Title: Shock & Awe by Abigail Roux
Sidewinder Series Book One
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Genre: Contemporary, Erotic, Romance, M/M
Length: 94 pages/Word Count: 25,300
Book Rating: B
Complimentary Review Copy Provided by Publisher
Summary:
After barely surviving a shootout in New Orleans, Sidewinder medic Kelly Abbott has to suffer through a month of recovery before he can return home to Colorado. He’s not surprised when fellow Sidewinder Nick O’Flaherty stays with him in New Orleans. Nor is he surprised when Nick travels home with him to help him get back on his feet—after all, years on the same Marine Force Recon team bonded the men in ways that only bleeding for a brother can. He’s very surprised, though, when Nick humors his moment of curiosity and kisses him.
Nick knows all of Kelly’s quirks and caprices, so the kiss was a low-risk move on his part . . . or so he thought. But what should’ve been a simple moment unleashes a flood of confusing emotions and urges that neither man is prepared to address.
Now, Kelly and Nick must figure out what they mean to each other—friends and brothers in arms, or something even deeper?—before the past can come back to ruin their tenuous future.
The Review:
The first installment of the Sidewinder series, Shock & Awe is a deliciously sexy friends to lovers novella that fans of Abigail Roux’s Cut & Run series are going to love!
Following his release from the hospital, Kelly Abbott and his close friend and co-worker Nick O’Flaherty, head to Kelly’s secluded cabin where a surprising confession from Kelly leads to a very hot experimental kiss. The sexual tension between them skyrockets after their extremely steamy kiss but will Kelly be able to persuade Nick to explore the unexpected and scorching attraction between them?
Their shared history is what makes Kelly and Nick’s transition from friends to lovers so believable. Nick is at first reluctant to indulge Kelly’s curiosity and I like that they take the time to discuss his concerns about what a kiss could mean for their friendship. Both men are caught off guard by their reactions to their kiss and Nick is once again unwilling to take their explorations to the next step. His concern is not just for their friendship, but he is also worried that Kelly’s thinking is impaired by pain medication.
It does not take Kelly long to overcome Nick’s objections and their explorations lead to toe-curling and explosive sex scenes. Nick’s care and concern for Kelly’s well-being extends to the bedroom and leads to some pretty inventive and creative almost but not quite sex between them.
But what I enjoyed the most about Shock & Awe is the depth of feeling between Kelly and Nick. They share an obvious affection, and neither man is afraid to show it or admit it. There is an incredible amount of intimacy between them before they give in to their passion and in the aftermath, that closeness only deepens.
Shock & Awe is a short and enjoyable beginning for Nick and Kelly’s new relationship. It ends rather abruptly, but Abigail Roux provides a very satisfying glimpse of their future with a short (but very hot) teaser that will leave readers impatient for the next installments of both the Cut & Run and Sidewinder series.
