This is my m/m romance catnip.  There's action, there's a mystery of some sort, there's a band of brothers, there's humour and there's some hot sexytimes. 

This is Snow's story.  Snow, or Dr. Ashton Frost, is, as his name implies, somewhat cold and standoffish - walls up for everyone except maybe his three closest friends.  He's a brilliant surgeon and sexy as hell.  Well, right up my alley, anyway.  A ghost from his past is haunting him and he's framed for a murder and his found family is under attack and of course he's trying to deal with it on his own.

Enter Jude Torres, paramedic whose had his eye on the good doctor for a while.  He's a big, handsome, smart caregiver and he's determined not to let Snow handle this unravelling situation on his own.  He's had a sort of crush on the good doctor for a while, but tragedy brings them together and the attraction catches fire in all the best ways. 

I like Snow and Jude together.  They are good for each other.   They have great banter, which is another of my catnips.  And they just naturally have great physical chemistry too.  Sometimes that doesn't come across in these romances, but here it's loud and clear and I love it! 

So if like me, you're a fan of Abi Roux's Cut and Run series, or any of S.E. Jakes' series or Rhys Ford's series, I think you'd like this.  I did.  :)

'Shiver' gave us Lucas and Andrei

'Shatter' gave us Snow and Jude

'Torch' gave us Rowe and Noah

and now with release of 'Devour' finally we get 'Ian and Hollis' the final pairing and the final story in this unique group of men.

I started this adventure with my BR besties, Christelle and Josy and along the way we've happily had Ariana and Simone join in whenever they could. It's been a blast ladies and I honestly wouldn't have wanted to do this without you all. I know we still have the side stories and the spin-off series, Ward Investigations. But for these four men, the original group it's the end and what a hella' amazing ending it was.

Throughout this series we've spend time with all of these men. We've seen them at their best and their worst. We've laughed, cried and raged with them. We mourned when Rowe's beautiful wife, Mel was taken from him. We've all shared a solid hatred of the man known as Jagger. Many faces have been put to the eight men in this series but, and I admit I may have missed it, no one has put a face to the man we all hate...until now. It was during this final story that I was totally slapped in the face with who this man's physical description brought to my mind and I cast Armande Asante into the role for our buddy read...

I just felt it was only fair that we have a visual representation of someone who was so universally despised...RIP Jagger...we will miss you...NOT!!!

I could give a really long list of things I liked about this book or I could just be short, concise and to the point...EVERYTHING! I loved it all from start to finish this book just did it for me. We got to spend time with all 8 of these amazing men and it made sense they're family. They take care of each other and when one of them is in danger the others are there to protect him and in this case the threat was towards the group. 

While everyone was in this story, 'Devour' was Ian's time to shine. It was the story that allowed Ian and Hollis to become a couple and equally as important it was Ian's chance to face his demons and put his past to rest. A past that left him troubled and filled with very real fears for his future and whether or not he would have one because his past was still out there stalking him and his friends in the form of Boris Jagger.

As this group of men continue their cat and mouse game with Jagger, Ian and Hollis get to know each other better and yes, I do mean this in every sense of the word including biblical and can I just add here...damn, these men are hot...smokin', sexy, fan myself hot!!! But best of all is the love and respect that Hollis has for Ian as he slowly discovers all that he has endured. I loved that he saw the strength in Ian. Not because he was a fighter but because he was a survivor. What Ian endured would have easily taken down a lesser man. 

And on a closing note the ending of this book was superb...yeah, lets go with that one. I loved it. It was happy and I may have had a tear or two in my eye at one point but they were equal parts happy and sad. 

I can't wait for the spin-off series. Hopefully there will be more of these amazing men and a whole bunch of new ones for us to get to know and enjoy...let the buddy reads live on.

Loved.Loved this book. Great last installment of this series.

Besides Snow and Jude, Ian and Hollis are my favorite couple.
Finally we get Ian's full story. It made me love him even more.

Ian



Hollis



I really loved all the dynamics of these men. They are such an amazing family. I'll sure be reading this series again.

I'm glad we getting Snow & Jude's novella and also Ian & Hollis's cause AND a new spin-off series starting with Geofrey and Sven. I'm not ready to say goodbye to these men yet ...


Nine years ago, he’d been caught in a nightmare and rescued by a few men who’d seen something in him that he might never understand. They’d taken him away, given him a home, and helped him create a new life. A fantastic new life. Together, the four of them had made a family, and now there were four more.

This book was a round-about rec in a way.  One of the romantic suspense novelists I follow on Twitter was quoted on a book blog about some of her fave reads and the 3rd book in this series was one of the ones she mentioned.  So, I went to check out the series and it hit a lot of my 'ooooh' buttons, so I went and picked up this first book.  

There are 4 men who are as close, if not closer, than brothers.  A millionaire club owner/businessman, a surgeon, a security company head and a chef.  This story is about the millionaire and what happens when he gets targeted by the bad guys over his latest property venture.  His buddy, the security company guy, sends him a bodyguard and the romance begins.  :)

It worked for me for the most part.  I enjoy the whole band of brothers thing and all the characters are bigger than life, which is fun for me.  It could be compared, I guess, to the Abi Roux Cut & Run books or SE Jakes' Tommy & Prophet series, but it's got a bit to go to live up to those faves of mine.  

