Fish & Chips (Cut & Run) Paperback – December 6, 2010

When reviewing “Cut & Run” in August I wrote that one of my reasons for rating that book “only” 4.5” was that I wanted to make sure there was room for the grades of the subsequent books in the series to go up. The friends who insisted that I needed to read this series had also informed me that the books would just get better and better, so the slightly less than optimum rating seemed like a good idea at the time. And I guess it was. I did enjoy “Sticks & Stones” more than I did the first book so the grade went up to 5. And now I have finished “Fish and Chips” and wouldn’t you know it, this is my favourite book so far. That isn’t a problem of course, except that I’ve run out of higher grades. On my blog I can – and have – just added a plus to the 5 this book so clearly deserves. Unfortunately, that opportunity doesn’t exist on any of the other sites where I’ll be leaving this review. Therefore, if you’re reading this review anywhere other than on my blog, know that I actually graded this book 5+ stars.Yes, “Fish & Chips” is most definitely my favourite title in this series so far because the undercover case Zane and Ty are sent on gives them, and the reader, the opportunity to look at and experience their relationship on a whole new level. While the two men decided at the end of “Sticks & Stones” that they wanted to stay together as lovers as well as partners their relationship has, for obvious and work-related reasons, stayed under the radar. In fact their new colleagues in Baltimore don’t expect their working relationship to last for any length of time given Ty’s reputation and the way he and Zane are constantly arguing with each other. And yet, Ty and Zane have been growing closer to each other. They may both run shy of admitting to any deeper feelings but they are at least willing to concede that they want to be together.“He’d reached a point where Ty’s attitude and cockiness were more turn-ons than annoyances.” - ZaneSo the opportunity to spend two weeks as a gay married couple – be it of the criminal variety – allows our two men to act on their attraction in public, without having to worry about who might see them and what the consequences of coming out might be. The fact that Zane has to play the part of the dominant partner while undercover – a role that usually falls to Ty in their private life – brings a whole new dynamic to their relationship; a dynamic both of them seem to enjoy more than they would have expected.Of course, this wouldn’t be a Ty and Zane story if it was all plain sailing. Ty struggles with the fact that he thinks he is in love with Zane, especially since he is sure that Zane doesn’t feel the same for him. And his doubts run deeper:“Could he really be in love with someone he was afraid to ask about his past?” – TyZane on the other hand is afraid to investigate what he might be feeling for his lover. All he knows for sure is that he is deeply afraid of losing Ty. And while his thoughts and reactions might suggest to the reader that his feelings run rather deep, Zane has no intention of investigating those feelings, never mind admit to them.“That was the problem: Ty wasn’t his keeper – Ty was his conscience.”It is wonderful to see how Zane, who for a very long time thought that whether he lived or died really didn’t matter to anyone, slowly comes to the realization that:“He’d already known he’d answer to Ty, anytime, anywhere. But now Zane believed, for the first time in so long, that he had someone who truly cared about him.”Of course this book is much more than a love story about two men slowly and carefully finding their way to each other. Being undercover on a ship, pretending to be a gay married couple may sound like fun and games – and very often is – it soon turns out that it is anything but a pleasure cruise (pun intended). Especially after several attempts are made on Ty’s life.“No matter how many times a person almost died, it never got to the point that it was easy to shrug off.” – TyThis book was clearly more about the relationship between Ty and Zane than the mystery they were trying to unravel. And although there were quite a few nail-biting and action filled moments in this story even those seemed to be more about the men and their feelings than anything else. I, for one, didn’t mind at all. I thoroughly enjoyed this opportunity to get a much better insight into Ty and Zane, while they were getting to know each other as well as themselves better.“Sometimes Ty wished he knew what to say to help Zane, but then he reminded himself he wasn’t exactly what one could call stable, either. There was a lot of pot and kettle going on here.”In my review of “Sticks & Stones” I worried that maybe I had been misreading the story; the way Ty and Zane were feeling about each other was the complete opposite of what I would have expected. So imagine how happily surprised I was to discover that not only had I not been wrong, Ty himself actually agrees with me:“If he’d been a betting man he would never have picked himself from the two of them to be the sap who fell in love.”And talking about falling in love; I guess it is time to admit that I have fallen head-over-heels in love with Ty and Zane and these books. I guess that means I should be grateful to those friends who “bullied” me into reading this book. And I am, whole-heartedly.

