I Like My Ty & Zane With Cream & Sugar, Hold the Angst

I love angst in my books.  The drama keeps the books interesting, IMO.  I especially love the heart racing, eye popping thrill of it.  That all changed when I met Ty & Zane.  Special Agent B. Tyler Grady is a wise-cracking, fun-loving, fidgety, flirtatious guy.  Special Agent Zane Garrett is a low-key, number-crunching, "punny" guy.  Together, they are my favorite literary couple to date.  Spoilers and shameless speculation ahead…

Fish & Chips

Our first relationship angst came in Fish & Chips, #3 in the series.  It fractured my heart when Zane got drunk and dismissed Ty.  Ty’s reaction to Zane's poor behavior actually scared me.  I thought, OMG, he’s going to dump him right there on that cruise ship!  Thankfully, there was no dumping, only dunking.  Ty got his anger and hurt out of his system.  Zane pledged to never hurt Ty that way again.  I was relieved beyond belief and happier than a minion has any right to be.

I say "Nick" the way
Jerry says "Newman".
bleedcubbieblue.com

Divide & Conquer and the Dreaded Nick

I had heard of this Nick.  I had heard about “the kiss”.  I blew it off; so, so naive.  Okay, so some guy is going to kiss Ty.  Zane’s going to get pissed, but hey, this might actually be hot!  Um, no.  Not hot.  Not cool.  I’m still in therapy over this actually.  Without tearing open old wounds, I was raging about this Nick and how his actions hurt Zane.  Frankly, I wasn't thrilled with Ty because of his pondering on what life would be like with Nick.  Oh, and because Ty kissed him back.  As if the kiss wasn’t enough, Nick had to go for broke and tell Ty about his feelings.  That’s some apology Nick!  You’re sorry you kissed him, and oh, by the way, you tell Ty that you have loved him for the past twenty years.  Do you see why I wanted him dead?!


Armed & Dangerous
  
I was a bit worried because I knew Nick was in the book.  I was hoping that his role was going to be Zane’s punching bag.  Not quite, but Nick did help Ty & Zane out when they were in a jam.  He accepted that they are a couple and acted just fine about giving them the VIP cabin with one bed.  I’m feeling pretty good about things.  Oh, but wait!  Ty & Zane head to the cabin and start talking.  That’s when it goes downhill, and my blood pressure starts going up.

“I really want to hate him.”
“So hate him.  You have every right.  Being drunk is never an excuse to do stupid shit.  You’ll have to hate me too, though, ‘cause I was there and I kissed him back.”

OhMyGod Stop this conversation right now.  Are you really going to do this?! 

I won’t include the rest of the conversation, but needless to say, I was reeling and wanted a do-over.  Damn Zane for asking questions.  Damn Ty for telling the truth.  Ty said some amazing things, and I do love him for that.  However, it still hurt Zane to hear the ugly truth with the beautiful reality.  Ty has a way of doing that.  He is so expressive and honest, he can break your heart and build you back up in a blink.  They went to bed.  Zane couldn't sleep, so he went up to talk to Nick.  I was seriously on edge during this conversation at first.  However, Nick said all the right things, they came to an accord, and Zane and I felt a little better.  Nick won many fans over after that conversation.  Plus, it was hard not love him after his badass, famous line, 

“Oh son, you broke down the wrong door today.”

Stars & Stripes

This was the first book I’ve had to wait for, as I’ve just discovered Ty & Zane in May 2012.  Abigail Roux is a giver, so she provided us with a fun little snippet of a convo between Zane and Nick about Canada Day.

Nick.  Again?  Really?

I was pretty damn happy that the only appearance by Nick in Stars & Stripes was that one conversation between him and Zane.  Nick helped Zane out with a problem with Ty because the fact remains that Nick has shared more of Ty’s life.  You’ve got Ty questions, Nick’s got answers.  Ty & Zane were the happy couple all through Stars & Stripes.  I was able to cut back on my meds.  One might think, "Happy couple?  Wouldn’t that be boring?"  Well, no, not if you are Ty & Zane.  Abi Roux can make Ty breathing an enjoyable scene--which leads me back to the cream & sugar.  Oh.  Did I go there?

http://fuckyeahreactions.tumblr.com 

Touch & Geaux, Pre-Release Torture aka.
Hearts and Flowers are On Hold, My Friends

Now, it’s common knowledge that Abi likes to play with her prey troll her minions.  We are a devoted bunch.  I can totally see how fun that is, and I find myself laughing along too.

http://fuckyeahreactions.tumblr.com 

It wasn’t long after Stars & Stripes was released that Abi, self-proclaimed Evil Overlord, started torturing us with hints of some drama in the next book, Touch & Geaux, particularly regarding a chap named Liam Bell.  Since any mention of an attractive man in Ty & Zane’s life makes me start looking around for sharp objects, I was non-too-thrilled about Liam Bell. 

Let the trolling fun began!

