Book Review: Fish & Chips by Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

Title: Fish & Chips
Series: Cut & Run, #3
Author: Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Romantic Suspense, M/M Romance
Sensuality Rating: Erotic
Source: review copy from publisher
Published: December 2010 by Dreamspinner Press

Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett are back on the job, settled into a personal and professional relationship built on fierce protectiveness and blistering passion. Now they're assigned to impersonate two members of an international smuggling ring-an out-and-proud married couple-on a Christmas cruise in the Caribbean. As their boss says, surely they'd rather kiss each other than be shot at, and he has no idea how right he is.

Portraying the wealthy criminals requires a particular change in attitude from Ty and Zane while dealing with the frustrating waiting game of their assignment. As it begins to affect how they treat each other in private, Ty and Zane realize there's more to being partners than watching each other's backs, and when the case takes an unexpected turn and threatens Ty's life, Ty and Zane will have to navigate seas of white lies and stormy secrets, including some of their own.

Reviewed By: J9

In a Nutshell: This is more romance-focused than the previous two books in the series and since I adore this romance, that made this book totally awesome.

The Set Up: FBI Agents Ty and Zane have a new assignment: to pose as a married gay couple to foil an art smuggling ring on a deluxe cruise ship. But how much of their public persona of a happily married couple is real?

Why I Read this Book: I cannot read this series quickly enough. This is book three in the series and my third in less than 48 hours. It’s okay, I’m fine with the obsessed label.

What I Liked: This book is a pivotal book in Ty and Zane’s relationship. The men have a lot of down time, yes to burn up the sheets, but also to talk to each other. I love these quietly contemplative scenes as the men desperately try to open up to each other, even when it’s totally against their instincts. In my opinion, this makes their vulnerability to each other even more emotional. I can’t say exactly how their relationship progresses but it’s significant and as a reader it was exactly what I wanted.

I also love how Ty and Zane tackle Zane’s addiction battle and it stays true to both their characters, even if some readers may have difficulty with Ty’s measures. In a lot of traditional romance if one lead has a problem like this, all it takes is the love of their mate and it’s fixed. Obviously that isn’t real life and this book shows both sides of a couple dealing with addiction. Ty doesn’t fully understand how difficult Zane’s battle is but he also can’t be with Zane if he’s ruled by his addictions. As someone with a certification in treating addiction, I can say with some authority that this series so far as done a great job of exploring this subject.

What I Also Liked: I’m a fan of character based romance and this book offers that. Sure, there is the smuggling ring Ty and Zane are undercover for but it doesn’t vie for attention with the romance. There is danger but it doesn’t overpower the romance, which was one of my slight complaints with book two in the series. Plus, being undercover as a married gay couple allows Ty and Zane to try on personas and be very public with their affection and whew, wee does this produce a scorching hot book. I had to turn the fan on a few times in this book!

What I Didn’t Like: My only quibble is there is one portion of the plot I wanted a teensy bit more resolution. Some mysterious person has three scenes where he/she tries to kill Ty or Zane and unless I missed it, that isn’t directly resolved. I could have missed it since I was concentrating so much on the relationship progression but it’s a tiny thing anyway.

IMO: Series fans will adore this book as I did. New readers should always start at book one for maximum enjoy of this tremendous romance.

J9’s Rating: