~~ Part & Parcel, by Abigail Roux

(Sidewinders series, Book #3)

Mike




Chloe



I must say Mike's story was the story I was looking forward too the most, after being introduced to him in the first book. I'm not exactly sure why, just some reason I was excited about his story.
He didn't disappoint, lol.

This story starts out with Mike being a man-whore. Actually the first word of the book is "Harder". He's gone out to drown his sorrows. Sam and Harry has the perfect lives in his eyes. They both have beautiful wives and baby girls that have them twined around their mans fingers. Mike feels like he doesn't deserve that so gets hammered and picks up the first woman who walks up to him takes a drink of his beer and puts a hand on his crouch. SO, as he's slamming into her as she keeps begging for him to do it harder, he realizes she likes the pain. As Mike is anti-anything that hurts a woman it automatically turns him off and through his drunken haze he runs to the bathroom pukes because he is sick with his own behavior and starts getting dressed. The longer he is in her apartment he realizes what he has done. Stooped to the lowest ever. As a former marine and cop, he starts seeing filth, drugs, and the woman is screaming at him bloody murder because she wants him to hit her. He gets out and runs home all 15 miles.

Chole has been in the hosptial all of her childhood. Once she got out she was shipped off to school in London for reasons that would be a spoiler if I shared. She was never close to her parents growing up but when they are killed she comes home to sort throught their belongings and realizes just how much she really didn't know about them. Which brings her to her meeting at RBK Security. I'm sure the blurb gives off most of the details with this meeting, so I'll spill that Chloe is Harry's long lost sister, but wow, I had no idea how long lost she really was. She spills the beans and automatically she is welcomed into the RBK family.

That first meeting before Mike knew what was going down with Chloe and Harry, he already had her in his sights to help, but almost instantly he has this strong pull. They both feel it. By the end of the first day Mike has given her an orgasm up against a wall while her new found bro waits down in the car, made a date with her, and decided that she was his. But fate has a way of laughing in your face, and when Mike is called in because of a woman claiming him to be the man that beat her, he realizes he isn't good enough for Chloe, not to mention Harry has told him hands off.



Six Months later, Chloe and Mike are going crazy, because they want each other but neither will say anything about it to the other, but when danger comes right for Chloe, Mike decides that Chloe is now his and Harry be damned he is going to protect her and have her no matter what.



This story was so good. I loved Mike's character. He was a really good guy, but just lost. He had seen his parents murdered at the age of 10 and never got over it. He used sex and alcohol as way to block out the pain. But when Chloe came around everything changed. He wanted to prove he was good enough for her and even at times when he struggled with being enough for her he still couldn't let her go. Chloe was so sweet. She had had a terrible childhood herself in a different way only to learn it had all been a lie. She was strong in her own way because she kept going.

I must say, if this was the end of this series I'm a little disappointed. I loved how through the series we got to see Sam, Nicole, Harry and Ellen relationships progress. I felt short changed because this book just ended. Yes, there was an epilogue, but it didn't give a lot of insight into their lives. I mean it showed where it was headed but compared to how much more we had got to learn about how Sam and Harry lives went. I just felt jipped. :( Maybe it's me and my constant need to know more about my book characters it just sorta annoyed me a little because the ending was so abrupt.

Anyway, the series as a whole was a great read. It had been on my list for a while and I had been wanting to get around to it and finally did. Great romances, hot sex, and lots of suspense and danger. I really recommend it!! :)

For the record, I am not a big fan of romantic suspense. I read quite a bit of it years ago and got burned out. But the author has been talked up by some friends, and I thought I'd give her a try. :)I ended up liking the book quite a bit :) I'll definitely check out her other books as well.

This hot and steamy title was available on Amazon for $0.99 for the month of December or maybe it was January, and when I saw that cover I had to have it! Let’s face it that is a pretty smoke’n cover! I didn’t really have any expectations from this book. I’ve never read this author before, so I didn’t have anything to base it on. I have to say I quite enjoyed it. Is it the best book I’ve ever read, no, but it was an enjoyable read.

This is a hot and steamy read; the passion ignites between Mike and Chloe. When this book first starts Mike is what they would call a “rake” back in the day. He goes through woman like Kleenex. He has pretty much hit rock bottom at the beginning of this book. He doesn’t know what in the hell he is doing with his life anymore. He is a former Marine and a protector by nature. But the deaths of his family when he was a young boy have really messed with him. He’s been trying to fill a void with woman and it isn’t working anymore. Even tho Mike is kinda a hoe, you still kind of feel for him. He’s still a good guy, je just deals with his inner demons in a F’ed up way. When he meets Chloe he knows his life has irrevocably been changed. But when he comes up on charges of assault and rape of someone he barely touched he knows what little chance he had with Chloe is now gone. Six months pass and Mike cleans up his life, but Chloe is still out of his grasp. He contents himself with just being near her and helping her with anything she needs. All that changes and every protective instinct comes out when Chloe’s life is threatened. Now he is desperate to keep her safe, even against the Russian Mafia.

When we first meet Chloe she is so fragile, breakable like glass. She spent the bulk of her childhood in hospitals. Almost every bone in her body had been broken and she had to go through surgery after surgery. She was neglected by her “parents” and it isn’t until after they die that she finds out that her parents are not her parents and that she has a brother. This is what brings her to California and to Mike’s offices. We watch Chloe go from timid fragile to, to a confident woman that even faces down an Russian hit man. But it is Mike that she really has to tackle. Ever since that first day he has been keeping her close but at the same time at an arms distance and it is driving her mad. It is not until her life is threatened that the barriers that Mike has built start crumbling. She takes all that Mike has to give and gives him so much more. I really enjoyed Chloe’s transformation. She really grows as a character.

The story is pretty exciting. Anytime you are dealing with the Russian mafia you are going to have danger and excitement. Mike gets to kick some serious a$$ and really put his skills to work. On top of the danger Mike and Chloe steam up the pages. Their passion unfurls amazingly once the barrier that was keeping Mike from Chloe is gone there is nothing that can keep him from her. I’m so glad I picked up this title. If it’s still $0.99 I’d grab it too if I were you!

*sigh* ....disappointing....a huge step down from what i've read of hers previously.