Armed & Dangerous by Abigail Roux

Review by Issa S. (Issa-345)

Armed and Dangerous is book 5 in the Cut & Run series featuring FBI agents Zane Garrett and Ty Grady.  Meeting and paired together for the first time in Book 1, the first four books have seen Zane and Ty through a serial killer, armed gunmen, car wrecks, wild animal attacks, pursuit by foreign law enforcement, and bombings among other things. They have been kidnapped, beat up, shot at, and exploded while slowly working through their initial dislike of each other to lust, friendship, trust, and finally love. At the end of book four both our heroes seem to be on the same page with their feelings but Ty decides he has to go and leaves Zane with a note and readers with the first cliffhanger (if you could call it that) of the series.

Armed and Dangerous opens with Randall Jonas of the CIA coming to his friend Richard Burns of the FBI for help. He states that he’s being set up by the CIA for off the books private hits and the killing of operatives. There is one operative left who can point the finger at those responsive and Jonas wants him brought in for questioning. Burns orders Ty and Zane to retrieve the operative.  Unsurprisingly there are a number of problems along the way that keep this from being a simple task.

The feel of this book is a bit different.  Much of the earlier relationship tension is gone.  They are both in love, have accepted it, admitted it, and want to move forward with it.  The first few chapters are all about Ty and Zane healing their rift and exploring their tenderness and romance.  This installment finds Ty more chatty than we are used to, freely discussing aspects of his past with Zane.  Zane had become more confident in his feelings and in his place in Ty’s life and it shows.  It makes them come across as slightly different people (and in my mind stronger), but for their relationship to work, it was necessary for them to change the things they were doing that could have sabotaged it.  But at their hearts, they are still the Ty and Zane we have followed all along.

On my initial read, I felt all the expressions of love to be a bit out of character for both.  But upon later reflection I remembered all that was expressed in Divide and Conquer and it hit me that Ty and Zane are in the honeymoon phase of their relationship.   Though I can say there were a couple times the prose made me wonder when Ty had become a girl.  Not too many times thankfully.

The operative in question is Julian Cross.  You meet him and his lover Cameron Jacobs in Warrior’s Cross.  Sparks fly between Ty and Julian from the get go.  They are too much alike to exist comfortably in the other’s space.  As Ty and Zane drag Julian and Cameron across the country, Ty and Julian battle it out as the CIA tracks them.  Their antics provide a countless source of humor throughout the book.  The action keeps moving from the moment the four meet and runs to the end where the bad guy is finally unmasked and it’s not who you think.  While this is a crossover book, Julian and Cameron add to the story without taking it over.  It is still all Ty and Zane.

This installment offered the largest number of revelations and not just between Ty and Zane.  Ty’s brother Deuce has big news and Ty’s friend Nick was redeemed and offered up more about Ty’s past.

The underlying mystery is a little weak, but I expect that.  At its base, the series is about relationships.  This book is not a thriller.  The relationships between the MCs, their families, their friends, and their work are what is important.  The mystery allows the relationships to manifest and that is the book’s strength

What strikes me the most is Ty and Zane are finally a team, professionally and personally.  No more questions, no more doubts.  They’re seamless and if that is what Ms. Roux brings to the table writing these solo, then I am excited to see where she takes them.  No cliffhanger this time.  Things are not perfect; they still have to hide their personal relationship at work but another significant relationship hurtle was crossed and I ended the book smiling and feeling so hopeful for Book Six.

This was an amazing addition to the Cut and Run series.

And the winner of the copy of Armed & Dangerous for the Author Interview with Ms. Roux is:

Sara T. (samati)

Sara, your copy of Armed & Dangerous is on the way to you. Congratulations!