Tag: author Ali Atwood

A MelanieM Review: Hard Contact (Guild Enforcer, #1) by Ali Atwood

Rating: 2.5 stars out of 5

 

Hard Contact is the first book in the Guild Enforcer Series, a sexy, action-packed gay romance with no cliffhangers and a HEA ending.

On the surface, Ty Lighthorne is a successful bounty hunter based in Boston. Undercover, he’s part of a covert task force regulated by the Fae Justice Guild. Ty and the team pursue paranormal criminals who’ve escaped to the human realm to avoid punishment. Since Ty is a hybrid, half human and half Fae, he’s totally at home in both dimensions.

Reed Harrison’s dream of becoming a piano soloist was in his grasp until tragedy ripped his world apart. When the justice system fails him, he devises his own method of retribution reinventing himself as a licensed bounty hunter.

Ty and Reed are polar opposites, but events force them into partnership and the sexual sparks fly. Reed maintains his distance because he’s all about the mission—hell-bent on revenge. Ty is a mix of toughness and devil-may-care with a strong allegiance to the Justice Guild. He knows better than to trust anyone with his secrets. A hot-blooded affair could threaten both their futures.

Hard Contact is the first novel I’ve read by this author so I’ve no idea if its representative of her other stories.  For me, Hard Contact shows promise but it just didn’t deliver on them.  So let’s start with the positives.

What drew me to pick up and read the story was the synopsis.  I loved the idea of a half fae/half human detective pairing up with a human partner to hunt down a murderer.  Even better when one has a personal connection to the case and said murderer.   Add to that a sexual attraction and evolving romance?  You have me hooked but good!

Atwood’s main characters are nicely done.  I liked Ty and Reed. Ty Lighthorne is given an interesting background (more on that later) as is Reed.  That they both end up working for the same bonds company?  Ok, and on the same job?  Alllllright.  But things start to break down shortly after that.  Nice central characters and great plot.

Which leads to insta love and other issues which I’m starting in on below.

Multiple povs.  Which I normally don’t have a problem if done correctly.  However here one (two others are Ty and Reed) is the killer’s and it really has no purpose other than titillation.  It pops up a couple of times but his character is never fully developed.  This element feels more like a narrative dud than a narrative do, if you know what I mean.

Then there is the world building here which is supposed to supply the novel (and therefore the characters) with a sturdy foundation.  Instead, its more like a shaky one.  You never get a good handle on the concept of Middle Earth here (flying cars? Werewolves?)  Plus there are huge holes in the author’s backstory for Ty and the creation of the Guild Enforcers.  So no one would notice a pattern of  children disappearing at certain age from good homes around the US?  Or the children themselves rebelling?  Wanting to return home?  That whole element is full of  narrative cracks that  need so much work and many more pages if not chapters.

So much that just doesn’t ring true.

And then there’s the important “non entities”.  Ty is a member of a trio of 3 enforcers who are legend.  We see the other two briefly and then not at all other than. Kapow! Look at them  go sort of thing.  Shakes head.

Secondary character development is important.  I can’t stress that enough.  You don’t want your main characters to live in a bubble.  Ty and Reed sort of do here to their and the story’s detriment.

And one last issue.  Having humans know about the Middle Earth is a huge “No”.  Apparently its cause for jail time, etc.  So what does our hero do?  Yes, of course, blithely take Reed through a portal without permission and show him Middle Earth. Smh.  Yes, there is no continuity here.  Just one big narrative crater after another.

Hard Contact is the first in a series but I’m leaving my reading at one book.  There’s just not enough here to make me want to continue.

Cover art:  Books by Khaleesi.  The cover certainly doesn’t say fantasy but could be for any murder/mystery story.  Interesting but a fail for this story.

Sales Links:  Amazon

Book Details:

ebook, 178 pages
Published June 22nd 2018
ISBN13B07CZPQ165
Edition Language English

An Ali Review: Scoring the Boss by Ali Atwood

Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
Cody Madrid wasn’t born into privilege. He grew up in a crime-infested trailer park and suffered a childhood from hell. The gritty start to life didn’t break him. It fired his determination to make something of himself. With discipline, hard work and some unexpected luck, he founded Starwest Industries and built it into a multimillion-dollar empire.

Ben Jackson grew up in a loving family, enjoyed a picture-perfect childhood and aspires to become a fine artist. He’s vacationing in Greece when he literally falls at Cody’s feet. Their meeting is electric, but forestalled when Ben receives tragic news from home. As a result, he puts his artistic ambitions on hold, and looks for a full-time job to help support his family.

