Shock & Awe (Sidewinder, #1) in Riptide Publishing

Jun 03, 2013 Debra ~~ seriously slacking on her reviews ~~ rated it it was amazing

Shelves: part-of-series-or-serial, cops-detectives-feds-investigators, m-m, short-or-novella, military-mercs, pre-ordered, bisexual-pansexual-mc, aromantic-asexual-demisexual

Fair warning: If you haven't read Touch & Geaux, (1) what are you waiting for? and (2) this book and the review are going to be spoilery. That being said, Nick & Kelly are not Ty & Zane. Nick & Kelly are dirty hot together and I loved every moment of it. I know there are the Nick haters out there (I was once one of them), but this book may just turn you around.

If you haven't read the Cut & Run series, I'm not sure how this book would work for you since it just dives right in to Nick going home Fair warning: If you haven't read Touch & Geaux, (1) what are you waiting for? and (2) this book and the review are going to be spoilery. That being said, Nick & Kelly are not Ty & Zane. Nick & Kelly are dirty hot together and I loved every moment of it. I know there are the Nick haters out there (I was once one of them), but this book may just turn you around.

If you haven't read the Cut & Run series, I'm not sure how this book would work for you since it just dives right in to Nick going home with Kelly to help him recover after he is discharged from the hospital in New Orleans. The story runs parallel to the end of T&G and there is not a lot of build up before Kelly gets down to business with Nick. We already know their history as brothers in arms and friends and we know that these two men love each other. Kelly now wonders if maybe that love, and Nick's newly admitted bi-sexuality, might work for them on a whole other level. It doesn't take long for Kelly to talk Nick into a kiss and things get hot and heavy from there. Both are aware that there are risks, and they discuss that as well. They are open and honest with each other and that works wonders for them and for me as a reader.

The book is broken up into two shorter stories, the first takes us up to the re-deployment of Sidewinder as mentioned at the end of T&G and the the second, Bait & Switch, during a 48 hour leave for Nick during that assignment. There are cameos from the rest of Sidewinder, including Ty and Zane, but the focus is Nick and Kelly.

As usual there are moments that made me laugh out loud and those that had me in tears. The sex scenes are incredibly hot, and the two men each have some kinks that the other one seems to appreciate, but you can really feel the love between these two.

Finally, if you don't follow Abi Roux, you may not know that she was planning a story about Nick where he would be with Aiden, the fireman he talks about. After fan reaction alerted her to the chemistry between Nick and Kelly in Touch & Geaux, Abi revisited their scenes and agreed that although unintended, it was definitely there and eventually altered her plans. I can only hope those plans include much more Nick and Kelly in the future. ...more

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Aug 06, 2013 Liz (Bugetta) rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook, contemporary-romance, mystery-and-suspense, re-read, m-m-romance, e-book, 1st-in-a-series, kindle-lendable

4.5* More please!

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Dec 28, 2013 Elisa Rolle added it

Friends with benefits is a theme I like a lot, I have always found sexy when two “new” lovers know each other so well they have a mutual understanding that usually couples found in years of relationship. It’s quite common when the friends with benefits theme is paired with a gay for you, but here the author played an originality card: it’s not the gay friend who falls in love with the straight one and manages to conquer his best friends, it’s actually the opposite.

Kelly has always been the caret ...more

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Nov 03, 2013 Snuffles rated it really liked it

Shelves: real-world, kindle, 2014, m-m

I wrote a review before I realized that the last third of the book wasn't a sneak peek into the next book, but actually another novella. So... I'll just leave my review as it is and then add a comment about the last bit below.

****

Just as I was really getting into it, it was over. *pouts*

So, the story... well, I'm not going to lie. It was hot, even though I kept cringing throughout it (view spoiler) ...more

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Aug 02, 2013 Claudia the Night Owl rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites, hot-and-steamy, read-more-than-once, devoured-it, beautiful-cover, can-t-get-enough, made-me-laugh, m-m, review, soldier

Nick and Kelly!!! I've already read this sucker several times and I swear it gets better every time!
After the events of Touch & Geaux that left Kelly with a bullet hole in the chest he goes home to recover with a sexy Irish boy acting as a nurse. After one too many painkillers Kelly gets curious about the dark side and asks Nick for a kiss, that one leads to more. Nick gets spooked by the rightness of it all and Kelly is forced to rethink things about himself. After Shock & Awe there's the shor ...more

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Nov 19, 2013 Evaine rated it really liked it

Shelves: romance, e-books, m-m

See my review here. ...more

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Nov 17, 2013 Karin Wollina rated it liked it

Shelves: dnf

I would have loved some story between the sex scenes 〽️.

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Aug 21, 2013 ~ Lihllith ~ rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: dude-love

My one and only complaint was that this was way to short! I know it was a novella but still! I feel well teased and pleased and absolutely loved every minute of it!

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