Reviewed by Sadonna
TITLE: A Shot of Courage
SERIES: Vasquez Inc.
AUTHOR: Lou Sylvre
PUBLISHER: Changeling Press
LENGTH: 195 pages
RELEASE DATE: July 30, 2020
BLURB:
~~Kink and wedding vows can’t stop danger, but love gives a Dom and his sub courage to fight.~~
After too much time apart from his lover and sub, Brian Harrison is thinking kink, a cowboy hat, and one more marriage proposal. When Jackie Vasquez finally says “yes” to a wedding, he also says, “why wait?” But their vows and the toasts to the happy couple have hardly faded when a phone call reminds them that trouble still awaits.
Despite his best intentions, Brian broke the law in his efforts to stop a powerful criminal from harming those he loves. He could go to prison, or he could risk his life going undercover to help bring one of Europe’s most nefarious citizens to justice. Friends and smart thinking can help him do the right thing. But only love can supply the courage he and Jackie need to prevail against schemes and guns and, if they’re lucky, stay alive to enjoy a honeymoon.
REVIEW:
Note: This is the sixth book in this series, and as each one builds on the previous book, it’s not recommended to be read out of order or as a standalone.
Brian is still following up on the Vitner/Lieb connection. After the events of the last book and his unexplained release by the LAPD after his arrest, Brian is more suspicious than ever that there is something a lot bigger than these car thefts going on. So off the books, he keeps digging. But it’s going to take some time. In the meantime, Jackie is headed to Seattle to get his new leg 🙂 They decide to leave LA for Thanksgiving with Jackie’s brother Josh in Colorado and while there, Jackie finally agrees to marry Brian.
Since they are engaged and everyone (well most everyone) is already there for Thanksgiving, they decide to just go ahead and get married there. Amazingly pulling off a wedding in three days goes pretty well. Jackie has never met Brian’s parents so that’s a bit interesting. But everyone is thrilled for them. However, when Luki gets a call, it’s apparent that things are not all roses and the wedding night is not what anyone expected. Brian and Jackie have held off telling Luki what was happening in LA and that was perhaps a mistake given the mess that seems to be coming at them.
Luki does his best to help, but Brian is now in quite a bit of hot water. And he’s worried even more, because it seems like the bad guys are threatening everyone that Brian holds dear. Protection has to be put in place, but Brian is the one who is going to have to do the heavy lifting. And he’ll be doing it mostly on his own because he’s being closely watched. He really has to pull out all the tricks of detective work and data mining. And he proves that he’s got what it takes when he cracks the case wide open. But it’ll be up to him to finish this pretty much alone.
Whew! This chapter of Brian and Jackie’s story is completely fraught with danger and intrigue. Just when we think things might be quieting down, they get more dangerous – for everyone. Brian’s sleuthing around to try to figure out what in the world has been going on with Vitner and this Lieb guy are just the starting point for the mess. His chief concern is to keep Jackie safe. Keeping things to himself without bring in Luki results in some issues, but ultimately everyone is on the same side and they want to catch the bad guys and try to keep Brian’s trouble to a minimum. There are a number of twists and turns and Jackie proves to be invaluable in helping the team negotiate their dealings with Vitner. The shocking level of the corruption and treachery kept me on the edge of my seat. This is like an international thriller to be honest – with a pretty exciting climax to the story. Thankfully the next chapter of Jackie and Brian’s story is being released this week, because I really want to know what they are going to do going forward as there are a lot of things hanging in the balance. Highly recommended – especially for those who love intrigue and suspense!
RATING: 
BUY LINKS:
Changeling Press