise of the story is based on one huge suspension of disbelief. And I know, I know: it's fiction; logic has a lot of leeway h More...

93 comments like (2 people liked it)

Sep 09, 2011

Ami rated it:

So many people compared this to Jane Seville's Zero at the Bone ... since both books have plot about two people find love when on the run. Miller is an FBI agent. Danny is mid-level drug runner. Miller needs to protect Danny since he is essential in breaking the case. And in the process, Miller finds himself questioning who he is, as he feels attracted to Danny.

I really, REALLY enjoy this book. I think what I love the most is the concept of "Shades of Gray" between the two More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 20, 2011

xbmbgrl rated it:

How damaged can you become by trying to do the right thing while suppressing your most secret desires no matter the cost?

How can you find redemption after one wrong decision leads to a life that you may not have chosen at the time, but is all you know now?

Danny Cutler, a mid-level drug runner, and Miller Sutton, mid-level FBI agent, meet at what could be termed the perfect storm of their life. Miller has begun questioning his impersonal approach and the ethics involved More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Oct 22, 2011

Anncleire rated it:

“Shades of gray” è un gioiellino che si nascondeva tra i libri richiesti e mai letti perché trascinata da altro ma finalmente ho trovato la voglia di leggerlo e davvero è meraviglioso.

Miller Sutton è un agente dell’FBI che si trova ad investigare su Hinestroza uno di quegli uomini che posseggono un cartello della droga, cocaina per essere precisi. Per incastrarlo per nove mesi ha seguito e scoperto ogni particolare della vita di Danny Butler un corriere che distribuisce le partite di More...

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Oct 16, 2011

Tracy rated it:

Fantastic
The FBI isn't known for being an agency of free thinkers and sympathetic humanitarians. They are the top dogs in the overcrowded junkyard that is this nation's quagmire of crime and punishment. They serve with prejudice and without compassion against those who break the law. The belief is simple: either you are law-abiding, and therefore have no cause to worry about their existence, or you are not...and worry is the least of your problems.

For years, Agent Miller Sutton ha More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 19, 2011

Lara rated it:

Two things dominated my thoughts as I read this book. 1) Danny is too good for Miller and 2) There really is no such thing as black and white. By the end of the novel, my thoughts had mostly changed about the first thing. The second thing got only more true. I know what you are thinking. How could a no account, loser, drug pusher like Danny be too good for a squeaky clean FBI guy? Well, like I said, there really is no black and white. The way that Brooke McKinley writes Danny, he is the one that More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jun 04, 2011

Kaje rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

2 comments like (3 people liked it)

Mar 17, 2011

Bembo rated it:

FBI agent Miller Sutton knows all about Danny Butler, he has been trailing him for months, his link to catching the man behind the drugs supply Hinestroza. When Danny jumps the lights and the police pull him in, it's Miller's chance, and he goes for it. After giving Danny a hard time he manages to persuade him to him to turn against his boss, Hinestroza, with promises of witness protection. But when Miller finds himself the one providing that protection his view of Danny changes, and against all More...

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Oct 20, 2010

Kaetrin rated it:

Excellent book.
Why I read it: I've had this one in my TBR for quite a while now, having picked it up as soon as the review by Sarah Franz went up at DA - her recommendations are (mostly) gold for me. It came fast on the heels of Zero at the Bone which I read first. The storylines sounded similar and I didn't want the two books to "bleed" into each other - so I waited a while. And then I forgot.

What its about: Miller Sutton is an FBI agent on the edge of burnout wh More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 19, 2010

Seregil rated it:

I loved how this book combined, in just the right amounts, romance with a good police story (or should we say FBI story? :) ).
It's realistic and not at all a fluffy romance. The main characters are flawed and neither are as black and/or white as they would want to be. The author did a great job of using the yin and yang motif (from the philosophical debates of good/evil to the tatto on one of the characters). The title was excelently chosen. I even liked the cover :)
The two men - the More...

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Jan 12, 2012

Isa rated it:

So during the first 20%~30% of this book I was ready to give it 6 stars ... yes I know that's not possible, but neither are half stars and that doesn't stop anyone.

And then Danny and Miller hooked up.

Now, don't get me wrong. It was very hot and I was pulling for Danny and Miller the whole time. It's just by the end of the many pages of sex I was beginning to feel like this book could be broken up into clearly defined parts:

-The Awesome Stretch
-Danny and Miller

More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jan 05, 2012

Kazza rated it:

What a fabulous, well written, well named book. Brooke McKinley has written an absolute cracker of a character driven story. I loved the two main characters Danny and Miller, but right from the outset it was Danny that I liked as a person, Miller had to earn my liking him.

Danny Butler was a criminal but he had such an open, honest, positive outlook that you could look past his rap sheet to the man that had never been given much of anything. His father was brutal, his mother apatheti More...

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Aug 31, 2011

L-D rated it:

I give this book just over 4 stars. I usually round up, but I didn't want to give it the same stars as Zero at the Bone. While I really enjoyed it, I couldn't help but compare it to Zero at the Bone. In both cases, a witness is being protected by someone on the other side of the law.

In ZatB, Jack, a good samaritan witness, is being protected by D, the hitman sent to kill him. In SoG, Danny Butler, a drug runner, is being sheltered in Witness Protection by Miller Sutton, an FBI More...

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Apr 24, 2011

orannia rated it:

What to say about this book? My first love is character-driven books. Yes, plot is important, but it's the characters that drawn me in and keep me hooked. And while this book started slowly, its characters wormed their way into my heart and wouldn't leave. I had to put this book down a number of times yesterday because I couldn't handle the tension I was that invested in the outcome...in the relationship between Danny and Miller. And for those of you that like plot, yes, there is one, but it's t More...

9 comments like (3 people liked it)

Feb 06, 2012

Sammy2006 rated it:

Well, as impossible as this is to believe...I am speechless. I know--those of you who know me are secretly scoffing--she's going to sound forth at any moment you are thinking. I suppose were this any other book you might be right. I could rely on my abilities to swiftly summarize the story, Shades of Gray, into neat little paragraphs. I could outline the meeting of a hardened, closeted FBI agent, Miller Sutton with a slick, wounded, drug runner named Danny Butler. I could relate how Miller More...

5 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 08, 2011

Jaime rated it:

This reminded me of Marie Sexton's "Zero at the Bone". Two men, on opposite sides of the law, thrown together who become lovers. This may be a bit more realistic with a drug dealer and an FBI agent as opposed to a hitman and a witness, but the dark overtone to the romance is the same - and just as satisfying.

Agent Sutton manipulates Danny into testifying against his drug lord. When it's discovered, Danny has to go into hiding. Forced together in tight quarters, Sutton is conf More...

0 comments like

Jun 20, 2011

Helyce rated it:

This is one of those books that for some reason stays with you long after the last page is read. I happened upon this one by chance here at Goodreads and when I reviewed the comments I was more intrigued by the fact that a lot of readers compared it to Zero At The Bone. While there is a basic similarity to it, Shades is truly it's own story with characters that will attach themselves to your heart for the duration of your reading experience.

I've always been a sucker for the under More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 26, 2011

Jen rated it:

This book put me through the emotional wringer. It was provocative; it was gut-wrenching; and it was damn good.

The story follows FBI agent Miller Sutton as he forces drug-runner Danny Butler to turn state's evidence against his boss Roberto Hinestroza. Danny doesn't want to do it, but it's that or he gets sent back to prison and labeled a rat... virtually a death sentence.

Miller is responsible for Danny's protective custody and as they spend time together in close quarter More...

2 comments like (2 people liked it)

Mar 08, 2011

Devi rated it:

It was enjoyable, but a little like published fan-fiction in some of its sentiments. I guess I was looking for something gritty and realistic which happened to have a male/male relationship in it, and what I got was a male/male romance that was set against a slightly gritty backdrop. Not sure you get that distinction?

In total, I did enjoy it though. The writing was just intelligent enough not to insult me too much and despite so much of the characters' time being spent locked in a room More...

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Oct 29, 2009

Staceyr rated it:

4.5 stars. Gritty descriptions and the stark realism of two men caught at desperate points in their lives drew me right in. This is my favorite kind of story: two tough, stubborn guys at the top of their game and pitted against one another when circumstance throw them together and they find themselves facing impossible odds and having to rely on one another.

Recruited at a young age by a drug lord, Danny is trapped in a lifestyle you don’t get out of alive. Hunted down and captured b More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Feb 05, 2010

Sarah rated it:

To be honest, going into Shades of Gray I was not sure how one could make a criminal a sympathetic character and I wasn’t convinced I’d enjoy reading it. But I kept seeing it on ARe and I obviously have no will power when it comes to purchasing books! Twist my arm much?

Danny is the type of flawed character I could really get into. He is ballsy, strong and just deals with what life dishes out. He’s not whiney and does not lay about on his fainting couch doing the whole oh, woe thing. More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 28, 2011

Christi rated it:

My Review:
This is absolutely one of the best, most emotional, most beautiful stories of ill-fated love that I have ever read. OMG, I cannot even begin to express how good this book was!! This is the love story between two men. If you enjoy M/M romance or have ever been tempted to read a book about two men, YOU NEED TO READ THIS BOOK! I have to admit that I haven't been reading m/m romance for long, but there is just something about two men willing to put their love out there that is so gor More...

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Mar 07, 2011

Crys rated it:

I enjoyed this story, staying up way too late to finish it. Like a similar reviewer, I can't help but compare it to Zero at the Bone. Characters on the lam, holed up together for a long time, emotional angst, and attraction make for great story telling.

I think Shades of Gray does a nice job of focusing on the developing relationship between the characters, with less side action. The angst of the two characters, dealing with their choices and future, make for substantial growth. Neither More...

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Aug 29, 2011

Liz rated it:

I LOVED this book. The author, in my opinion, did a fantastic job of combining romance with adventure. There wasn't an over abundance of either.I don't think that it was like Zero to the Bone at all. I loved the by-play between Miller & Danny. I loved that these guys were older & by that I mean close to each other's ages. There was no 40 year old guy with a twink. I loved how scarastic Danny was but also very loving with Miller. I think their connection as great. How they started to how they fin More...

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Feb 09, 2012

Peyrac rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like