Forever (#Hunt&Cam4Ever #8) by Adira August

397 pages

Buy links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

 

Blurb

....turn around...

“Lieutenant?” Woodward was there as if he’d materialized out of the lush greenery beyond the strip of grass. “Did you injure your left arm?”

Hunter looked down at his hand on his arm.

“Have you been feeling light-headed at all?” Wood asked.

“Yes,” Cam answered for him.

“Oh, God.” Avia started to rise.

“Please stay where you are,” Wood said, pulling his open collar aside, revealing a mic he spoke into. “I have a code xray ten at bungalow seventeen. Direct evac to Oceanside, cardiac teams in place asap.”

Cam was on his feet looking to Woodward for instructions.

“Get his I.D. and any medications he’s on.”

Cam shoved the chair back and ran for the door.

“I’m sorry. Don’t leave me,” Hunter’s voice was thick. A tear slid down from the outside corner of one eye.

Sirens sounded in the near distance.

Avia was next to his chair with her arms around his shoulders. “He’ll never leave you, Hunter, he just went to get something.”

Panicked, Hunt tried to rise. “No! I don’t need it. Don’t let him go to the store!” He knocked the table over trying to get up, to follow Cam.

Woodward caught him as he slumped to the floor.

.................from Shadow Men, Hunt&Cam4Ever Book 7

This is what happened next.

"...forever's gonna start tonight..."

 

Review

““This isn’t a future”, she told him. It’s a crossroads.”

O.M.G.

Hunt&Cam4Ever has been a favourite of mine ever since I read On His Knees. From that very first (short) installment, Hunter Kane and Camden Snow were unforgettable and edged into my mind. In fact, I started that very first review the exact same way I’m starting this one and, in all fairness, OMG is a perfect fit for the whole series.

This book is the culmination of everything that’s gone before. It answers remaining questions and reveals truths I wasn’t even aware I’d missed so far. It rounds things off in the most perfect fashion and yet, it was the toughest, most heart-wrenching story in the series.

Before I say anything else, let me repeat the words I ended my review of Shadow Men with: whatever you do DO NOT READ FOREVER UNTIL YOU’VE FINISHED SHADOW MEN. In fact, now that I’ve read Forever, I’ll go one step further and urge you to make sure you read all previous books before you even think about starting Forever. Without knowing everything there is to know about Hunter, Camden, Hunter’s team, and all the other characters who featured in the earlier stories, you won’t get the significance and beauty of everything that unfolds here.

Mind you, you’ll want to prepare yourself before you open this book. Guard your heart and be prepared for pain. The first third (approximately) of this story all but broke me. I never thought I’d see Hunt and Cam as shattered and insecure as they were in this tale. On the other hand, now that I have seen it, I have to admit it was inevitable. They had to break before they could become everything they always were, individually and together.

 Grief. It’s such a small word.

That encompasses sadness, fear, anger, guilt, deep loss, reality that shifts beneath your feet.”

There’s a lot of pain in Forever. Old pain, almost forgotten pain, pain denied, and fresh pain. And while this pain is important and something our heroes must go through, it’s not what this story is ultimately about. The real purpose of this story is what’s on the other side of that pain, on what remains when the sharp edges of grief have smoothened, on what emerges after it seems like everything is lost.

In one way this is the story of Cam and Hunter doing what they should have done from the start and certainly before they got married. They’re communicating, discovering each other in different, not sex- or work-related ways. It’s beautiful, emotional, at times warming my heart at others all but breaking it.

In another way Forever is about Cam and Hunt being honest with themselves before they’re (able to be) honest with each other. They have to open themselves up and dive into the depths of everything they’ve more or less successfully pushed into the far recesses of their consciousness before they can emerge together, better, stronger, and closer than they’ve ever been—even if I thought they couldn’t possibly get any closer than they already were.

Just because Hunt is out of the running, doesn’t mean that his team doesn’t have a nasty and tricky murder to solve. Just like his team members, I initially had a hard time coming to terms with that. Hunt was such a central and vital part of their earlier investigations that it was hard to imagine how they would manage without him, whether they even could function without him. But I guess they, and I, had to learn a lesson too. Hunt and Cam have grown over the course of the eight book series, but so have those who work with Hunt. His influence may not be direct in this book, but enough of it rubbed off on his co-workers for his intuitive and at times unorthodox style to bring them to the (rather horrifying) solution this time too.