• One of our first introductions to Liam Bell was with this snippet.  Okaaaayyy.  So, Liam Bell knows Ty.
• Liam is British and a former SAS.
• "Nick likes guys who give orders."  Great!  This is good!  I’m thrilled at the thought of getting Nick mated to some nice, young hitman.
• "You're either going to love him or want Zane to kill him." Ah.  Seeing as how I'm kinda fond of Zane, Liam's starting to get on my bad side.
• "Zane's going to do a Hulk."  Hmmm.  This makes me dislike Liam even more, but the thought of Zane losing his cool and knocking him out sounds like fun!
• This tag: "Who is smarter better faster?"  This sounds like a challenge to Ty to me.  Regardless, we know already know the answer to that.
• "Liam is a 4-letter word, so is bell for that matter."  I think I've already figured this one out.  He’s got trouble written all over those lips.  Oh, and speaking of lips, there was this:
• "Zane likes guys with lips like that"  and  "Inspiration for the current scene"  Whoa.  Okay.   I think this should make me hopping mad, but...but I'm picturing jealous possessive! Ty and a front door.  Hey, this Liam guy might be my new best friend!

http://fuckyeahreactions.tumblr.com

• On the "Ask Abi" Tumblr page, one minion asked:  If I were Liam Bell, would I find Ty or Zane more attractive? The answer: Zane.   Ty is going to go all USMC Force Recon on this man.  I’ll bring the popcorn.
• Anonymous on the Ask Abi tumblr page posed this question: "In A&D it was established that if Ty were an animal he would be a shark and Zane would be an elephant. What would Liam Bell be?"  Abi's answer was a picture depicting cockroaches having sex.  Nice guy, then?  That's what I thought. 

Wrapping up the Liam Bell discussion, I think he will probably piss me off simply by irritating my favorite MCs.  However, if his annoying presence leads to sexytime, then Liam Bell is okay in my book.  If his annoying presence leads to a "break", I will need to call in Preston.

Now, the "Who the Fuck is Liam Bell" panic aside, we may have true reason to worry.  Abi has dropped some major hints that there may be trouble in paradise for our lovebirds.

• A song for the T&G playlist.  Oh, shit.  All I know is that I heard this song the night she posted this, and I was thinking, “What book/couple can I picture with this song?”  The answer was NOT TY & ZANE!!!  Ack.  This smells like angst.  Where are my meds?  *sobbing in corner*
• "Doctor's Opinion of Ty in T&G"  Abi tagged it: "accurate".  Poor Ty!  I cannot imagine a world where Zane would actually walk out on Ty--even though Ty did that to him, not going there!--but wow, I REALLY can't picture it.  Come to think of it, how often has Zane gotten super pissed at Ty?  He's the calm one that keeps his emotions in check!  Color me intrigued.
• There are no words.  Seriously, dude.  This passed funny doing 80, and came to a dead stop at cruel.  Show of hands, who cried?  If you welled up, that counts.
• Abi felt really bad about making us freak out though, so she posted this.  See, she is laughing *with* us on her surfboard in our sea of tears.
• This snippet just about sent me into a tailspin.  To say this worries me is a gross understatement.  This makes me want to connect the dots though, and I’m going to guess that after this little speech by Ty, Zane does walk out, and hence Ty’s “Get back here and love me” tantrum.  I originally thought that this secret would be something that was about Ty & Zane since they've been together.  After this little hint, I think that the secret has to do with Ava.  Did Ty kill Ava?  Did Ty help Ava kill someone?  Something is up with those song lyrics being tagged "Ava Gaudet".   

Here’s my dirty little secret.  It’s going to kill me if Ty & Zane fight.  Especially if one of them walks out on the other, even if it’s only for a few days/hours/10 minutes.  I have to admit though, the more Abi pre-release torturing I read, the more exciting the idea of the drama is.  What can I say?  I’m a masochist.  Because Abi loves her minions, she just gave us this delightful snippet on Tumblr.<-----THIS is typical Ty & Zane banter, and I love it!

I am going say that I think that Liam is someone from Ty's past, who irritates the hell out of Ty in general.  They start hanging out with him due to whatever case they are on.  Liam and his lips want Zane, so he stirs up trouble between Ty & Zane.  Zane's not used to getting hit on;  most of the time it's Ty fighting off the ladies AND the guys.  Zane doesn't see what Liam is doing, but Ty does, and it causes conflict between them.

Zane Gets a Do-Over

From the Ask Abi tumblr page:
Anonymous asked: Hey Abi - will Ty's recon buddies ever see how totally awesome Zane is?

If you mean will they see him kick ass, yes. If you mean will they ever see him as awesome as Ty sees him? No. Mostly because some of his awesome is contained in his sexual prowess.

Posted on September 23, 2012 with 8 notes

This makes me so happy!  I love Zane, and I want everyone else to see how awesome he is, not just Ty.  I was disappointed that the Recon guys didn't have a very high opinion of Zane in Divide & Conquer.  One of my favorite Zane scenes ever is when he saved Ty in Sticks & Stones.  It totally showed how bad-ass he is for a quiet guy.  Also, it made Earl adjust his opinion of this non-military FBI agent that couldn't possibly be good enough to have his son's back.

Abi gives us new information and/or talks about Ty & Zane with us on tumblr almost everyday.  By the time this is published, I'm sure there will be more excitement!  I can speak for all the minions in saying that we appreciate how accessible Abi Roux is.  We love every minute of it, and we adore her!

Minions, sound off below!  How do you think Liam will fit in to the next book?  Do you think that the drama will be caused by Liam or by someone else/something else entirely?  Who’s shipping Nick and Liam? *raises hand*  We know Ty & Zane won't break up OR cheat on each other, Abi has been clear on that, but will they go on a "break" for part of the book?  Finally, will one or both of our favorite boys end up physically injured?  Ty calls, "Not it!"