Tom pressed his lips together for a moment, then said, “I just thought we’d be doing something. . .”
“Bigger?” Prophet asked, and without waiting, said, “Saving lives is always big.”
“There’s no one to save, Prophet.”
It took everything Prophet had not to punch Tom. “There’s always someone to save.”
– Catch A Ghost, S.E. Jakes
So, I just discovered you can sort by publisher on Overdrive and I noticed my library has a sizable number of titles from Riptide, a M/M publisher. I’d heard Joyfully Jay talk about M/M on The DBSA Podcast so I thought why the heck not ?
When I first heard about M/M it kind of rubbed me the wrong way because so many of the authors are straight women and I’m not sure how I feel about the gay/out for you thing. It just seemed fanfiction-y to turn a straight guy gay for one person. I mean…there’s a word for that. Anyway this book doesn’t have any of that, so moving on,
Former military man, Prophet, (it’s a nickname) works for a private company called Extreme Escapes–who I guess rescues hostages when the US government won’t cooperate or something… I don’t know It’s never fully explained in this book what they do or how they get paid. Also, while we’re on it the name Extreme Escapes kind of irks me, it sounds like some kind of 90’s amusement park.
Anyway, against his wishes Prophet is partnered with EEs newest associate former FBI agent, Tom Bordeaux. En route to their first mission they are interrupted by news of a murder in Texas—and for Prophet it’s personal.
For a while this book was a little bit in my wheelhouse. Tom has to go undercover as an illegal MMA fighter and my favorite trope in romance recently has been the part time MMA fighter. It’s weird, but in my romance novels I don’t mind people occasionally getting punched in the face. But the plot seems to take an abrupt right turn and terrorist get involved and I’ll be honest I was just confused about what was going on and why.
There is also a little bit of magic going on too. Tom is Cajun and seems to have some kind of premonition Cajun powers. Also Prophet seems to be talking to a ghosts of his dead friend.
It wasn’t until the end I realized the Hell or High Water series follows Prophet and Tom for all the books, so I think maybe this is all setting up for a larger story arc. It may also explain why Prophet and Tom’s relationship felt more fraught and less romantic by the end.
I did do some research and discovered this is a spin off (of a spinoff) of Jake’s Extreme Escapes series. This probably explains why Extreme Escapes is never fully delved into. Apparently she has a whole universe of former Initial Brigades (you know, SEAL,CIA, FBI) who save lives while also being angsty badasses.
I also discovered I’d read an SE Jakes before. Jakes is the pseudonym of Stephanie Tyler who wrote Defiance, a motorcycle club dystopian series I started last year. I couldn’t find any notes from when I was reading that, but I do remember thinking it was gritty and full of Alpha males–I guess that is her thing.
SIDE NOTE
This book must be fairly popular, it’s going to be in audio this winter…I would love to know how the narrator will handle Tom’s Cajun accent .