The sex scenes in this book are as hot, powerful and breath-taking as always. They are (how shall I put it) less prominent in Forever, though. The sex, their scenes, were never the problem. You could say they were the only thing about Hunt & Cam not in need of re-examination. The scenes in this story were perfectly placed though since they happened just when Hunt, Cam, and I needed them most.

Honestly, I could go on Forever (pun totally intended) about this book, Hunt and Cam, and the series as a whole. If you want to read more of my fan-girling about these stories, you could check out my previous reviews. The following link will take you to my post about Shadow Men. Near the end of that review, you’ll find links to all other gush-fests, some of which include excerpts as well as character interviews. Enjoy!

Before I finished Forever, I feared that this might be my last encounter with Hunt and Cam. I’m very happy to report that I worried about nothing. There’s more to come and while it may be a little while before we meet again, I rest assured in the knowledge that Hunt and Cam will be back.

“That’s everything I want: to get through to the end of every day and still find ourselves together.”

Shadow Men (Hunt&Cam4Ever Book 7) by Adira August

 

Blurb (taken from Amazon and Goodreads)

 

DARKNESS FALLS, EVEN IN PARADISE...

---

“I said, no.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t accept that.”

Hunter gave Ben Hart an incredulous look. “Accept it or don’t Hart, I’m not leaving Cam right now.”

The billionaire put his hands into his pockets and looked around Cam’s yard—an unimproved clearing to the edge of the woods. Above the jagged line of the canyon rim, a lone raptor circled lazily. “I don’t like calling in favors, but if that’s what it takes…”

“If you ‘call them in’ they aren’t favors. And before you explain exactly what happened, why do you need me? If it’s a police matter, Hawaii has police departments. The locals aren’t meeting your high expectations?”

Hart’s indigo eyes flashed fire. “Remember who you’re talking to, Detective.”

“Remember I don’t work for you, Hart.”

Benedict Hart and Hunter Dane faced-off. They were both big men, both men who had killed, and both motivated by the same thing.

“Don’t fight me on this, Hunter; I'm protecting my family.”

“So am I, Ben. Either tell me what the hell is going on or leave. Cam and I are still on our honeymoon.”

Something desperate flickered across Ben Hart’s face. “I’ve done a lot for you, Hunter. And for Cam. You think I can’t hurt you? And hi—”

WHAM!

One billionaire facedown on the redwood table.

“Hunter!” Cam was on the patio, in sweatpants and nothing else. He crossed swiftly to the table. “Let him go before one of his bodyguards takes you out from the woods.”

Hunter didn’t move. “He threatened you.”

“Then he’s scared s**tless about something money can’t fix."

---

 

A 72k word police procedural, the seventh in the Hunt&Cam4Ever BDSM-MYSTERY series. This is the book the author calls "The hardest book I ever wrote." This is an ending no one was expecting.

AN ASTONISHING TWIST IN THE EPIC LOVE STORY~ A HIGH SEAS DEATH ON A BILLIONAIRE'S YACHT

"No matter how hard you fight the darkness
every light casts a shadow;
The closer you get to the light
the darker that shadow becomes."
Plato

 

Review

Shadow Men is the 7^th Hunt&Cam4Ever book in a series I have been in love with from the very first chapter in the very first book. And if I adore the stories, I’m even deeper in love with these two wonderful, strong, gorgeous, complicated, and incredibly sexy men. Right from the start the dynamic between Cameron and Hunter fascinated me. The way they developed both separately and together was at least as intriguing as the mysteries they solved together. Both murder and romance had and have me on the edge of my seat. As far as their relationship is concerned, I’m more on edge now than I’ve been at any point during their story.

 [If you’re curious about my thoughts about the earlier books in this series, you can find them all by following the links you’ll find here:

The Interrogation: https://helenasheat.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-interrogation-hunter-dane.html

Links to all earlier books: https://helenasheat.blogspot.com/2019/11/fractured-men-hunt-6-by-adira-august.html ]

This story then. It should have been their honeymoon and, five days into their marriage, everything is not all sweet and easy love. How could it be given who Cam and Hunter are? But, their honeymoon is supposed to give them the opportunity to learn about each other, to smooth out a few ruffles. Until billionaire Domenic Hart strong-arms them into investigating a mysterious death on board his luxury yacht.

