Rating: 3.75 stars out of 5

Innocence wasn’t a personality flaw.

Nicolas “Pure” Warner lived with the curse of a cute face and a terminal blush. He was waiting for his happily ever after. Yet he’d given up on finding his one. His partner and spotter wasn’t the type to settle down but he’d always been drawn to the other man. Pure decided he could live with that, but when powers outside their control took Raul away, Pure would stop at nothing to get Raul back even if that meant leaving the Trenton Security team behind.

Touching the sun only left you burned.

Raul Martinez was a brutal fighter. He’d worked freelance for several years at Trenton Security. There was one dark spot to the perfect job: Pure. The man was sweet and looking for forever. How did the damaged and unworthy ever hope to touch the sun without getting burned? And touching Pure would be a dream come true. When Pure endangers his freedom to save him, how could Raul convince his boy that letting him go was the only option?

This title may contain triggering material for some readers.

Pure (Trenton Security #4) by J.M. Dabney is another installment in the Trenton Security series, one of the four  interconnected series that take place in a small town called Powers, Georgia.   From a tattoo shop to a bar and band to a security team, we have a constant flux of made family that move into each other’s lives and beds. The men are often broken, from abused past childhoods, with horrific histories behind them.   They end up in Powers, Georgia and somehow find their mate or mates, and start to heal, often with some kink invlved.

And some element of suspense, and maybe even murder.  It’s always a wonderful mixture of personality, sex, redemption, healing, and love.

And kink.

Pure is no different.  We have been reading about the tension and strain between job partners Nicolas “Pure” Warner and Raul Martinez for three books now.  Each a bit of a mystery man, but Pure most of all.  With his strict rules of no sex and nickname “Pure” plus the fact that this is J.M. Dabney writing his story, you knew something in his background was going to be bad. And as the author says in the forward, if a graphic rape scene is a trigger, skip the Prologue.

Pure is a great dichotomy of a personality, a character I came to love here especially.  Both the cool operations  planner/sniper as well as the  beautiful damaged man inside.  But he is also one of my only issues here with the story.  Daddy/boy relationships is a familiar theme within all the series and it is a main thread here as well.  And while I thought Raul’s personality and strengths as a  Daddy were well layered into his character from the beginning, not so for Pure.

With Raul Martinez Dabney does such an excellent job with the emotional reasons why this works so well for this man.  You can see why he is a Daddy figure, why it fits him sexually and emotionally. But with Pure, the psychology of the need for a Daddy or to be his Boy, that foundation was never really laid into the story.  We just learned about Pure’s traumatic past and then almost immediately he knew he needed a Daddy.   That was too abrupt a transition emotional, mentally, and perhaps sexually, especially in keeping with what we know for this part to make sense.  In past stories, the Daddy/boy relationship was layered in more gradually so that the needs meshed from the beginning and you could see why it worked so well.  I don’t believe that foundation was necessarily laid out here.

What else  do I love?  Dabney’s ability to write amazing strong women, mother figures like Lily, Peaches, and the newest addition in this story, Jenn, Pure’s mother.    Amazing women, of indomitable spirit and reserves, deep humor and infinite capacity to love.  I heart them so bad.  She lit up every scene she was in

Another strength of this story was the action/suspense scenes.  Very well done and with a neat twist at the end.

I believe Pure will end this series although I’m not sure.  The trend is four books in each series and this is the fourth.  It would be nice to have one big wrap up novel with all the characters from all the series present.  What a gift that would be to all the fans who have followed the characters through so many stories and series.

If you like contemporary romance with damaged men, kink and suspense, then this story and series should speak to you.  I recommend that you start at the beginning to get a feel for the town of  Powers and the made family that you will meet throughout the story.  It’s quite a journey and one I have loved taking, story by story.

Cover Art: Reese Dante.  Another incredible cover with a model that is just haunting in his expression.

Sales Links: Amazon |

Book Details:

Kindle Edition, 174 pages
Published August 17th 2019 by Hostile Whispers Press, LLC
ASINB07WQS23GD
SeriesTrenton Security #4

Trenton Security – fourth series

• Livingston (Trenton Security #1
• Little (Trenton Security #2)
• Gage (Trenton Security #3)
• Pure (Trenton Security #4)