-
REVIEW: Nothing Special IX: Fire and Smoke by A.E. Via
Nothing Special: Nothing Special IX: Fire and Smoke – A.E. Via
“A ruthless meth dealer is torching Atlanta’s streets, and God and Day are striking back with two of Hollywood’s legendary pyro experts.”
The war raging through Atlanta isn’t just about drugs—it’s about power, leverage, and survival. God and Day’s task force is the only barrier standing between a growing plague and the city’s safety.
Wes and Law, childhood friends turned blacklisted pyrotechnic rivals, are hiding out in Atlanta until the fire they started in Hollywood is extinguished.
It seemed like a safe choice—until they’re dragged into the task force’s frontline fight. Now they’re trading cinematic special effects for real explosions and blood in the streets.
God and Day’s team is fracturing under secrets and betrayal, as the merciless army of their fiercest kingpin yet slowly closes in.
They used to fight to conquer… now they’re just fighting to survive.
I missed our boys. Glad they’re back!
Fire and Smoke, is Book 9 of Nothing Special by A.E. Via, featuring the biggest badasses of Altanta PD. I loved God and Day and their team of troublemakers since the beginning. Older now but definitely still unstoppable, they’re waging war on drugs with even more firepower.
As if the team isn’t combustible enough, they introduce two pyrotechnic experts who literally play with fire. Law and Wes are childhood friends working the Hollywood scene until their bitter rivalry leads to a stunt gone horribly wrong and so they are persona non grata.
One day they stumble upon a shootout involving God and Day’s team. Their quick assist with a car fire impress God so much he commands, yes commands because he is God, them to join their team in exchange for a shot at redemption and a way back to Hollywood again.
I loved how Law and Wes fit right in. They’re trouble with a capital T, their expertise in pyrokinetics and their bid to outdo one another spark one fiery spectacle after another. Law is the more daring, always pushing the bounderies while Wes plays it smart.
They’re also lovers whose dynamic is similar to Ruxs and Green. Still not boyfriends, still coming around to owning their feels as dorks often do because they’re both stubborn bastards who just had to one up each other. They’re a fun, lovable duo and a worthy addition to the Nothing Special alphas.
Trouble in paradise as God buries himself in work and Day is feeling neglected. I don’t think their relationship needs this kind of drama yet again but I enjoy checking in with the rest of the team. I relish the pure chaos, still gloriously OTT as ever. We all know the team’s antics wouldn’t fly with real life IA yet they walk away with nothing more than an audit that the gang takes as a sign to go to Cancun.
One surprise is Vasquez, the corrupt cop, is given a redemption arc and his blossoming romance with Kiran almost stole the spotlight. Now I want a full story.
Fire and Smoke is a story about turning up the heat and smoking out the bad guys. It is hella entertaining and does what Nothing Special does best, take us for an explosive ride and make us swoon along the way!
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Firework
Artist: The Boxer Rebellion
Album: Ocean by OceanP.S.
Nothing Special is best read in order. God and Day’s team is do-gooding chaos and mayhem keeping the streets of Altanta clean.
Nothing Special – God and Day being so ridiculously alpha I was completely hooked but really, I still want a Johnson and Ronowski book
Embracing His Syn – Syn has the most gorgeous boyfriend of all, adult film actor Furi
Here Comes Trouble – Ruxs and Green has no concept of collateral damage
Don’t Judge – bounty hunting Judge from The Bounty Hunters fell hard for team sniper Michaels
Nothing Special V – Steele and Tech hitting the streets and making waves
His Hart’s Command – this is where the series hit its stride with Hart and Free
Ex Meridian – hands down the best, swooniest book of the series, Ex and Meridian, the unforgettable first Ravens had me raving
Swat Ed.: Fox & Bull – Fox, a cunning, smart talking cop sweetly woos Bull, a man of few words
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Nothing Special IX: Fire and Smoke by A.E. Via. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
NOTHING SPECIAL IX: FIRE AND SMOKE: Amazon UK | Audiobook
If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
-
REVIEW: The Unlikely Spare by Jax Calder
Unlikely Dilemmas: The Unlikely Spare – Jax Calder
What happens when a prince falls for the undercover agent pretending to be his bodyguard?
Nicholas
I’m the spare, the younger brother of the Prince of Wales. Ever since I was propelled up the order of succession, my job description has been: Exist. Don’t embarrass the Crown. Repeat.