The mystery, as always, was flawlessly plotted, full of twists and turns. The setting means this is a traditional mystery with a limited number of suspects almost with a locked room atmosphere. The possible motives appear and are dispelled until only one solution remains. So far so fabulous but also, more or less, straight forward.

Not so straight forward is the effect of the investigation on Cam, on Hunt, and on their relationship. I couldn’t quite put my finger on what about the way they were together bothered me, but I read their interactions with a growing sense of discomfort, hoping against hope I was wrong. Except that I wasn’t. I can’t say anything else, but the way this story ended scared and all but broke me, just as it all but broke Cam and Hunt. Both the plotting and pacing were just about perfectly executed, keeping me rooted in the story, pushing me from page to page with my heart in my mouth and tension coursing through my body.

Not that it was all heavy, ominous, and heart breaking. Far from it. In fact, there’s something about married Hunter and Cameron that reminds me of Eve and Roarke in the In Death books. And I mean that in the best possible way. It has to do with learning how to be together when it is forever or, in Eve’s terms’ learning the marriage rules’. And while neither of them has done it before, it appears to be Cam who’s finding their new way of being together harder than Hunter.

Of course, the (sex) scenes in this story are intense, hot, and just as unforgettable as the two main characters are. But, while I enjoy those scenes, they are not my main reason for reading this series. What has me hooked is the combination of intriguing mysteries and two equally intriguing characters. Over eight books, Cameron and Hunter have become a part of my life. I think of them as real people, two guys I might meet some day. They’ve gotten under my skin and I suspect and hope they’ll continue to live there.

Tomorrow Hunt&Cam4Ever book 8 releases. The author warns readers to NOT read book eight unless they’ve read #7. When I saw that I rolled my eyes. I mean, who would want to read a series of books out of order anyway? But, while breaking that rule may mean a reader gets less enjoyment out of a story than they would have done with knowledge of the full preceding story, situations in which a sequel should not be touched under any circumstances without familiarity of what happened before are few and far between. In this case however, I fully agree with Adira August. I strongly advice anybody who hasn’t read the Hunt & Cam stories yet to start with the first book and work their way through this series in the correct order. But, as the author says, whatever you do DO NOT READ FOREVER UNTIL YOU’VE FINISHED SHADOW MEN. I have no way of knowing what will happen in the next book, but the ending of this book indicates that it will be very emotional as well as the culmination of everything we think we know about these two men and everything we still need to learn. Needless to say, I’ve got my copy pre-ordered.

Is it tomorrow yet?

The Interrogation – a Hunter Dane Investigation by Adira August

196 Pages

Buy links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Also available in Kindle Unlimited

Blurb

Hunter’s most twisted killer. Cam’s most dangerous case.

---

“SO WHO GOT DEAD?”

Twee asked, taking a pastry. Merisi pulled the plate away from her and closer to himself.

“Three little boys," Hunter told them. "The fourth went missing this morning. If this killer’s M.O. hasn’t changed, the boy’s not dead yet.”

“You’re talking about the Wilderness Killer?” Diane Natani asked. “That’s McCauley’s case. How is our unit getting it?”

“The victim is the governor’s nephew. McCauley and his team haven’t gotten anywhere in a year. The governor requested us, and we’re taking over.”

“Well, that shouldn’t cause any resentment.” Merisi dunked half a doughnut into his coffee.

“It’s a recipe for a clusterfuck, Boss,” Twee said.

"True. It’s also exactly the kind of case this Unit was created to handle."

Natani tossed down her pen. “We have political interference, departmental incompetence, personal resentment, and a boy who will die within eight hours. Somewhere.”

"No problem. We find the killer and get him to tell us where in the 1200 square miles of Colorado wilderness he staked out the governor’s nephew.” Merisi punctuated this with an eyeroll.

“The first part got done about an hour ago.”

Assistant District Attorney Natani perked up. “We have a suspect?”

Hunter nodded. "We do. Now I just have to get him to talk.”

“Just get him to talk?” Merisi tilted his chair back. “He’ll lawyer up before you can say ‘You have the right’ and a keyhole satellite couldn’t find this kid.”

