Zero to 165

Title:
Author: A.R Moler
Cover Artist: Alessia Brio
Publisher:
Buy Link: Zero to 165
Genre: M/M Contemporary Paranormal romance
Length: 36,300 words
Rating: 3.5 stars out of 5

A guest review by Jenre

Summary review:An OK addition to this series but which doesn’t add much in terms of character development. One for the fans alone, I think.

THE BLURB

Most of the time life bumps along pretty predictably, viruses and vacations, Christmas and work issues, career and relationship choices. This is certainly true for part time Division P operatives Mason Flynn and Cameron Bradshaw. Mason is a doctor and a healer. Cam is a Navy pilot and a finder. Between building a life together and the stresses of managing both their part time and full time careers, life is pretty full for both guys. But sometimes, life throws a world-altering curve ball. Laws change. The past reaches out into the present and drops a miraculous bomb. Psychic stresses develop. People’s realities alter in unpredictable ways. But Mason and Cam have each other even as their life grows in some very, very unexpected ways.

THE REVIEW

This book continues the story of Cam and Mason who were to be found in the Hell Dogs Squadron and Seeking the Balance books. Mason is juggling his responsibilities in his orthopedic practice with that of the assignments from P division. He and Cam are in the process of moving in together and strengthening their relationship and the strange mind bond that they feel.

One reason for me wanting to read this book is that I like both characters. The previous stories showed them meeting and falling in love and I was curious to see what this story would hold. Their love is strong for each other, and they are mature, careful men who have got to that stage in their relationship where they talk through problems and share their lives, so what else did we need to know about them? Well, unfortunately, this proved to be the biggest disappointment in this book because whilst it was nice to see these guys, and learn a little more about what it is to be a psi, most of the book was just incidental stuff which didn’t add anything to what I already knew. It wasn’t that the book was dull, because the writing was good, and as I said, I liked these characters, but more like I finished the book and wondered why it had been written.

The story begins with a tense set of scenes. A naval officer, who also works for P division is injured during a mission and shipped quickly back to the USA. Mason and Cam are called in to help the man when he goes into ‘psi-shock’. During the sections which follow we discover just how different psi people can be from non-psi or a ‘headblind’ person. This formed the most interesting part of the story for me because it added to the overall worldbuilding of this series.

Later in the book, Cam has to go away with the navy for a couple of weeks. The affect of this separation on both men was also interesting, but aside from a ‘we need to find out why this happens’, nothing really comes of this and it remains a bit of a loose end flapping at the end of the book. There are other things that happen in the book too, but they seem more like fillers, than necessary to the plot. Parts such as Mason interviewing for new staff or getting ill were extraneous to the plot or the romance and I wondered why they had been included.

Then, about 20 pages before the end of the book, there’s a sudden crisis and a new character is introduced to the book. This changes things between Mason and Cam but because it happens so near to the end there wasn’t enough page space to deal with the implications. Instead everything is rushed through and all is well despite the terrible upheaval to their lives. It left me scratching my head a little as to why the story had ended in such a way.

It may seem like I’ve been rather negative in this review, but in all honesty this wasn’t a bad read. I read the book quickly, I liked the characters and the book kept me fairly entertained.  It’s just that it wasn’t necessarily a book that added much to the characters or the overall world created in this series and whilst as a follower of Cam and Mason’s romance, I enjoyed it, I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it to those who don’t already have a fondness for the series or these characters.