Deputy US Marshal Miro Jones has a reputation for being calm and collected under fire. These traits serve him well with his hotshot partner, Ian Doyle, the kind of guy who can start a fight in an empty room. In the past three years of their life-and-death job, they've gone from strangers to professional coworkers to devoted teammates and best friends. Miro's cultivated blind faith in the man who has his back...faith and something more.
As a marshal and a soldier, Ian's expected to lead. But the power and control that brings Ian success and fulfillment in the field isn't working anywhere else. Ian's always resisted all kinds of tied down, but having no home--and no one to come home to--is slowly eating him up inside. Over time, Ian has grudgingly accepted that going anywhere without his partner simply doesn't work. Now Miro has to convince him that getting tangled up in heartstrings isn't being tied down at all.
Miro has been Ian's partner for three years and gets asked regularly if he would like a different one. After all, Ian is the go-get-em type who always seems to be dragging Miro into scrapes in order to bag the bad guys. Ian doesn't want a new partner, though. He is happy to have Ian (even if he insists on driving and then proceeds to only go at one speed: bat-out-of-hell) as his partner, although if he is honest with himself, and Miro always is, he wants far more than to just be Ian's partner. Fear of rocking the boat and losing his best friend has kept Miro's mouth shut and his behavior circumspect around Ian.
We don't get as much info from Ian as this book is from Miro's POV, but Ian's actions say a lot. He gets all kinds of upset when Miro ends up in a dangerous situation, gives him a hard time for wearing his nice clothes to work when Miro knows they will get scuffed up while chasing (and wrestling with) the bad guys, and often crashes at Miro's place as it feels more like home for him than any place ever has.
The first half of this book features Miro and Ian together both on and off the job and I truly loved their interactions with each other. They truly love each other, even if they aren't in-love with each other at this point. The next fourth has them separated as Ian is a Green Beret in the reserves and he gets called up to do an extraction. Miro is left behind to worry and carry on their work with the US Marshals. I enjoyed this section more than I first thought I would because it gave me the chance to realize how rich Miro's life is without Ian. I know this sounds weird, but I loved that Miro had a full life outside of Ian, he had a great support network with some AMAZING women friends and got along great with the other Marshals in his unit. Ian simply makes Miro's life better; he provides that special someone that Miro loves to share his entire life with, not just bits and pieces.
Ian, on the other hand, is commented upon as being quiet, withdrawn, and surly when Miro is not around. Ian is an extremely strong, capable man but he also makes no bones about the fact that Miro brings out something in him that no one else does. Ian struggles to re-enter his life after his reserve missions but Miro pulls him back out of himself and allows him to settle back into a life that he enjoys living. While the blurb implies that Miro is the one to seek out the relationship, I felt that it was more Ian's doing. Miro was scared to take the step and ruin what he has with Ian, but Ian was the one who kept pushing until Miro finally noticed that Ian was also ready and willing to try a relationship.
The last fourth is when Miro and Ian begin their relationship and it is also when they are put on a case to extract a federal witness in a pick-up that quickly goes south. The two find themselves in a fight for their lives while trying to save a couple of young, gay men who are in a relationship. These two, Drake and Cabot, are wonderful and I hope that we get more of their story from Mary Calmes in a later book. Drake and Cabot are both relieved to meet Miro and Ian, not only because they are kept safe, but because Miro and Ian are the first gay men they have met and they are desperate for healthy male role models who understand them. Miro and Ian both step up to mentor these young men and I loved that aspect to their personalities as well.
Overall, this book is delightful and I already want to reread it. I can say with certainty that this book will be one of my top reads of 2015. I just loved everything about it.
Reading Challenges
Literary Pickers
105 Challenge
Men in Uniform
Full House
I Love Library Books
New to You
I borrowed this book from my local public library.
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