“You're forgetting the Boss’s cardinal rule.” Twee pulled the plate back toward herself and Merisi’s chair came down with a sharp bang.

“Yeah? What's that?"

“Never assume.”

---

If you like a master gamesman for a detective and a few twists in your criminal cocktail, you want to read this.

A STAND-ALONE PSYCHOLOGICAL THRILLER

 Review

Unless you’ve never seen one of my reviews before, you probably know I’m a HUGE fan of Hunt & Cam. I’ve been with them from the very start and eagerly await every subsequent book. These two men are glorious together. Made for each other, Hunter Dane and Camden Snow come to life on the pages of these stories, and worm their way into your heart and head…well, they did for me.

But, if you’ve read the previous stories, you probably need to know that this book is different from the earlier titles. Where the older stories focus on the relationship between Hunt and Cam and their D/s dynamic with Hunter day job taking a (growing) backseat, The Interrogation is a pure and simple thriller. While the feelings they have for each other are still vivid, there are no on-the-page sex scenes to be found in this story.

As for the crime? When a young boy disappears, Hunter is put in charge of the case. The kidnapper is soon apprehended, but there’s no sign of the boy. He’s been left, somewhere in the wilderness to die a slow and horrible death in a blizzard that’s about to strike in a matter of hours. In a race against time, Hunter must get the man to talk while Cam is out searching for his victim. As the snow starts to fall, more than one life is at stake.

I have to admit that before I started The Interrogation I wondered if I would miss those extremely enticing scenes. Would Hunt & Cam be able to captivate me as much without getting their clothes off, without their ever so imaginative sexual encounters?

I’m very happy that I’m able to answer that question with a whole-hearted ‘YES’. The investigation in this story, the search for the young missing boy, and the tension during the interrogation were so intense that I didn’t have time to miss the sex. In fact, the timeline in this story is so tight that any time-out for private escapades would have felt wrong, contrived, and shoe-horned in. And yet, even without describing any explicit intimacies, the reader is never in any doubt how much these men mean to each other, how they live and breath for and because of the other.

This is one of those stories that forces the reader to pay close attention. Nothing is exactly what it seems. Nothing unfolds as you might expect. And you’ll find yourself torn between wanting to read slowly, just to make sure you don’t miss anything, and the urge to rush along and discover how it all ends. Between a manipulative perpetrator, policing politics and rivalries, an innocent young victim, a race against time, and a heroic dog, there really isn’t anything in this book not to love. But, best of all, as always, are Hunter and Camden: two heroes so perfect they shouldn’t work and yet manage to be memorable and incredibly more-ish.

Can I have the next book, please?

Fractured Men – Hunt&Cam4Ever #6 by Adira August

262 pages

Release Date: November 28, 2019

Buy links: Amazon US | Amazon UK

Available to read in Kindle Unlimited

I’m so very happy to welcome Adira August and her latest Hunt&Cam4Ever mystery to my blog. The book, as always is fabulous and Hunt and Cam are still the deliciously sexy, incendiary hot, and swoon-inducing men we’ve come to know and adore.

Talking about Hunt, he dropped in for an interview I’m delighted to share with you:

HUNTER: Where is she?

ADDI: Helena? She’ll be along in a minute. Cam’s not coming?

HUNTER: You know, Cam. He’ll just sit in the corner and smile and nod. I should bring Mike to these things. Or Twee.

ADDI: You could, if they were in this book. Besides, Twee is quite enough for an interview all by herself. You guys glad to be back at work?

TWSR: Hello, sorry I’m late.

HUNTER (stands and leans down to give Helena a kiss on the cheek): I think we were early. How have you been?

TWSR: I was going to ask you. I’d love to hear the answer to Addi’s question, though.

HUNTER: Cam’s constantly busy between the Foundation, the New York show coming up, and the book coming out.

TWSR: You mean Fractured Men?

ADDI: No. Cam’s working on a book about Alpine skiing with another writer.

TWSR: What about you, Hunter? You seemed to be getting disenchanted with being a homicide detective.

HUNTER: There’s always a point in an investigation when I wish I’d entered some scholarly field. Or become groundskeeper at a golf course. But I’m good at this. The work is critical. There are parts that are satisfying.

TWSR: What about this case in Fractured Men?

HUNTER: (Looks out at the wintery back garden.) No. It was just one more private tragedy in a sea of private tragedies. (shrugs) But I suppose that’s what murder always is, isn’t it?