When Ben is hired by Starwest Industries, he has no idea that Cody Madrid owns the company. Their professional relationship means Ben has to work closely with the most compelling man he’s ever met without falling in love with him. Though Cody is still closeted, he finds himself falling hard and fast for the blond, blue-eyed Ben. But Cody has issues to work on, and someone has a hold on Ben. He’s been trapped into living a lie that could ruin any chance of a future with Cody. 
This was a low angst story about two men who meet in Greece and feel a connection and then later run into each other back in the US when they find they work for the same company.  Turns out Cody is the owner of the company Ben now works for.  In addition to that complication, Cody doesn’t want anyone to know he is gay and Ben doesn’t want to be in a relationship with someone who is not “out”.
I liked the set up of the book and the beginning when they meet in Greece.  Unfortunately the rest of the story didn’t work for me.  There is a  plotline I don’t want to spoil, but it has to do with how Ben ends up working with Cody.  I thought it was completely unrealistic and I didn’t buy a second of it.  It was so over the top that I struggled to keep reading the book.  
I was hoping that once I got past that I would connect with the characters or the plot but I didn’t.  I couldn’t believe any of it.  These guys are only together two times and then Cody is deciding he can’t live without Ben and he’s going to change his entire life by coming out for him so they can be together.   Two times!  I didn’t feel any connection between these two at all.  There was a lot of telling their feelings and not enough showing.  It’s also a pet peeve of mine when authors use the coming out plotline device and then skim over it and make it seem like some Disney movie grand gesture.  Coming out is very serious and should be treated as such in my opinion.  
There was nothing wrong with the writing style or the technical aspect of the writing so this may appeal to different readers.  If you enjoy light, low-angst, insta-love this may work for you.  
Cover:  The cover artwork was done The Book Khaleesi.  I think it is a good representation of the story.
Sales Link: Amazon
Book Details:
Kindle Edition, 163 pages
Published June 16th 2017
ASINB071LJRTJG

A Paul B Review: Bound to Brody (Shifters and Lovers #1) by Ali Atwood

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Bound To Brody coverWhen Zac McQuade comes home for his niece’s baptism, his college crush Brody Maitland pays him a visit. Hoping for a social call, he is disappointed when he wants his help tracking a missing patient. As the two investigate, things heat up both for them and in the mystery. Will secrets past and present separate them permanently?

Zac McQuade spent several years in the military after school. Upon his release from the military, he is contacted by a government agency to become an elite assassin. As a cover, he informs people that he is in the foreign investigations division of the FBI. After having completed his last assignment, he heads home to attend the christening of his niece and take a much needed breather from work.

Brody Maitland is a psychiatrist at the local university. He is worried when one of his patients disappears with no explanation. Having heard that his former crush is home to visit his family, he contacts Zac in hopes that he will help to unofficially investigate the disappearance of his patient. Zac, knowing that he isn’t trained for this despite his professed credentials, agrees to help Brody out if only to spend some time with him.

As the investigation progresses, they find that the missing student might be victim of a serial killer. While tracking down information, they come to realize that they had feelings for each other while in school. As this bond grows, it serves not only to bring them together but also will be used against them. The killer uses this growing bond to put the protagonists in jeopardy. Will the secret that Brody is keeping which could save them from the killer also destroy the building romance between the two heroes?

This is the first book in the new Shifters and Lovers series by Ali Atwood. There is much that I liked about the book. First, other than the fact the series name, the fact that one of the protagonists is a shifter is not revealed until near the end of the book. To extend this point, our shifter did not grow up knowing about paranormals as he was adopted at an early age. Another difference is that this is not a story of destined mate. It starts out as a story of unrequited love that soon evolves. The author sets up further books in the series as our heroes decide to find out if there are others like him.

I also am interested to see if Zac’s occupation will play in the hunt for more shifters. This is a good start to a new series in my opinion.

The cover art by Scott Carpenter is simply gorgeous. Two well built shirtless men dominate the top two thirds of the cover. The bottom third has a cougar ready to pounce. Nicely done.

Sales Links: eXtasy Books –   All Romance (ARe) –  Amazon   Buy It Here

Book details:
Ebook, 78 pages
Edtion: English
Published: May 1, 2015 by Extasy Books
ISBN: 978-1-4847-0329-4
Series: Shifters and Lovers
Bound to Brody (Shifters and Lovers #1)