From the Bookshelf of Riptide Publishing…

Creating the Sidewinder team in Cut & Run series, was pure genius as far as I’m concerned… I love Ty & Zane, like

Creating the Sidewinder team in Cut & Run series, was pure genius as far as I’m concerned… I love Ty & Zane, like so many, Cut & Run was my first m/m romance novel and could quite happily read books about them till they are retired and living it up in Florida,  I just love them! However, they are now an established couple, no more wondering, will they, won’t they, that part of the angst has disappeared, so we have had breadcrumbs scattered here and there along the way leaving us to wonder about the relationship between Nick and Kelly. Such a temptation for us greedy readers and we have been practically salivating in our want and need to see some development between these two characters and I can assure you this may be a novella but Abigail Roux has more than delivered a very tasty treat indeed.

Shock & Awe is a spin off from Cut & Run Series, but this is not more of the same, Nick and Kelly are two completely different characters and what they share is poles apart from the volatility that has been so familiar with Ty & Zane. These two men already have an established relationship, for years they have been best friends, brothers in arms, their trust implicit and because we were already familiar with the characters… and it follows the story line from the end of Touch and Geaux it’s a comfortable transition and  I jumped right in knowing exactly what was going on.

This book is made up of two novellas covering different time periods the first being Kelly’s curiosity, which was more like, persistent enthusiasm which knew no bounds, the man was insatiable in his need to understand and explore the change in his feelings towards Nick. I liked how this wasn’t just an epiphany but rather a host of contributing factors and culmination of events that had made him see Nick in a completely different light... It made him question not only his own actions over the years but also those of Nick, they had always been close, tactile and comforted each other… had those feelings been supressed or dismissed as just their close friendship. Had the new found knowledge of Nick being bi-sexual stirred something inside him, or even the obvious love that his friends Ty and Zane had for each other, had that made him look at his own life differently… deep down, he knew he had always been in love with Nick.

“Look, I love you,” Kelly told him. “You love me. We’ve bled for each other. Why can’t that turn into more?”

For Nick it wasn’t so simple, he indulges Kelly in his curiosity, hoping his exuberant enthusiasm will wane after the experience of kissing a man, only the kiss turns out to be as earth shattering for him as it was for Kelly!

“Does this feel right?” he asked, his lips moving against the corner of Kelly’s mouth.

Kelly sighed shakily, then took a deep breath. “Yes,” he whispered. “It feels like home.”

Nick pushed his nose against Kelly’s, kissing him gently as warmth spread through his entire body.

“You feel like home,” Kelly said as he wrapped his arms around Nick’s neck.

Nick couldn’t find his breath, and everything else seemed to fade away except for the feeling of Kelly in his arms.

I have to tell you about the kissing in this book, because believe me the kissing was hot, a total tummy tingling turn on, because Oh… My… God… I felt as though I too were having my first kiss ever, they were pretty powerful and intense and I want more kisses… all lips, tongues, teeth, nibbles, sucks and licks… yep, all of it, more, lots… please!  Abigail Roux is now also the master of writing kisses and that is all before we even get to the sex, because all that kissing certainly ramped up the anticipation!!! Nick… Holy Hotness Batman!!! ..That man is fierce and the sex intense, tender and passionate… the emotion between these two was electric, with some proper, hard and dirty sex going on too… so yes… more sex too please, the intensity and rawness of it was definitely cold shower worthy.

“It feels good,” Kelly finally whispered, sounding surprised. “Will it hurt?”

“I’m not going to fuck you, Kels.”

“Why not?”

“Because you’re hurt and I get rough.”

Kelly swallowed hard, his breath quickening. “How rough?”

Nick cocked his head and smiled slowly.

“That’s kind of hot.”

I loved the trust and honesty between Nick and Kelly, it was refreshing, leaving no room for the usual misunderstandings or angst. Both men are aware that pushing the boundaries of their friendship could have a devastating effect. For Kelly embracing that love seems so simple, for Nick his fear of commitment is his stumbling block, always has been, and of course Kelly is fully aware of Nick’s past. So seeing the passion and love they have for each other as friends, taken to a whole new level, when they take a leap of faith, dispelling all the fears and uncertainties… that was just beautiful and hot! Ohhh… how I love these two men… yes both of them, because they are both so very different. Nick all cool, calm and collected, the man to take charge of a situation… oh, and he does such a good job of that too!!! Kelly is adorable, wears his heart on his sleeve and is funny and zany and incredibly open, he totally made me smile the whole way through the book and the pair of them together… funny, no, actually… fucking hilarious! …I love them!

“You’re a good man,” Kelly whispered. “One of the best I’ve ever known. And if you’re denying yourself a life with someone who loves you because you don’t think you deserve it, then you’re not as smart as I think you are. And if you’re saying no to me because you’re afraid, then you’re a pussy.”

Nick’s lips twitched. “How long did you practice that before you came out here?”

“About an hour,” Kelly answered, breaking into a smile. “Was it good? How’d I do?”

Nick nodded. “It was good.”

Abigail Roux did an amazing job of endearing me to these characters, especially with it being novella length, and, with them spending so much time on the experimentation! But that in itself was enlightening, tender and so very heart warming.  We also got to see an innocence to Kelly, because for him he was experiencing everything for the first time and you could feel his wonder and excitement at it all and although Nick had had sex with men in the past it was as though he too was seeing it in a whole new light… only this time through the big heart and love of Kelly.

So… more fabulous dialogue, definitely more kisses, and the sex… well, hell yes! That goes without saying! Was there anything I didn’t like? No!!! I just want more!!!

Just one more kiss for luck x

Nick gripped Kelly’s chin, pulling his face until their lips met. Kelly immediately leaned into him, groaning as Nick’s teeth scraped over his lip, as their tongues met and teased. The kiss was so consuming that Nick got lost in it, all his senses absorbed by it.