Reviewed by Sarina
TITLE: Swamped by Fear
SERIES: Critter Catchers #3
AUTHOR: Hank Edwards
PUBLISHER: Wilde City Press
LENGTH: 212 pages
RELEASE DATE: September 29, 2016
BLURB:
While in Florida visiting Demetrius’s parents, best friends and business partners Cody and Demetrius realize their feelings for each other run deeper than just friendship. As they each struggle with emotions that promise to either detonate or deepen their relationship, Demetrius must also deal with his mother’s health issues. When a missing person’s case hits a little too close to home, the two tangle with a creature so frightening it’s scaring alligators out of the Everglades and into the swimming pools!
REVIEW:
All I can say about this book is: Finally! Cody and Demetrius have been friends forever and watching them dance around each other during the previous two books was like a special kind of torture. In this latest book in the Critter Catchers series, we finally get to see these two come to the realization that just being friends isn’t enough for either of them and I couldn’t be happier!
This latest installment to the series was both similar and different from the previous two books. There was a lot of introspection going on with Cody as he tried to figure out exactly what he wanted and then what he wanted to do about it. Being attracted to men and not acting on it is a whole lot different than realizing you may very well be in love with your best friend and want to seriously pursue something with him. Demmy, besides being head over heels in love with Cody, has the added stress of his mom being in the hospital and trying to figure out how to keep their business afloat while they’re both away. I really enjoyed how the chapter perspectives switched between both of the main characters as it allowed you to see what was going on through both of their eyes and it was nice getting two sides to the story.
Like the other books, there was a bit of a paranormal mystery in this one surrounding the disappearance of quite a few people in the area but unlike in the previous stories, it wasn’t the focus of the book. The focal point of this story is the changing relationship between Cody and Demetrius and what’s going on with Demmy’s family. The paranormal elements were nice and kept this latest book in line with the rest of the series but they accounted for less than half of the overall story. It did make for an interesting break from the family and relationship issues while helping to move things along between the main characters but I do wish it hadn’t been resolved so quickly or easily. (Then again, not everything can be a terror filled, angst ridden mystery.)
Despite (or perhaps because) of the lack of a major mystery, this was a really good book. I loved getting to see more of Demmy’s family and watching his relationship with Cody finally move out of the ‘strictly friends’ category was really satisfying. Both men have always been great together and I can’t wait to see what adding a romantic element will do for their relationship. If you enjoyed the first two books, I’m sure you’ll enjoy this one as well and if you haven’t read them yet and enjoy paranormal mysteries, I’d recommend you check the series out. 🙂
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