Review: Ball & Chain by Abigail Roux

Reviewed by Whuppsy
Ball & Chain (Cut & Run #8) by Abigail Roux
Riptide Publishing
Novel: 340pgs
5 Pants Off

Blurb:
Home from their unexpected deployment, the former members of Marine Force Recon team Sidewinder rejoin their loved ones and try to pick up the pieces of the lives they were forced to leave behind. Ty Grady comes home to Zane Garrett, only to find that everything around him has changed—even the men he went to war with. He barely has time to adjust before his brother, Deuce, asks Ty to be his best man. But that isn’t all Deuce asks Ty to do, and Ty must call for backup to deal with the business issues of Deuce’s future father-in-law.

Nick O’Flaherty and Kelly Abbott join Ty and Zane at the wedding on an island in Scotland, thinking they’re there to assuage Deuce’s paranoia. But when bodies start dropping and boats start sinking, the four men get more involved with the festivities than they’d ever planned to.

With the clock ticking and the killer just as stuck on the isolated island as they are, Ty and Zane must navigate a veritable minefield of family, friends, and foes to stop the whole island from being destroyed.

Review
So, this is book 8 in the Cut and Run Series and it was a doozy!! I was on the edge of my couch the entire time!! I hate that I had to sleep!! I wanted to see what happened and OH MY LANTA did A LOT HAPPEN!!

So, we start with Ty coming back from a six month deployment and he’s only contacted Zane twice. Their reunion was so sweet. I was so happy to see our boys back together again. Ty comes home and as he gets ready to go back to work, he finds out that him and Zane can’t work together anymore. Not even in the same office. One of them will have to move and Ty tenders his resignation. He’s trying to figure out what he’s going to do and then he gets a call from Deuce to go to his wedding in Scotland and to bring a friend to help with a problem that he won’t discuss until he sees him. GAME ON!!

Zane is a different man that what he was when Ty left. Six months is a long time but it also helped Zane gather himself together. He’s made peace with his past and he’s moving forward and not always looking back. It was wonderful to see Zane become the man that Ty has always claimed that he’s seen in him be right out in front of him. Beautiful, actually. Zane is still the quiet and steady partner, but he’s a lot lighter and happier.

The secondary characters…wow. There were so many new people in this story it was hard to keep some of them straight. But did they add bunches to the story. There were the usual suspects, Deuce, Livi, Earl, Mara, Chester, Dick, Kelly and Nick. Then added in is Livi’s family and the people that are hired in the house and the island. They were great in mixing things up and keeping you guessing as to what’s going on and who was involved. It was a veritable who’s who in this story, so many people and so much going on.

There was lots of Nick and Kelly in this book. I loved that Abi added them in. I really liked getting to know more about Nick’s life and it was great to see those two guys are still in love and really want to build a long-lasting relationship together. I have to say that seeing things from Nick’s perspective was pretty amazing. I think I fell more in love with Nick in this book than I was before. He showed such strong strength of character and integrity.

I will say that I loved that Nick and Ty weren’t always vibing in this story and that Nick finally told Ty what the deal was. That he was honest and showed that while he loved him, he was tired. I loved how Ty had to finally admit that he wasn’t being a good friend to Nick and that he needed to be loads better. It was wonderful to see that even after all of these years that the love and friendship that these two men had for each other wasn’t going to be lost. That it was and is worth working for. It was emotional to read and I was right there with them in those moments.

There were moments of humor because as you know, it wouldn’t be a Ty and Zane book without humor. I loved how Ty was disgruntled when Amelia, Deuce’s daughter ran right past him to Zane. I loved how Ty kept asking Zane to marry him and Zane kept turning him down. I loved how it became almost a running joke between them.

There were moments of bittersweet happiness and then the most heartbreaking sadness that was almost overwhelming. This book took you through the emotional gambit. It was SO WORTH IT!! This book was heavy, don’t get me wrong. Like Touch & Geaux was heavy, this book was also. There was so much happening and you were pulled right along with Ty and Zane and Nick on this ride.

I can’t wait for next year!! I can’t wait to see how Abi pulls it all together. I am excited but then I realize that Ty and Zane will be over. Part of me can’t wait, while the other part is like NOOOO!! Trust me, if you are a Ty and Zane lover, this book is what you’ve been waiting for!! Abi pulls no punches again in this latest book and you will thank her for putting you through the ringer. You won’t be disappointed At ALL!!

5 Pants Off