Reviewed by Carissa

 

TITLE:  Floodgates

 

AUTHOR:  Mary Calmes

 

PUBLISHER:  Dreamspinner Press

 

LENGTH:  234 pages

 

BLURB:  

 

Tracy Brandt considers himself a lucky man. He has a wonderful family, good friends, and a dependable job. His love life, however, features a cheating ex who, though out of the house, is not yet out of the picture—with a past that just might get Tracy killed.

 

Homicide inspector Cord Nolan wants nothing more than to show his best friend’s little brother that he’s a reliable man, but to do that he’ll have to get Tracy to look past the player he used to be. It’ll be a tough sell; reputation is everything, and Cord’s is tarnished by his past indiscretions.

 

Tracy and Cord have spent five years trying to suffocate their fiery attraction under a blanket of grudging antagonism. When Tracy finds himself with a target on his back, Cord finally has the chance to ride to the rescue and break through the dam of Tracy’s reserve. But he’d better be careful: if Cord is breaking the floodgates to wash away the past, he’s going to have to hold tight to Tracy to make sure they’re still standing when the tumult recedes.

 

REVIEW:  

 

Tracy Brant’s life is not going according to plan.  His lover has been caught playing house with another man, his office is being shot up by inept gunmen, and then his brother has to drag Tracy’s nemesis/secret crush into his hospital room in a show of brotherly stubbornness.  And then his cheating ex decides he is not done with Tracy quite yet.

 

Cord Nolan admits that first (and second…and eighth) impressions did not exactly go far in convincing Tracy that he wasn’t a slut.  A totally hot, tough, and desirable player.  But that was years ago.  He’s changed and he is determined to convince Tracy of it.  And with Tracy’s ex in the rearview mirror, he is now going to take his chance.

 

When it becomes clear that Tracy’s ex has brought some bad juju with him when he comes crawling back to Tracy, Cord is even more determined to protect the man he loves.  From the ex’s grabby hands, from the stalker haunting their steps, and from Tracy’s stubbornness.  And if they live out the week…maybe then he can convince Tracy to maybe love him back.

 

After my last book was so mired in the dark and gritty, I have to say this book was a relief.  Tracy, with his odd humor and stubborn pride was quite a nice surprise.  And this story was just a nice, relaxing read.  I especially liked how he was so adamant that his business partner was not a Russian mobster.  Or at least shady in the extreme.  Not sure I buy it, but even if Tracy is a tad bit naïve, it was something I found very entertaining.

 

The tension between Cord and Tracy was truly hot.  And while I handjobs in the middle of a crowded plane does not do a lot for the whole ‘I’m a grown up now so I’m totally not going to bang you silly in the nearest toilet stall because you deserve for me to make sweet love to you only in special places’ claim (totally paraphrased), I am always in favor of public displays of affection (or lust).  I did get a little squidgy with how possessive Cord tended to get towards Tracy near the end, though.  Not exactly veering into abusive asshole danger-zone, but it was flirting with the line a bit.  And they moved really fast from I-can’t-trust-you to I-love-you.  But then again, they have been circling each other like horny cats for the last five years.

 

While the whole mystery revolving around Mr. I Couldn’t Keep it in My Pants if the Fate of the World Depended on It (or as he likes to be known…Breckin), was sometimes a tad bit convoluted, it was certainly interesting.  Every new clue brought new depth to the mystery, and I liked that it took a turn into something I never really expected.   Tracy, however…man, the poor man is a bit of a clueless pretty-boy sometimes.  Maybe it was all the sex he was getting.  I mean, if Tracy wasn’t so sex-addled maybe he’d have noticed the clues that were basically screaming ‘Psycho Killer!!’ to anyone without sex on the brain.

 

The secondary characters were certainly interesting and I’m hoping we hear more from the mysterious Dimah, Tracy’s business partner.  The totally innocent as a newborn, Russian non-mobster.  And both of Tracy’s brothers were great–even if sometimes the brotherly love between the three came off a little less than brotherly at times (I probably just seeing things though.  I have a dirty, dirty mind).  This story is great if you just need a fun book with an interesting mystery to pull you along.  Not a lot of depth, but fun characters and hot semi-public handjobs (and even better non-public relations).

 

RATING:  

 

BUY LINKS: Dreamspinner press Amazon Are