Reviewed by Larissa

TITLE:  Iris

SERIES:  Mike Bravo Ops Book 1

AUTHOR:  Eden Finley

NARRATOR: Alexander Cendese and Tim Paige

PUBLISHER:  Absolute Books

LENGTH:  6 hours and 47 minutes

RELEASE DATE:  January 20, 2022

BLURB:

Mike Bravo. Knights in shining…camo.

Iris:

I live for adrenaline. The thrill of the chase. And because I work for Mike Bravo, a private black-ops firm, it’s my job to go into dangerous situations. But when we’re called in to extract a military team from a hostile situation, the thrill is so much better. Because one of those men happen to be the golden boy from my basic training days.

Brock “Saint” Harlow was a walking Captain America in the flesh. The perfect soldier. Now my boss wants to recruit him, and I can’t wait to rub it in his face that he was rescued by me. The class clown. I’m not called Iris “I require intense supervision” for nothing.

Saint:

Military life is all I’ve known since I was born. I was raised to be a soldier. But when a top-secret mission fails, I find myself suddenly discharged with nowhere to go.

Mike Bravo saved my life, and they want me to join them, but there’s one small problem. Isaac “Iris” Griffin. He’s as irresistibly snarky as he always was, only there’s a big difference this time.

I’m no longer closeted or scared to live my truth. And the truth is, I’ve always wanted him. It’s against Mike Bravo’s rules to fraternize with other team members, and I always follow orders. But something tells me Iris might be worth the insubordination.

REVIEW:

Eden Finley’s special forces/black ops, action-adventure romance Mike Bravo Ops:Iris provides an irresistible action-adventure romp featuring a found family of ex-military alpha males righting wrongs under the radar.  These men are part of Mike Bravo Ops, a private sector company of primarily LGBTQ+ ex-military that performs security services, and under the table, takes on missions to complete or clean up failed, botched, or highly sensitive U.S. Government special operations, often abroad in hostile territory.  

If you’ve read Ms. Finley’s Pop Star, the first book in her Famous series featuring uber pop star Harley Valentine, you’ll remember Brix, Harley’s bodyguard turned lover.  Brix worked for Mike Bravo Ops at the time, and we briefly met Trav, Mike Bravo’s owner, and the eponymous Isaac “Iris” Griffin. However, even from the little we saw of Iris in Pop Star, we know how apropos his nickname “Iris” is:  I Require Intense Supervision.

Iris is a hyperactive, non-stop talking, risk-taking, OOC instigator/troublemaker.  He’s serious as a heart attack, though, when it comes to completing an op or touching any of his prized collection of guns and weapons.  Iris is an adrenaline junkie and the first to volunteer for any mission that’s got action and risk.  We learn that Iris has always been like this, even as far back as basic military training ten years ago, when he first met Brock Harlow. 

Brock was given the nickname “Saint” during basic training because of his gorgeous Ken-doll, golden boy looks, and because of his competitive need to win – and irritatingly, he usually would.  He’s the perfect guy with a natural gift for being good at everything.  Saint’s goody two shoes I’m the best attitude chafed against Iris’ personality.  Nevertheless, they both harbored a strong, yet secret, attraction to each other, but while Iris was out, Saint was closeted.  Back then, Saint both envied and resented Iris’s unapologetic acceptance of himself and refusal to hide his sexuality.

Fast forward ten years, and Iris and Saint are reunited in the most improbable and unpleasant of circumstances.  Mike Bravo is called in to rescue a military black ops team whose mission went south.  They find Saint barely alive, surrounded by the bodies of his slain teammates.  

After rescuing him and helping him recuperate, Saint finds himself leaning on Mike Bravo to help him hold on to the tatters of his life and himself.  The Army has disavowed Saint’s existence, so he’s without a job.  He’s been disowned by his family for being gay.  Now he’s recovering from a near-fatal injury, and both his physical and mental health have been significantly impacted.  He’s lost his focus, his purpose and is suffering from memory loss and PTSD.

Mike Bravo Ops, and specifically Trav and Iris, save Saint.  The story arc of Iris isn’t particularly titillating or unusual.  But it clearly shows the power of love and found family.  Throughout the story, we see Saint heal in body and soul due to the Mike Bravo family.  They fill in all of the empty parts of his life, and most unexpectedly, Iris becomes the most important person in the world to him.

Iris contains a well-paced story with a well-balanced mix of content.  There’s tons of humor, especially through Iris’ antics and his playful, snarky, flirty banter with Saint.  Plenty of smoking hot sexy times with two vers alpha males who are not afraid to experiment or give up control (on occasion).  Engrossing action/adventure during the ops. Plenty of swoon towards the latter parts of the book.  And a fantastic conclusion and epilogue that is entirely fitting for these two men.

Alexander Cendese and Tim Paige narrate the Iris audiobook and deliver two excellent vocal performances.  Mr. Cendese is the perfect narrator to voice Iris.  His energy-infused delivery with a thread of barely maintained restraint vibrating through his tone perfectly captures Iris’ OTT, jokester attitude and actions.  Mr. Cendese fully commits to his portrayal of Iris, and he does a stellar job acting the part. 

Mr. Paige narrates Saint, using his deep, velvety tones and smooth delivery.  Initially, it almost felt too smooth given the context of the story.  But Mr. Paige injects all the right emotions, intonations, and dynamics into his portrayal of Saint, and the whole package feels authentic.  

Both narrators consistently distinguish between their characters. They even provide horizontal consistency across chapters – meaning that the Iris, Saint, Trav, etc., voiced by Mr. Cendese, sound similar to those voiced by Mr. Paige.  Mr. Cendese’s female voices always sound a bit OTT to me.  Yet, while not authentic, they are always completely entertaining and never fail to make me laugh – especially here, with his portrayal of Angel undercover as a Valley Girl. 

Overall, I highly recommend the audiobook of Ms. Finley’s Mike Bravo Ops: Iris.  The story is very well done and extremely enjoyable.  With their invested and absorbing vocal performances, Mr. Cendese and Mr. Paige then amplify all the terrific things about this story.  It creates an immersive story experience you don’t want to miss.

RATING:

BUY LINKS: 

Audible 

Amazon