Stars and Stripes

A Review of Stars and Stripes by Abigail Roux. (Book 6 Cut and Run Series) by Angela Lannister

Release Date : 13^th August 2012.

Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett have managed the impossible: a few months of peace and quiet. After nearly a year of personal and professional turmoil, they're living together conflict-free, work is going smoothly, and they're both happy, healthy, and home every night before dark. But anyone who knows them knows that can’t possibly last.

When an emergency call from home upsets the balance of their carefully arranged world, Ty and Zane must juggle family drama with a perplexing crime to save a helpless victim before time runs out.

From the mountains of West Virginia to a remote Texas horse ranch harbouring more than just livestock and childhood memories, Ty and Zane must face their fears—and their families—to overcome an unlikely enemy and bring peace back into their newly shared world.

Book Summary from Goodreads

Stars and Stripes is the 6^th book in the popular Cut and Run series by Abigail Roux. Without giving too much away, we get to revisit The Grady family, who we haven’t seen since book 2, Stars and Stripes, and we are introduced to the Garrett family. I have decided that I am in love with Chester Grady. I think I want him to come and live at my house, sit on my front porch and have his shovel handy for any wayward nighttime prowlers. (He might come in handy in around 6 years’ time when my kids enter their  teens.)

Our two hot men race to Ty's parents after Ty's Mum has a little mishap with some shears. Then Zane is urgently called to Texas for a family emergency.  He is quickly followed by Ty.  After all our heros have to stick together.

Each book in the series always has a mystery which needs to be solved and this book is no exception. The mystery  revolves around a cat sanctuary close to the Garrett ranch.  To say that Ty doesn't like animals is an understatement, however he does seem to have an affinity for cats.  Big cats. If you imagined Zane as Ty's teddy bear, then just think how much of a sap Ty would be for a tiger. We have Ty and Zane racing over the ranch to try to solve the mystery of disappearing exotic cats and it is great in that it allows us to witness Zane's family first hand, from his father, Harrison and mother, Beverly, to sister Annie, brother-in-law, Mark and niece, Sadie.  It builds a much more rounded picture of who Zane is and after all the hints in the last few books it is great to finally meet the family. Zane's father Harrison won my heart when he said:

"Had a gay bull I had to sell last year. That was a damn nuisance. Gay son? That don’t cost me nothing."

 They say the path to love is never smooth and Zane's mother was / is definitely an obstacle in this regard. Best to say that she is not happy that her son has a boyfriend and not a girlfriend. We might see her trying to influence events in the future.

By now our two leads Ty Grady and Zane Garrett are very comfortable in their relationship and this book felt like a natural progression for them.  The book has a slower pace to previous books as Zane starts to grapple with the big questions like, are we going to be together forever (a given in my eyes); will we want to get married one day and even have children? It is worth noting that a lot of this pondering is done by Zane as opposed to Ty and I suspect we may see some kind of angst in the next book as Ty will be put to the test in regards to his commitment to Zane. There was also some foreshadowing regarding Ty’s past in the Recon days. Part of the book really felt like it was a build up to the next book, as it didn't seem as explosive as previous outings. I love, love, love all the sappiness and how clearly our leads are expressing their love. I remember well, those first few years together when you just can’t get enough of the other person and Ty and Zane are clearly in the “honeymoon” phase.

  Abigail Roux continues to outdo herself when writing m/m sex scenes. They are always panty wetting and make your tongue hang out for more. The “reverse cowboy” will have many readers panting for more.  Ty (depending on your view picture Karl Urban or Jensen Ackles) in a cowboy hat, need I say anything more?  My favourite sex scene in this book is broom closet sex.  I love this scene as it felt much rawer and needier then the other sex scenes. 

“Come on”, Zane taunted…"Paint the door for me, and you’ll be feeling my cum drip out of you for the rest of the night”.

There is something about Zane saying “Come on”, that sends me weak at the knees. You just know that he wants Ty to cum so that he can finish off.  The other word is "Baby". It would drive me crazy if my husband ever said it to me (and not in a good way!).  But an Alpha male saying to another Alpha male "Baby", makes me want to spontaneously combust and find another pair of panties.  But no sex scene after broom closet sex and I still had half the book to go, so I did grumble a little. Yes I am easily pleased, just throw a sex scene in every 60 or so pages.

I have a couple of bug bears though.  I loved the book so please stay with me a moment.  To me the book felt slightly rushed and I wonder why there was such a rush to put out another book when Book #5, Armed and Dangerous only came out in May. There is also one passage, and yes I will put up my hand and say I was being nit-picky....

 “They had run all kinds of tests and discovered exactly what type of dart had been used. They’d given Ty the appropriate human antidote, and Zane had set the local law enforcement on a hunt for any of the same that were missing from area vets.”

But I felt that we should have been told what the dart was and what drug the law enforcers were looking for. Does it affect the plot? No. Does it impact on the story? No. I just felt it could have been done slightly better. But that is me being picky, so ignore me if you wish.

My other issue was I felt the Gradys were a little off.  This could be because in Book #2, Sticks and Stones, there were two authors of the series and not one, and as such the tone was slightly different. This didn’t worry me so much in Book #2 but this time around, I felt it could have been better and that the Grady dialogue did not run as fluidly.  First time around it felt more snappy and humorous.  People may argue that Zane and Ty are in a different place and therefore the dialogue is going to change.  I think part of my issue with the Grady interaction is I feel Book #2 Sticks and Stones was a better book.

I wanted  more angst darn it. Never fear, you might say, as Book #7 will no doubt have angst by the bucket-load. I will be the first to admit that I may have raised my own expectations on this book too high, as I often do when I really, really like something.  Sometimes you build your expectations up so high that the reality doesn't quite match up.  I can sometimes be a spoiler whore too, which may not have helped.

Overall the book is a great addition to the series and I will be joining the queue to get Book 7 next year.  If you like your m/m alphas hot, sexy and mouthwatering, then this book and the whole series are a must.

***Quotes taken from Stars and Stripes by Abigail Roux.