Reviewed by Brianna
TITLE: Gummy Bears and Grenades
SERIES: THIRDS (Book 9.5)
AUTHOR: Charlie Cochet
NARRATOR: Mark Westfield
PUBLISHER: Dreamspinner Press
LENGTH: 3 hrs and 35 mins
RELEASE DATE: 11/8/2017
BLURB:
THIRDS agent Dexter J. Daley can’t wait to marry his fiancé, Team Leader Sloane Brodie, but first he’s looking forward to celebrating his bachelor party—which he intends to be a shenanigans-free evening of getting his groove on with family and friends.
Of course events don’t work out as planned, but for Dex that’s nothing new. One thing is for sure, dodging drug dealers and hired thugs amid booze, dancing—and even a bear costume—will guarantee it’s a night Dex will never forget. Now he just needs to survive all the fun.
Enjoy this bonus story from the THIRDS universe. These events occur between Darkest Hour Before Dawn and Tried & True in the series timeline. While reading this story would enhance your experience of the THIRDS series, it is not essential to read before Tried & True.
REVIEW:
“It’s just a bachelor party” -Dexter J. Daly’s famous last words.
This THIRDS novella takes place around Dex’s bachelor party. From the music to the lighting and drinks, the club they go to is perfect for Dex. 80’s atmosphere and gummy bears galore. Gummy Bears and Grenades isn’t just about the bachelor party though. Sloane hopes that Dex will never get tired of him and Dex had second thoughts about having such a big wedding. Dex puts together a night for Sloane and Tony to bond. The whole bachelor party has a fluke sighting of a big orange bear. Drugs and grenades lead to Dex on the news. It’s a lot to fit into one night. But wait, there’s more! A warning of a kidnapping leads to a suspenseful climax. Charlie packs a lot of punch into this novella.
I absolutely love everyone’s banter throughout the book. Charlie Cochet does such a good job of making and keeping all the character’s conversations interesting and entertaining. I am always laughing and chuckling at things the THIRDS say.
Oh my, that stretch limo. 20 Therian’s? Holy Cannoli! That’s big limo. The club they go to at the beginning of the night is perfect for Dex. Get ready for the strip tease scene because it is HOT. There is so much craziness packed in to one night.
I absolutely love the big orange bear scene and late on Wolf shows up and graces Dex with his presence. He still has what seems like an unhealthy attraction to Dex. Even though I didn’t like Wolf at the beginning, I am very interested to see how things pan out in regards to him. He seems to be making the right choices. Maybe he is a TIN operative again?
Sloane and Tony’s evening together is pretty laid back, they both seem the same in some ways, I do like their part in the book. Brownie points for a certain show with two brother’s being mentioned. I would like to see a book about Tony in the future or at least see him settle down with someone. He is such a good man.
I can’t wait to hear more about Taylor and Angel. Taylor has been through a lot in the past books and we still don’t know too much about Angel except that they have known each other for quite a while. Zach and Austin have something going on also. Very early to tell, but I would love to know more about the Zach in the next books. So far we don’t know too much about bear Therian’s and I would love to know more. I definitely seems like Dex is trying to become a matchmaker between these four.
I can’t wait to read about Dex and Sloanes wedding! If Dex’s bachelor party is any type of precursor to what is going to happen around wedding time, we are in for a wild ride!
Mark Westfield has done a really good job with all of the THIRDS narrations so far. But I absolutely love when he does deep voices. They are so sexy! Mark also does do a VERY good english accent. He gives Wolf and Hudson both very different voices. I could tell especially in this book since there is a scene where both of them talk to each other. His higher pitch voices are okay, but can get a little breathy at times. Once I listen to a chapter of him narrating, I can’t tell, I get so engrossed into the book. Charlie’s characters along with Mark’s narrations of them flow perfectly. I never hear a dull moment. When I first heard him narrate last year sometime (2016, not a THIRDS narration) his character definition was less refined but he has definitely been working on his voice acting and it shows, especially throughout all of the THIRDS books. I am very glad he has been the narrator for every one so far!!
RATING: 
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