Reviewed by Becca
TITLE: Bull
SERIES: Brawlers #3
AUTHOR: J.M. Dabney
PUBLISHER: Hostile Whispers Press
LENGTH: 183 pages
RELEASE DATE: February 11, 2018 2nd edition
BLURB:
Welcome to Brawlers Bar…
They said men only get better with age, distinguished and all that BS, but Archer “Bulletproof” Woods hadn’t gotten better. At fifty-six he was still as much an asshole as he’d been in his twenties and thirties, hell, maybe he was worse. Being a bouncer at a bar called Brawlers suited him just fine and he even tolerated the rest of the crew who’d taken up residence in his house when they’d had nowhere else to go. He was big, growly and homely that kept the parade of men passing through Brawlers at arm’s length for the past decade. One night changed all that.
What he’d thought was happily ever after turned into a nearly five year nightmare. Gregory Charles appeared to have it all, a successful business, sophistication, and a perfect marriage. His friend and best employee, Landon, begged him to come out to a friend’s bar to celebrate Landon’s anniversary. What could it hurt? A night without contemplating the hell that would come down on him the moment he served his husband with divorce papers would do him good. That is until he met the brooding older man staring into a whiskey straight ignoring everyone around him.
Watching for trouble was his job and Gregory screamed mistake as soon as the long, lean and handsome man sat down beside him. But he also knew when someone was in over their head and Gregory needed someone to watch his back. That someone was Bull, only time would tell if he’d have to fight Gregory as much as the man after him.
REVIEW:
Warning: Possible triggers. Physical and mental abuse, severe. Also, attempted murder and stalking.
This book had me laughing so damn hard. Oh my gah. I was so happy this was Bull’s story. I’ve seen how he is with all the guys. As grumpy as he comes off, he really cares about those boys and watches over them all like they’re his kids. He’s kind of adopted them all. But he gets lonely too, and there are stories there for him that the others don’t know, that he fights every day. And I was so happy to see that he finally found someone for himself. And it was one funny ass ride.
At first though, it wasn’t so funny. When Gregory first met all the Brawlers and Twirled crew, it was with his employee Landon and Gregory felt way out of his league in his suit. But when he sat down beside Bull, something drew him to the man. Maybe it was the way he was staring at that shot glass with some pain on his face. It made Gregory want to comfort him. They ended up talking for a bit but Gregory had to go home, because even though his husband was supposed to be gone, it would make trouble for him if his husband found out he was gone. But his husband wasn’t gone and Gregory was in for it when he met his very drunk husband at the door. After Landon tried for a week to get to Gregory, Landon knew drastic measures were going to have to be taken and Bull was it. When they found Gregory, Bull almost killed the husband. They got Gregory out of there and Bull warned the hubby to sign the divorce papers and stay away. But that wasn’t going to happen. He kept constantly hounding Gregory. During all this though, the boys all adopted Gregory as Bull’s man and the second daddy. Lol!! The comments were funny as hell. But they got to know each other as friends. Gregory got to meet Bull’s family and there was an instant connection. But sometimes good things don’t last. Gregory’s ex had stepped up his game and tried to set them all on fire. Bull got everyone out but himself, where he was beaten by the ex with a bat. Thankfully, they got him out in time, but now he’s in the hospital, Psycho is in jail for catching the ex trying to run, and the bigoted, homophobic prick of a sheriff, is well, being a prick. And Gregory is lost and scared, hoping Bull wakes up and makes him his.
I hate abusive pricks. I have to admire Bull for holding back. And I admire Psycho for what he did to Gregory’s ex before he went to jail. It was the least of what that asshole deserved. I was so happy when Landon and Bull got him out of there. I knew when he first walked into that bar that night that something wasn’t quite right and it was obvious it way wrong. I’m just glad they got him out before he was killed. And it broke my heart for Gregory because he’s such a sweetheart. He grew up in a loving home with loving parents. But for some reason, he just couldn’t get out of that relationship with his ex. And I get it. When you’re in an abusive relationship, it is hard to get out. It’s not that they want to stay, but they are guilted into it or threatened. Often told again and again that it will never happen again, so there’s always that small, tiny seed of hope. And most times most don’t make it out alive.
And for Gregory, Bull was the perfect person for him. Bull was scared, yeah. The age difference alone made him nervous. Understandable. But Bull had one time had a drinking problem himself, and though he would never lift a hand to hurt Gregory, he still didn’t want that to associate with something bad for him. Plus with all the boxing and fighting in the ring and such, he didn’t want Gregory to be scared. But what he ended up doing is giving Gregory a safe place, where he finally started to blossom into the man he really was. And it fit right in with the rest of them. He was snarky, sassy and smart mouthed just like the rest of them. He was finally relaxing and learning to have fun. All because Bull was patient with him and gentle and showed him that big men are caring and compassionate too. Even if he was often grumpy lol.
I loved this story. I’m so happy for both of them. This series has just been amazing from the first Twirled book up to now and I’m excited to read the rest.
RATING: 
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