Reviewed by Jay V.
TITLE: Sticks & Stones
SERIES: Fish & Chips #3
AUTHORS: Abigail Roux
PUBLISHER: Riptide Publishing
LENGTH: 335 Pages
RELEASE DATE: June 24, 2024, Re-Release
BLURB:
Their romance is entering rough waters.
After almost dying on their hiking trip, Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have a moratorium on the word vacation. This makes it hard to discuss their newest case: an undercover operation aboard a cruise ship in the Caribbean. Their mission is to collect information by posing as Corbin and Del Porter, a pair of wealthy international smugglers who also happen to be happily married.
It takes less acting than either man expects, and not just because both smugglers are out and proud. Del is a coddled trophy husband with a penchant for short shorts, while Corbin is possessive and jealous, happiest with cards in one hand and an expensive drink in the other. As they settle into their roles, the lines around what’s pretend and what’s real begin to blur.
Even undercover, “Corbin” and “Del” have big problems. They have an enemy aboard the ship, though whether it’s their criminal connections, the authorities, or some mysterious third party isn’t clear. No one on this ship trusts anyone else, and if Ty and Zane can’t change that, they’re going to end up dead.
*This is a limited re-release of the original series, without changes. Some aspects of the story are now dated, and an updated version will be published at a later date.*
REVIEW:
The continuation of the long favored series is available again.
Now on a boat! This book throws our hapless couple on a boat. They have to pretend to be a married couple and VERY different from themselves. Lines get blurred and they sometimes struggle in the lines between reality. They really do have a mystery and unwinding is going to take some skill, guile, and just plain luck.
A nice transitional book, Ty and Zane do work through some of their dynamics. It’s not the central focus, as the story is good in itself, but the underlying layer. What I love about these books is that they are not the perfect couple, things don’t always go their way, and they struggle to navigate their lives. Both characters have distinct, fun qualities about them that keep the reader interested in them. They are somewhat boneheaded but it’s part of their charm? They have a real yen/yang dynamic yet they’re sometimes the same in their thinking. It’s this dynamic that has drawn so many to read these books, including myself. Some things are resolved, others are not, but it’s a fun, wild ride.
RATING: 
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