After a security scandal, I’m assigned a new bodyguard. A hulking, brooding Irishman who glowers at me like I’ve personally offended his ancestors. He’s the first to be completely immune to my charm, which is rather inconvenient when you’ve always wielded wit like a defensive weapon.
And why I feel the need to continue trying to impress Officer O’Connell is anyone’s guess.
My upcoming royal tour of Australia and New Zealand should be a nice chance to escape the British winter and bask in some Southern Hemisphere sunshine. But it turns out that representing the monarchy in former colonial countries means confronting some uncomfortable truths about how all those Crown Jewels ended up in my family’s vaults.
And the whole visit would really be far more enjoyable if someone wasn’t trying to kill me.
Eoin
I’ve clawed my way from the slums of Ireland to the top level of Scotland Yard’s undercover agents. But a deep security breach within the force has me investigating my own colleagues while playing bodyguard to a privileged prince on a tour Down Under.
Something about Prince Nicholas gets under my skin like shrapnel I can’t dig out.
Still, I’m a professional. I can handle one posh git with a smart mouth.
But as we navigate koala cuddling sessions, didgeridoo lessons, and deadly spiders in hotel rooms, I see beneath Nicholas’s princely façade. I’m supposed to uncover which of my fellow bodyguards is a threat to Prince Nicholas, not become obsessed with the most complex, fascinating pain in my arse I’ve ever met.
The line between duty and desire blurs with each passing day and the danger to Nicholas intensifies.
How can I maintain my cover, protect Nicholas, and resist the urge to press him against the nearest wall and kiss that smirk off his face?
The Unlikely Spare is a royal romantic comedy/suspense featuring a party prince learning his place in the world and an undercover bodyguard with a chip on his shoulder. As threats escalate and attraction intensifies, both men must decide what they’re willing to risk—and what they’re willing to fight for.
The Unlikely Spare is the 3rd book of Unlikely Dilemmas, Jax Calder‘s binge-worthy contemporary romance series. The spotlight falls on Prince Nicholas, second in line to the British throne and half-brother to Callum (The Unlikely Heir).
Nicholas’ new bodyguard is Officer Eoin O’Connell, Scotland Yard’s top undercover agent, tasked with protecting the prince and uncovering a traitor among the royal protection officers. The story picks up after the Matheson-Wembley incident from The Unlikely Pair, where Toby and Harry were kidnapped by Harry’s own bodyguard, a sleeper agent for an international terrorist group.
While touring Australia and New Zealand, Nicholas becomes the terrorists’ prime target. Under attack and unsure who to trust, Eoin escapes with him and the two are thrust into a fight for survival.
The bodyguard romance played out as it typically does. Nicholas is the bratty, sassy ward pushing bounderies, and Eoin is all iron-willed restraint until he gloriously loses control. It might be expected, but the chemistry is spectacularly electric! That kiss was absolutely primal!
Adding depth is Eoin’s inner conflict: an Irishman unexpectedly falling for a royal who surprised him at every turn. The pacing drags in the middle, but once the chase across New Zealand begins, things shifts into high gear. Then out of nowhere came that sucker punch of a twist that made my jaw drop! Ooh, was it clever and brutal!
The plot is politics-heavy, with sharp commentary on the British Empire and colonialism. The terrorists demand reparations for imperial atrocities, and Nicholas, as a blue blood, becomes the symbol of their rage. Some may find the politics overwhelming, but for those from formerly colonized nations, Jax Calder ’s perspective resonates.
The Unlikely Spare is a story of duty, betrayal, and a prince falling for his bodyguard amid political firestorms. Overall, it won’t spare you the politics, but it will most likely steal your heart.
Rating:
4 Stars – minor quibbles but I loved it to bitsSoundtrack: Spare My Heart
Artist: Imcha Imchen
Album:P.S.
Unlikely Dilemmas is best read in order.
Be regaled with obscure facts and trivias by the Prince of Wales in The Unlikely Heir.
Discover the joys of sharing body heat with one’s enemy in The Unlikely Pair.
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of The Unlikely Spare. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
THE UNLIKELY SPARE: Amazon UK | Audiobook
If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
-
RELEASE BLITZ: Brokered Betrayals by Aimee Nicole Walker (Excerpt)
-
PROMO BLITZ: Brokered Betrayals by Aimee Nicole Walker
-
REVIEW: Copper Script by K.J. Charles
Copper Script – K.J. Charles
Detective Sergeant Aaron Fowler of the Metropolitan Police doesn’t count himself a gullible man. When he encounters a graphologist who deduces people’s lives and personalities from their handwriting with impossible accuracy, he needs to find out how the trick is done. Even if that involves spending more time with the intriguing, flirtatious Joel Wildsmith than feels quite safe.