TWSR: How do you survive that?

HUNTER: Addi’s been making that clear from the beginning. There’s also courage, commitment, duty, sacrifice … That’s love. It always wins.

Did you like that? I sure did. And I’m never washing that cheek again. Js

Blurb

Sometimes what you never thought would happen, does. All at once. A furnace explodes taking your house with it. A cop at the door says your father’s dead. Or lightning stirkes from the ice-blue eyes of a much-too-you-for-you man you pass in a doorway.

One year to the day later, the young man was my husband.

I slid onto a counter stool and Cam handed me a mug of coffee. A big slice of his grandmother Dee’s apple pie waited on a brick red ceramic dish. Our cell phones lay on Cam’s side of the breakfast bar.

He made quite the ceremony of turning my phone off and dropping it into the silverware drawer. “For the seven days of our honeymoon, you are not a homicide detective.”

Somebody should’ve told the killer.

THE BOYS ARE BACK in a ‘cozy mystery’ done Hunt&Cam style that would give Agatha Christie the vapors! Love, sex and murder at an isolated canyon resort with our fave BDSM honeymoon couple. Cam really wants to get Hunt away from his job and onto a horse—God willin’ and the creek don’t rise.

Only then it started raining. … And something popped up.

For adults who like puzzles and power dynamics.

Review

This was where they truly lived for one another, in the power of surrender and safety of control. In the trust that allowed them to use each other, by which they gave to each other. In the absolute joy of mutual lust.

If you’ve been following my reviews at all you won’t be surprised when I say that I’m a HUGE fan of the Hunt&Cam4Ever series. I’ve been raving about these two men since I met them for the very first time in On His Knees/Matchstick Men and have only fallen deeper in love with them with every subsequent book. Fractured Men, the latest instalment, is a very welcome, totally delicious, and very compelling addition to the series.

The fabulousness starts in the very first chapter with a rather short but sublime description of Cam and Hunts wedding and it is EVERYTHING. The glimpse we get is as perfect in its simplicity as it is meaningful and an exquisite portrayal of who these two men are together. A few pages in and I was a blubbering mess while smiling hugely.

Their honeymoon, which should have taken the form of a BDSM dreamtime far away from crimes and interruptions, goes off to a good and, of course, very hot start. But even before there are any signs of trouble, Hunt’s instincts kick in, telling him something isn’t quite right. But, because he is on his honeymoon, he pushes those feelings aside to concentrate on what should be and is his main focus: Cam, his Dom and husband.

Of course, there are a few things we can be sure about when it comes to Cam and Hunt. For starters, there is no doubt that they will be hot as f**k and always manage to come up with something new and exciting while exploring the dynamic between them. The second certainty is that they will, invariably, run into a crime in need of solving.

Their peaceful hideaway turns into a prison of sorts when the rains come and the river and canyon flood, sealing Hunt, Cam, and the other guests in the canyon off from the rest of the world. Of course, that’s also the moment Hunt discovers a corpse who, as far as Hunt can tell, didn’t die from natural causes.

Thus begins yet another investigation. But this one is different from their earlier exploits because due to their isolation, there is only a very limited pool of suspects, which turns Fractured Men into the sort of mystery that reminded me of Agatha Christie and other ‘manor house’ or ‘locked room’ crime stories. Although I suspect the Grande Dame of Mystery might have raised a few eyebrows while reading this book. 😊

I’m not saying anything else about the crime or its solution. Read it and figure it out with Hunt and Cam as they investigate. What I do want to say is that this story came with a fabulous cast of secondary characters, one a blast from Cam’s past. I will also say that while the solution to the mystery was flawless and convincing, it also left me somewhat heartbroken. Then again, it wouldn’t be a Hunt&Cam4Ever story if it didn’t arouse an endless stream of emotions.

As always, these two men are arresting (pun intended), unique, and an absolute joy to read about. Cam in Dom mode is magnificent, almost larger than life, and pretty much a polar opposite to the Cam who’s ‘just’ Hunt’s husband and still young and often shy. While Hunt remains the best example of power in submission I have ever read, as well as one of the most intriguing and complex characters I have encountered.

