Another great Hazard and Somerset book...

to be honest, I get a little frustrated with Emory and have decided he's on the autism spectrum. But it makes their stories so much more believable than the romances with unrealistically perfect characters. Their story/relationships are evolving and that saddens me somewhat because I don't want to see an end to the series. So, Gregory Ashe, can you write more status quo adventurous mysteries without moving the characters along so fast? Also, The narrator really nails it. I strongly recommend this book and series, especially if you like a strong storyline with your m/m romance.

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New story arc!

Hazard and Somers are back and after the explosive cliffhanger last Off Duty Vol. 2 short story, we finally get to see what happens next!! A teenage boy showing up on Hazard and Somers doorstep claiming he’s Hazard’s son?? Not only is the question WHEN, and WHO, but HOW. It’s a lot.

A note: This book is the start of the third story arc for Hazard and Somerset and should not be started here. New readers should start the Hazard and Somerset books with Pretty Pretty Boys.

Content notes include mentions of abuse, mentions of child abuse, mentions of pedophilia, mentions of grooming, and homomisia.

I liked this book, but I feel like it’s almost laid back after the events of the Union of Swords story arc. It’s very chill in comparison. No bees were found implanted in someone’s head in this book.

This book focuses not only on the mystery of parentage (on multiple levels) and the mystery of who Colt belong to, but also a seemingly impossible murder out in the woods.

The story takes some wild turns that kept me on my toes. I could not have predicted the way the ending all came together. It’s kind of hard to follow because there ARE so many pieces, but I thought it was fine. Or I’m used to it.

Let the lesson here be that you only see what you’re meant to see. There are no winners in this book, not really. But I did like that Colt might have stumbled his way into a really good situation, and Hazard and Somers ARE his best bet on having a happy life. This whole thing for Colt is the definition of a found family. I’m happy for him, even if his reasoning and actions is quite convoluted as only a teenager’s can be.

I’m not the biggest fan of kids in books. Love middle grade books, and I love YA books. But I feel like children in adult books can be massively hit or miss. However, Evie has been great so far and I shouldn’t be surprised that a teenager manages to fit into Hazard and Somers’s life so well here too without being annoying. Colt is your typical teenager, and Gregory Ashe manages to write kids WELL. I love Colt and I also wish him the best with Ashley. And I wish Hazard and Somers all the best with a fully grown teenager they now have to deal with. Love going from talks about having another kid, and a fully formed teenager shows up at your doorstep.

So, something I love in this book is that the dynamic between Hazard and Somers hasn’t really changed. Yes, these two are MARRIED now, but they’re still the same old Hazard and Somers we fell in love with and marriage has not changed that. They still work great together, and there’s still things that they do that get on each other’s nerves but they wouldn’t trade it for the world.

I think it’s interesting in this story where Colt is the new character waltzing into what is essentially season 3 of a storyline. He’s witnessing and learning their backstories and his reaction is basically me back in book 1 - fully on Hazard’s side and eyeing Somers suspiciously whenever he shows up. I understand Colt, I really do. But he does get on board with Somers after not too long and I like that proven by DNA or not, Hazard’s mother fully dotes on Colt like he’s her grandchild and that is so cute.

As for reoccurring characters, we see SOME Rebeca and Noah, but not a lot. Dulac and Darnell are new neighbors across the street, but we actually don’t see them that much either in this book. Dulac has a new partner now that Somers has moved to be the police chief, so it’ll be interesting to see how that plays out because Dulac is still a lot. We surprisingly don’t hear from Somers’s parents even though they must’ve heard about Colt being in town and living with them and claiming to be Hazard’s son. Wesley is understandably taking a break. Poor guy needs some time away. The last story arc really did a number on him. As for Nico, I’m weirdly warming up to him. He also needs some happiness in his life. He’s been through a lot too, but it’s nice to see how he manages to fit into Hazard and Somers’s life as a friend now even after everything they’ve been through together with Nico as Hazard’s ex. Nico feels more grown up in this one, even though he was never necessarily young before. He’s just…mature now and mellowed out, I think.