The romance and sex is steamy hot and the falling in love stuff makes sense for the most part.  Although I did find that maybe, in certain tense situations, maybe the guys could have held off on the whoopee for a little bit?  

However... I did knock down my rating because this pair of authors, like many in the m/m genre, use the word SMIRK so often and think it's a hot and sexy expression.  OH. MY. GOD!  It's SO not.  It's smarmy and supercilious and obnoxious and it turns me right off and hauls me out of the story quickerthanthis.  UGH, I hate it.  In my uneducated opinion, I they use it in the hopes of it coming across as uber masculine.  Anyway, if I were the editor, I'd be raising hell.  

So, I will be adding the others to the TBR pile and hope that the word is used much, much less.  

Make it a buddy read with two of your besties of course...So a huge thank you to Christelle for once again jumping into this with me and Josy for taking the time to read the first two books so she could join us on this adventure. You both rock and I seriously can't imagine reading the next book, Devour...Ian and Hollis's story without you! Also yes, Christelle we totally need a story for Geoffrey and Sven. We haven't been given a lot about these two but what we have gotten makes me want more.

Before I start this ramble of mine, I need to say if you haven't read either of the first two books and plan to, especially, 'Shatter', the second book, you may want to stop reading now because I will definitely be mentioning some spoilerish things here, sorry, it's impossible to review this book and not do this.

Admittedly my expectations on this one were not high. I went into 'Torch' thinking that I was going to have a fun buddy read and get this one tucked away so that when Ian's book came out I'd be ready to read it because there was no way I was going to be happy about Rowe getting involved with someone after losing Mel...nope, not possible...well what can I say except 'never say never' because apparently not only was it possible but it happened. I'm still not happy that Rowe lost Mel but it happens in real life too people lose the one they love and if fate is kind they are given a second chance with someone else and just like in 'Torch' that someone is sometimes a part of their past. I'm still not happy that Mel died but I am happy that Rowe is moving on with his life and has found the right person to do it with...again. 

While Snow and Jude are still my number one couple in this series, I have to admit 'Torch' is my number one book so far. 'Torch' starts about 9 or 10 months after events that took place in 'Shatter'. Rowe is still grieving the loss of his wife, Melissa or Mel, as are all of the group. I can't say that Mel was ever intended to be a permanent character in this series but I will say that I liked Mel a lot as did many of my friends who have read these books. Mel was feisty and full of life and none of these men intimidated her no matter how alpha they were, not even Lucas. She was Ian's best friend, shared dirty jokes with Snow and actually all of them, she loved watching gay porn...see how can you not like this woman? 

I cried when we lost her in 'Shatter' my heart ached for Rowe and all of them losing someone who clearly meant so much to this group and I have to admit I'm left wondering if the authors had any idea that she would become as popular as she seems to be. I also have to admit that as much as it saddened me to lose this amazingly, strong and positive female from this series I also respect that this is the story that Ms Drake and Ms Elliott wanted to tell us and I was pretty much blown away by how much I enjoyed seeing things play out between Rowe and Noah. 

Noah is a part of Rowe's past. They were Rangers together and best friends. They have a past together one that we are shown is unresolved as are many things for not just Rowe but Lucas, Snow and Ian as well. The danger for this group that started in Shiver and carried over to Shatter has not yet ended and while 'Torch' has given us the answers to a lot of questions, I still feel like this story has a ways to go before we truly reach the ending.

I was pulled into this book from the word go and the minute we were introduced to Noah I knew I liked him. The interaction between him and Rowe felt so natural. Yes there was tension and a lot of push and pull and as my friend Christelle mentioned in her review 'Noah had the patience of a saint', but that was also part of his charm. The biggest and most important reason this worked for me was because from start to finish Mel was never lost or diminished for how much she was loved and missed by Rowe and his friends and Noah got it he understood and respected how much Rowe loved her and how hard losing her was for everyone. So often when a story deals with this type of loss it gets shuffled to the back burner and I feel like the love died with the person and that's not how it works for me (and I'm betting for a lot of people). The other part of this equation that really won me over was the fact that Noah wasn't some-never-met-him-before-now-insta-love-stranger who wandered into Rowe's life. Rowe and Noah had a history, they were friends and there was a history there that brought clarity to things about Rowe that had been hinted at in 'Shatter'.

While Rowe and Noah did have a lot of page time, which I was totally cool with since this was their story and all. I also thoroughly enjoyed all the time we got to spend with Snow & Jude, Lucas & Andrei and Ian & Hollis...and can I just say that it may have only been once scene but HOLY HELL!!! these two men are hot together. I may need to read their story standing in a cold shower.

Seriously if you haven't read this series I apologize for the spoilers but you were warned at the beginning and they really were only the very, very tip of the iceberg, so, I strongly encourage that you read 'Shiver' & 'Shatter' before tackling this book. This is not the type of series that allows for the books to be read as stand-alone stories. You need to read them from the beginning in order to fully understand what's happening. Not to mention hot men falling in love, why would you want to miss out on that?...just putting that out there for the universe.