I’ll end on a bit of advice. If you haven’t read these books yet, do yourself a huge favour and pick up Matchstick Men. I challenge anyone to read that book and not obsessively read all the sequels in quick succession. Just make sure you have a fair bit of time on your hands when you start one of these books. Putting it down once you’ve started reading is all but impossible.

Related Reviews

 On His Knees | Matchstick Men | Dancing Men | Snowed In | Psychic Men | Secret Men

(Please note that On His Knees and Matchstick Men have since been combined into one book, which can be found here: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07XKLP8PF)

Matchstick Men (Hunt&Cam4Ever #1&2) by Adira August - Release Blitz

Buy Links: Amazon US | Amazon UK | Universal Link 

- Exclusive to Amazon and Available to Borrow With Kindle Unlimited

Length: 248 pages.

Blurb

Sometimes it's the cop who needs to hit the floor...

Haunted by the worst case of my career, I knew only one way to exorcise the images from my mind, the victim from my soul ...

Inside the club, I scanned the room. He was here—Camden Snow—a sex god in the guise of unpretentious youth. Only his ice-blue eyes gave evidence of the Dom who took whomever he wished, whatever way he wanted, with a look and a nod. Merciless. Cam found me watching him and fixed me with his arctic gaze. This time, I didn't walk away. He cocked an eyebrow.
Well?
The last thing I needed was mercy. I dropped to my knees.

Three days after their explosive first encounter ... 

It was munch night at the most elite underground BDSM club in the Rockies...

...relaxed and informal, highlighted by the weekly Matchstick Challenge game. Detective Sergeant Hunter Dane, reigning champion, looked forward to a relaxing evening to start his 3 days off. A few beers on the deck. A sexy interlude. Stumping a challenger with a new puzzle. Home early for a decent night's sleep.

But some people are so deadly serious about their games.

Now Hunt has a fresh body and a new puzzle to solve in twenty-four hours if he wants to find a killer.

And Dom Camden Snow comes along to help with a few games of his own in mind. Sherlock and John were never like this!

The complete text of the original novella On His Knees, the Hunt&Cam origin story, comprises Part One of this novel. Other books of this series, starting with Dancing Men, are available now exclusively on Amazon.

My reviews

I read part one and part two of this book before they had been bundled into one volume. Therefore, my review below comes in two parts.

Part 1: On His Knees

OMG. This was stunning. And while this book is more or less one long BDSM scene, that’s not actually what I refer to when I call this a gorgeous story. Because as hot as these two men are, that is not what captivated me.

Now, before I go any further, I need to get one thing out of the way. These two men play (although that doesn’t sound like quite the right word to in the context of this story) in a no-safeword dynamic. If that is something you have an issue with, this may not be the book for you.

This is the story of Hunter, a cop who’s just experienced the worst day of his life. He’s been intrigued by Cam, a Dom in the club he frequents. He normally has very strict boundaries when going to his club, which means playing with Cam is never going to be an option. On the night described in this book, Hunter is near breaking point and all too aware of it. He needs something and he’d rather fall to his knees in front of the Dom who doesn’t allow safewords than be crushed by the weight he wears.

Cam is the, literally, ALL demanding Dom in question. He knows Hunter and has been keeping an eye on him, knowing full well that their personal demands and expectations made them incompatible. Until they weren’t anymore…

Their scene together took my breath away. Not so much because it was hot, although God knows it really was. No, what really got to me was the way Cam was both exactly what Hunter expected and completely the opposite. I lost myself in both Cam’s and Hunter’s thoughts and observations. And the way in which Cam ‘broke’ Hunter with such exquisite care was breath taking.

Maybe the story could have been longer. It really is just one scene, a moment in time (but what a moment). But, since I knew there’s a second book featuring Hunter and Cam available, the length of the story didn’t bother me. I read it more like a prequel to what’s to come than a stand-alone story, I guess. But as such, it certainly worked.

Part 2: Matchstick Men

Occasionally I read a book that enthralls me to such an extent that I have no idea how to write my review or what to put in it, apart from ‘this book is magical! Go buy and read it! Now!’  

Matchstick Men was exactly such a book. I knew from the start that I was going to be in for a treat. I read On His Knees, the prequel to Matchstick Men, only two days ago and that short story blew my mind away. I yearned to spend more time with Hunt and Cam and was over the moon that the sequel was ready and waiting for me.

