Reviewed by Jen B.

TITLE: Long Time Gone
SERIES: Hell or High Water #2
AUTHOR: SE Jakes
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 270 pages
BLURB: When a tornado meets a volcano, nothing is safe.

Soldier of fortune Prophet Drews always worked alone—until Tom Boudreaux became his partner. But when Tom walked away three months ago, ostensibly to keep Prophet safe, Prophet learned the true meaning of being alone. Everyone knows that Prophet, a Navy SEAL turned CIA spook turned mercenary, can look after himself. Which means he must’ve driven his lover away.

Even with half a world between them, Prophet can’t get the man out of his head. Maybe that’s why he’s in New Orleans in the middle of a hurricane, protecting Tom’s aunt. But the only looter around is Tom, bursting back into Prophet’s life. It turns out that Prophet’s been stuck in Tom’s head—and heart—too.

Their explosive reunion gets even hotter when Tom is arrested for murder. As they fight to clear his name, they delve deep into his past, finding enemies among everyone they meet. Staying alive in such a dangerous world is hard enough, but they soon discover that fighting to stay together is the most difficult thing they’ve ever done.

REVIEW:

Prophet and Tom have taken over the top spot on my favorite hot alpha damaged guys list.  When we left them in Catch a Ghost, things were kind of in limbo with each going separate ways.  Thank goodness, we did not have to wait very long to see them again.  Proph has been somewhat busy doing his secretive black ops missions while Tom has been trying to adjust to life with his new partner, Cope.  Even though Tom was the one to walk away, he has tried to get back in touch with Proph, to no avail.  His daily heartfelt emails have gone unanswered, as have all of his other attempts.

Then, when a hurricane threatens New Orleans and the home where Tom’s aunt lives, Prophet heads there to help out, knowing Tom would be unable to get there.  What ensues during that hurricane is a hurricane of a whole other nature.  Prophet and Tom actually meet up, and when they do, the sparks fly stronger than ever before.  There are some majorly hot scenes once these guys get back in the same location, let me tell you.  What really steals the show for me though, is the dialog between them.  There are so many great conversations, both hilarious and sexy, and even some that are quite sad.  OMG, the alligator stuff was brilliant.  Through the mess these guys (mostly Tom) find themselves in, we learn more about Tom’s past and some of the many things he had to endure growing up.

If you are just picking this series up now, you might be a bit disappointed, or even be scratching your head wondering what all the fuss is about.  These guys have a lot of sex when they have it, and there are a couple of clichés (marking and “mine”) that ordinarily drive me a little nuts.  However, when you know these guys, especially Prophet, from the beginning, you don’t question it, nor dislike it.  There is so much to them, with each having such horrible pasts, the kind of men they are now, and the lives they now lead.  Tom has been the only one able to learn about and show us some of the secrets and mysteries of Prophet, and I loved that we were able to learn more about him.  He still has many more, but by the end, I was happy with the details we were given, even though I still long for more.

Tom and Proph are still fighting the feelings they each have that even though they long to be together, they each feel the other will be safer (for different reasons) if they are apart.  This doesn’t change, though they seem to be willing to work through it if at all possible.

We meet a lot of great, and some not so great, characters while in New Orleans.  We get to see Blue and Mick again, and there are more great interactions with Cillian.  Most importantly to me though, we learn more about Proph’s mysterious ex-SEAL team, and I want information on them almost as badly as I wanted it on Proph.  I’m really looking forward to the next book and am more than ready to see Mal give Cillian a run for his money.  Tommy and Proph still have more to tell though, so I’m eager to see them again as well.

This was another fabulous, well-written and well put together story from page one right up to the end.  There are smoking hot scenes, mystery and twists, with exciting characters and a great storyline.  Keep up the good work, Ms. Jakes!

Jen rates it –

BUY LINKS: Riptide Publishing :: Amazon

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Jennifer B. is one of the official reviewers on The Blog of Sid Love.

To read all her reviews, click the link: JENNIFER B’S REVIEWS
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