Ball & Chain (Cut & Run #8)

Title: Ball & Chain (Cut & Run #8)
Author: Abigail Roux
Publisher: Riptide Publishing
Release Date: March 17, 2014
Genre(s): Contemporary/Suspense
Page Count: 288
Reviewed by: Renée
Heat Level: 3 flames out of 5
Rating: 4 stars out of 5
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.

Book 8 of the C&R series is a blending of two worlds. Up until this point, we’ve become immersed in Ty and Zane. Touch & Geaux left our hearts bruised, but hopeful. And with its cliffhanger ending, I needed to know my boys would be ok. Shock & Awe gave me that reassurance. But S&A also introduced us to a new feature couple from an established part of Ty and Zane’s life – Team Sidewinder.

Ball & Chain brings these two worlds together. And while a lot of readers weren’t ok with that – I want Ty and Zane and no one else – it didn’t bother me so much.

Deuce’s wedding is taking place in Scotland. Ty, Zane, Nick, and Kelly attend for it’s week-long festivities. And what happens when Ty and Zane are on a vacation? <—bad word right there! Readers usually have to suspend their disbelief a bit when reading about the suspense portion of these books, but it was taken a tad far in this one. The body count was super high, even for my taste. We’re left with more questions than answers. And all the heartache that Ty and Zane went through in Book 7…..well Ty and Nick’s friendship goes through some strain in this one.

The romance part was still amazing. Ty’s return from deployment and his reunion with Zane, the Scotland setting, talk of weddings, Nick and Kelly….all of that hit all my buttons. But the suspense and mystery was just too OTT in this one, which knocked it down a star for this installment.

I will say that Ms. Roux has the best ending, however, in all of the books so far!