And then the author went and turned what would always have been a fascinating story into my personal catnip. Long before I ever discovered MM and BDSM, Mystery was my go-to genre. Putting two hot men in a D/s situation while they’re solving a mystery, well, it doesn’t get any better than that for me.

I’m still not entirely sure what to say about this story. It is clever, well plotted, perfectly paced, extremely hot, and impossible to put down. And, what’s more, this book actively involves the reader in the mysteries it contains. Of course there’s the murder itself. And, I have to admit, that I had the murderer pegged from the start. That is however no shortcoming on the author’s part but rather the result of me having read so many mysteries that I’m almost too good at recognising how the plot works. And besides, watching Hunt and Cam come to the conclusion I had reached earlier on was as fascinating as trying to figure out the mystery for myself would have been.

But, as much as I enjoyed the mystery and the resolution of it, my main interest (some might say obsession) in this book was the developing dynamic between Cam and Hunt. And, between the two of them, it is Hunter who has really piqued my interest. He is so sure he’s got himself completely figured out.

Hunter made no claim of sexual preference (…) He formed no attachments. He simply wasn’t able to.

In other words Hunt:

(…) needed men for power, women for sex and no one for intimacy.

Except that this lack of emotional attachments appears to be less black and white than Hunt likes to think. He may have convinced himself that he doesn’t form or need those bonds with others, I remain to be convinced. As does Cam, who refuses to take no for an answer and knows exactly what Hunter needs, when he needs it, and how to give it to him. In On His Knees Cam gave Hunt what he needed in order not to break:

“Extreme Domism (…) There are no limits. You have no safeword. You do nothing I do not order. I don’t stop until I’m done… You have one chance to walk away. Once I restrain you, nothing and no one can or will rescue you. I am all there is.”

In this book, while the Dom is still there a lot of the time, the extreme is in the background because it’s not what Hunt requires and because Cam now wants more.

“I want you to do what I say because you trust me to make you to feel good. Because you want from me what I want to give you.”

And so Cam introduces Hunt to another beautiful first.  No, I’m not going to tell you what that was, read the book J I will say that the moment took my breath away.

And yet, despite all his Dominance, Camden is ‘just’ a twenty-something young man. And I guess that’s one of the many magical aspects about this book; that Cam is not portrayed as the big bad Dom. He’s allowed to be young, and overwhelmed, and even out of his depth. Just as Hunt is so very much more than ‘just’ a sub (or even a switch). Hunt and Cam are a two way street and when they collide in the middle it is poetry in motion.

Through Cam’s eyes the reader gets to recognise that Hunt doesn’t see himself as clearly as he sees the world around him. And while he’s nowhere near ready to admit to himself that maybe he is capable of becoming emotionally attached to someone else, his own thoughts betray him at times.

“It occurred to me then, that Camden Snow was possibly the most complex, interesting person I’d ever met. Child. Champion. Clever analyst. Extreme Dom. And I barely knew him. It would be easy to become kind of obsessed with him, with solving the puzzle that he was.”

I apologise. I’ve been rambling above and I’m afraid I’m not sure how to fix it. I will however try to summarise my thoughts.

Matchstick Men is a combination of several intriguing mysteries. There’s the murder in the story, there’s the question who and what Hunter really is, and there is the matchstick puzzle for the reader to solve (answer kindly provided at the end of the book). Apart from that there’s the story about Camden and Hunter which takes us from (extreme) BDSM to pure love and back again. Every single aspect of this story is spellbindingly intriguing. It is safe to say that Adira August has captured me. I’ve only just finished this book and I’m already yearning for the next one. And I’ve got a feeling that if we ever get to ‘A Hunter Dane Investigation #3674’ I’ll still be gagging for more.

The Author

I don't write the fantasy HEA. But there are such things as commitments kept, caring unreservedly for another, and never giving up. Which means everything is a love story. Murder investigations included.

My characters and their stories are everything. Hunt and Cam, Ben and Avia, Mike and Cal are vibrant, passionate people. So there tends to be a lot of sex. And they are as real to me as my readers are.

addi-

Addi on Wordpress: https://adiraaugust.blog 

Mail List: https://riverhart.wordpress.com 

TWITTER: https://twitter.com/adira_august 

MeWe: mewe.com/join/huntcam4e

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