Tristan James is back as the narrator for this book, and I really love his voice for the characters because he IS Hazard and Somers to me. But I will say that there are a lot more noticeable mistakes with this audiobook than I’ve noticed in all the previous audiobooks for this series.

It seems like there’s a lot of moments where the wrong voice was used for the character speaking. For instance, there’s Hazard and Somers talking to a suspect named Daisy for the first time. It sounds like the Hazard voice is speaking for a line or 2 when the one talking is actually supposed to be Daisy. Same thing happens when Hazard and Somers is talking to Barbie (another suspect) for the first time. The wrong voice is used for the wrong character. Then again when Hazard and Somers were arguing about what to do with a SD card they find. The wrong character is reading from the wrong lines. The data quality on the narration for this audiobook just doesn’t seem as up to par to the previous audiobooks.

Overall though, I still really enjoyed this story and I look forward to reading the next book and seeing how Hazard and Somers manage to deal with more teenager son shenanigans!

2 people found this helpful

Gregory Ashe and Tristan James OMG

I loved this book and Tristan James brought it to life. I also finally found out how Hazard has a son.

1 person found this helpful

Perfect into into this next storyline!

My gods, I can’t believe how far Hazard and Somers have come… this was a perfect first book for this new Arc and I’m so excited to continue. I think this may have been one of my top favorites of the series.

“I’m basically the walking handbook to surviving Emery Hazard. Free consultations are available, anytime.”

Seriously

I'm 4 hours in and I don't know if I can finish this usually I kind of like rough asshole*ly characters but OMG hazard is such an asshole like to the 10th Somerset is so placating like I understand you're trying to be the good guy because hazard is no help but Jesssus don't let the kid get away with everything when he first showed up I got It understood the anger and all that but damn he's a dick like I said I'm 4 hours in and I don't know if I can take anymore all the characters are terrible and it's like I'm getting way too much information and none at the same time it's weird. I don't think I'll just quit the book because I don't do that maybe I'll just break right here and come back to it later.

**later date** found out this isn't the start of their story maybe if I meet them at the beginning I'll understand the characters a bit more cause right now they are not likable.

this is just terrible

jerk dad, jerk kid, every minute is stress full and aggravating.. good thing they take returns.

Emery Hazard has the surprise of his life…

After a wonderful, relaxing honeymoon in the British Virgin Islands, our newly-married couple headed home, looking forward to their new marriage and new life. But they didn’t even make it through their front door—someone was waiting on their front porch, a teenager with scarecrow eyes who claimed to be Hazard’s son.

But there’s no time to deal with that bombshell. Sheriff Engels has a dead body in the woods and Hazard and Somerset are called in to assist. Desperate to prove himself, Colt wants to “help” solve the murder, and the boy follows the PI and new Police Chief into intrigue and mortal danger.

Who killed Scott Krower? And where did this boy that has insinuated himself into their lives come from?
Gregory Ashe’s first book in the new Arrows in the Hand series is superbly written, full of twists and turns and jewels of insight that only makes us love these boys more.

As always, Tristan James is a genius with Gregory Ashe's material. He nails the voices and personalities of John-Henry and Hazard perfectly. Well done!

Excellent!!

My favorite addition so far to the H+S series. As much as it can be hard to stomach some of the terror committed by people in the books Ashe writes, it’s still a reminder that people like this really exist. It may be fiction, and of course exaggerated because it all involved the same people but there really are sickos that commit these kind of crimes and Ashe has an amazing way of putting words to what that horror could look like.

I loved Colt and I loved the journey all of them take to get to the end, I can’t wait for more tales for the future. Too much good to say about this one, but lastly I really like how dimensional Ashe makes his characters. They are each distinct and have a uniqueness that humanizes them. That’s likely why I’m still obsessed with this series.

I’m so excited to read the next!

3.5 stars

This is the first book in Gregory Ashe's new Hazard and Sumerset series, but it is in no way a stand-alone novel. We find our two detectives with quite the new challenge when a young boy is sitting on their doorstep when they return from their honeymoon. I'm not going to spoil things, but I do not like the way either main character dealt with the situation, though I suppose it is in character. Hang in there though because the second book is quite a bit better.

Excellent

Once again there is a tight mystery, complex characters that Tristan James brings to life with exceptional style.