Mini - Comments

I was counting down the months until the end of my deployment. My days were spent working on military vehicles, and I spent my nights playing video games that would distract me until I could leave Staff Sergeant Garrett Reid behind.
That was when I met him: Kai Bannon, a fellow gamer with a famous stream channel.
I never expected to become fixated on someone who'd initially been a rival. And I'd never expected someone who oozed charm to notice me—a guy known for his brutal honesty and scowl. I hadn't planned for our online friendship to turn into something that kept me up at night—hours of chatting evolving into filthy webcam sessions.
But it did. And now I can't stop thinking about him. In my mind, our real life meeting is perfect. We kiss, we fall into bed, and it's love at first sight.
Except, like most things in my life, it doesn't go as planned.


Tony Vlachic, a ruggedly handsome Navy SEAL, has kept his sexuality a secret for years under the threat of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.” That is, until he meets Adam Wyndham, a charismatic yet troubled film star. Tony knows that by approaching Adam in front of his teammates he’s jeopardizing his military career. And Adam, nursing a broken heart, has no interest in a relationship. Still, neither man can deny their instant attraction.
Tony didn’t become a SEAL by accepting rejection, and his pursuit of Adam leads to one unforgettable night. But the next morning, Tony is ordered to ship out to Afghanistan, and he’s forced to leave Adam with too much left unsaid. As Tony enters a dangerous war zone, Adam, back in Los Angeles, struggles with the demons of his past, while dealing with the very real possibility that Tony could be killed in action. Half a world apart, both men must face their feelings for each other—and decide if what they’ve found is worth risking everything in the name of love. 

- > Two more mini comments. What these two stories have in common is that they both feature an m/m couple. One has as protagonists characters from a long ago series I loved and another has a couple who met online.

When Tony Met Adam is a short story featuring two characters from the Troubleshooters series by Suzanne Brockmann, a series I've devoured years ago and that still has a special place in my heart. Only recently I came across it and, sadly, I must say it's because after having read the series, the closer I'd still get to it is by re-reading some scenes in my favorite books. I saw this somewhere and it brought it all back but the story itself isn't long enough for the style of the author to be very noticeable. I feel happy Adam, a character not much loved by readers of the series has found happiness, even more so with someone as cute as Tony. It did help bring up memories but it's too far in time for me to feel that weird dedication I felt when I "discovered" the series...

Grade: 7/10

Strong Signal is the first book in a trilogy - apparently - about people who meet or connect online. Told from both main characters' perspectives, it's a story about two people with very different backgrounds but who start talking because of a video game. Their chats change with time into more serious and personal issues and they end up falling for the person on the other side.

I liked this story, it has interesting themes developed like Kai's sort of agoraphobia and Garrett's brave but not usually discussed sense of obligation but not dedication to the army. I think the plot until the guys meet in person was amazing. All the themes explored have meaning. When sex got into the mix, however, I feel the story started to lack in focus and it dragged from then on. I'm still happy to have read it but yes, Id edit some scenes/parts.

Grade: 7/10

Suzanne Brockmann - Breaking the Rules

Izzy Zanella wasn't looking for another reason to butt heads
with his Navy SEAL teammate and nemesis, Danny Gillman.
But then he met Danny’s beautiful younger sister, Eden. When
she needed it most, he offered her a place to stay, a shoulder to
cry on—and more. And when she got pregnant with another
man’s child, he offered her marriage. But Eden’s devastating
miscarriage shattered their life together—and made the intense
bad blood between Izzy and Danny even worse.

Now Eden's back, on a mission to rescue her teen brother, Ben,
from their abusive stepfather. Even if she and Izzy can prove
that their broken marriage is still in one piece, winning legal
custody of Ben is a long shot. But they’re not alone: Danny
and his girlfriend Jenn offer to help, and he and Izzy agree to
bury the past and fight for Ben’s future.

As they plan their strategy, Izzy and Eden grapple with the raw
passion that still crackles between them—while Danny and
Jenn confront new depths in their own rocky relationship. But
events take a terrifying turn after Ben befriends a girl fleeing a
child prostitution ring. When the young runaway seeks refuge
with Eden and Izzy, her pursuers kidnap Ben—and a deadly
standoff begins. Now, they must all pull together like never
before and strike back, swift and hard, to protect their
unconventional little family and everything they hold most
precious.

Comment: I've finally managed to read this book. Since I've started the first book I've been a fan of this series, and most especially of the heroes in it.
Izzy Zanella is a recurrent character from other books, and I must say it's one of the things I love in books, the fact we can see several characters from all the books being in there, being part of all the stories even when not protagonists. We know they exist and we see them, the author doesn't make them go away just because. Obviously we can't have all of them in each book, but there's plenty, which makes me happy.

These books feature navy Seals but the stories have always some deep emotional side and this book didn't disappoint in this. We got to see how Izzy and dan, two characters that usually fight a lot, come to terms they are now part of the same family and how their thoughts processed that and al the things happening around them.

The main couple, Izzy and Eden, had already convinced me in previous books, but right now we could see how real they are and this time, more solid too. Their romance story wasn't easy, but it blossomed and thrived.

Mrs Brockmann always manages to write a sucessful and convincing romance even while describing awful things, things we know are real in the world. I hope she'll continue to write books about troubleshooters because these are characters I'd never want to see gone.