Joel’s not an admirer of the police, but DS Fowler has the most irresistible handwriting he’s ever seen. If the policeman’s tests let him spend time unnerving the handsome copper, why not play along?
But when Joel looks at a powerful man’s handwriting and sees a murderer, the policeman and the graphologist are plunged into deadly danger. Their enemy will protect himself at any cost–unless the sparring pair can come together to prove his guilt and save each other.
Copper Script is another cleverly titled historical romance by my all-time favorite author, K.J. Charles. Set in 1920s London, the story stars an unlikely hero, a graphologist and war veteran, Joel Wildsmith, whose genius at analyzing handwriting is so eerily on point it’s practically magic.
He cross paths with Detective Sergeant Aaron Fowler when the DS’s cousin’s cheating ass was revealed through a letter the cousin’s fiancée asked Joel to analyze. Aaron tried to come up with all sorts of possible explanations of how Joel knew about the indiscretion, and even went so far as to test Joel’s talents through a blind read of several different letters.
Not only did Joel give very accurate character profiles, he also smacked Aaron with not one, but two bombshells. First, hit hard close to home; the other was the spine-chilling revelation that there was a high-placed murderer in the Met.
Just as she gave us a bookseller who has no interest in books in The Will Darling Adventures, K.J. Charles gave us a handwriting analysis expert who couldn’t write properly.
Joel is a delightfully sassy, incredibly perceptive and quick-tempered ginger whose mouthy ways made me laugh. The man lost his left hand in the war, which unfortunately was his dominant one. It irked him to no end whenever people tried to console him with “at least it’s not your right hand.”
Aaron is the more even-tempered and controlled, also a fair-minded do-gooder who takes his duties and responsibilities to heart. He is a methodical and conscientious investigator who has to deal with office politics. He goes out of his way to help a certain jobbing graphologist, occasionally taking him to his favorite restaurants because he likes watching him eat.
Joel has no trust in the police, having been a victim of an entrapment scheme. So, while he was attracted to Aaron, it took a while for him to fully trust the detective. I loved the contrast between their personalities and how they played off each other. The chemistry was fantastic, and the banter between them was a joy to listen to!
The cousin was a real pain in the ass, and watching Aaron, patience stretched thin, yet duty-bound, a.k.a. threatened to be reported to the Fowler matriarch, dealing with the bastard was also funny. The scenes with the cousin are a classic poke by the author at entitled, overprivileged assholes.
My favorite scenes were the letter readings and the first bombshell on Aaron when Joel analyzed his handwriting. Joel, the tease that he is, really knew how to draw out the anticipation, keeping Aaron on the edge of his seat, then bam! I could vividly picture Aaron gaping like a fish at the reveal. It was hilarious!
The only reason this is not a 5-star book is that the villain and the comeuppance scene were mostly told, not shown. Maybe because the story has a low-key vibe to it, but the villain’s murderous ways were mostly implied. The climactic scene where the bad guy overtly acted was resolved with minimal fuss a.k.a. the evil man just walked away, and we only hear about his fate later.
This is a very minor issue. Overall, the plot was well-executed, and I was thoroughly entertained by Aaron and Joel’s interactions and adventures.
Copper Script is a story of seduction and crime-solving through handwriting analysis. It might lack a bombastic showdown, but the vivid personalities, engaging humor, and compelling narrative performed impeccably by audiobook narrator Cornell Collins made this a very well-written book indeed!
Rating:
4.5 Stars – perfection is only half a step awaySoundtrack: Handwriting Analysis
Artist: Late Night Takeaway
Album:
If you like my content, please consider using my Amazon affiliate links below to buy your copy of Copper Script. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying Amazon purchases at no additional cost to you.
COPPER SCRIPT: Kindle | Audiobook
If you like my content, please consider supporting me on Ko-fi or PayPal. Your donations will help keep this website going. Thank you so much!
-
RELEASE BLITZ: Worth The Fight by C.F. White (Excerpt & Giveaway)
-
PREORDER BLITZ: Spellbound by Mychael Black
-
BOOK BLITZ: Old Ghosts by Janina Franck (Excerpt & Giveaway)
-
BLOG TOUR: You Can Make Me by R.L. Merrill (Excerpt & Giveaway)
-
RELEASE TOUR: The Sinner’s Son by Aimee Nicole Walker (Excerpt)