Absolutely a five-star story. Compelling characters, driving plot, crisp dialog..... it all adds up to a tale well worth the wait.The story opens up two months after Ty and Zane's adventure in the mountains of West Virginia. Healed from his wound after a cougar attack, they're back in the Maryland office of the FBI as partners, their evenings spent together as a secret couple. Their director pulls them aside with a new assignment one day... they must impersonate two antiquities dealers, Corbin and Del Porter, who are known to fence illegal and stolen artifacts. Corbin and Del are meeting with new "business" partners on a cruise ship, and Ty and Zane's job is to get as much information on these new partners as possible. The catch? Corbin and Del are not brothers, they're a married gay couple. This compelling twist instills a great deal into the story.Like most of their adventures, everything goes wrong. From being unable to find their support crew to discovering certain contacts speak a language they don't, the mission is a total disaster. What imposes a particularly difficult pressure upon the men is that they have to act like a happily-married gay couple, with Ty being the "pretty one" and there just as his husband's mate. You see, the two men find it frighteningly easy, and addicting, to be able to display affection to each other in public. If this isn't frightening enough for two men who mask their emotions, it poses a new dilemma... they have a hard time figuring out in each other where the role ends and the true feelings begin. Is Ty looking at Zane like that because he's in a role, or does he have deeper feelings than he admits to?With gripping action and compelling emotions, the tale pulls you along. As with all good stories, the characters develop and grow. These are not the Zane and Ty we met in "Cut and Run", or even "Sticks and Stones". They're more emotionally mature, though they still frustratingly try their best to not talk about their feelings. But because their relationship is growing and deepening, they do open up the discussions to an extent, furthering their relationship, and it's these scenes that emotionally satisfy the reader. Madeleine Urban and Abigail Roux have always managed to write complex, interesting characters, and it's evident here. That they have good instincts when writing action scenes also elevates the tale.All in all, it's a very rewarding tale and both Ty and Zane are further endeared to the reader. As an added bonus (at least on the Kindle version), there is an excerpt for their next book, "Divide and Conquer". Simply knowing that Ty and Zane's exploits, and relationship, will continue is icing on the cake.

This is a review for the entire series, not just this one book.The series was recommended to me on social media by a friend of a friend who said it was different from most male/male books as the focus was on the plot, characters and story-line rather than the sex. Thus, I decided to give the first book a go; I really enjoyed it and ended up buying, reading and enjoying the entire series.As the person recommending it to me said it is not all about the sex. In fact the sex does not make up a great part of the series; yes, there is a fair amount of sex and there are some detailed and long scenes. However, it doesn't seem forced and step-by-step, it feels very real and about two men in love, not just two men having sex. Also, for the most part the sex was a necessary part of the books and moved the story forward rather than just being there in order to titivate.I got caught up in the world of Zane & Ty and enjoyed the case aspect of the books as well as the personal aspects. It showed a different side to the FBI from what I had hitherto seen or read. All of the characters were real and far more than just cardboard cut-outs - even those who had very small, at times 'walk on', parts. The writers are clearly fanfic writers (which is not a criticism or a negative thing, quite the opposite) who have branched out into mainstream writing and have, for the most part, made an extremely good job of doing so. The fact that I did read the whole series is proof of that. It is a series I thoroughly enjoyed and read all the way through without breaking off to read any other books.So why have I only given it three stars? Well, because there were a few things which irked and even irritated me and spoilt to an extent my reading of the series.Firstly: Why, oh, why, oh why, with twenty-six letters from which to choose, did the writers decide to give both leading men surnames that began with the same letter? That's one of the huge no-nos in writing. It completely spoilt the first book for me, as every time the surname was used by anyone other than Zane or Ty, I had to pause and remember (even go back on occasions) who was being spoken to or about. That even happened a few times in later books. Given in one of the books the authors use a similar thing when they give another pair of lovers the same initials but reversed, I'm guessing they thought it was cute or something - it really wasn't; it was very annoying.Secondly: The chapter lengths in a lot of the books were far, far, far too long. Twenty, thirty, in some cases forty minutes for a chapter (and I'm a pretty fast reader) is a ridiculous length.Thirdly: The formatting in some books could have been better. There was a lack of proper hyper-links in some of the contents pages (i.e. you couldn't go to a particular chapter) & also the fact that a couple of the books only allowed you to see the reading time of the whole book rather than the length of individual chapters. These mistakes are unnecessary as it is so easy to create a contents page with links to chapters.Fourthly: The price. I bought the ebooks and thought, especially given the formatting in some books, them to be somewhat expensive for what they were. I would have expected them to have been priced at a least a pound less than they were.Would I recommend the series? Yes, insofar as it's a good, well-written, gripping series with very good characterisation and plots and a male/male romance where the sex is not the main theme of the books. On that score it's very recommendable. However, due to the above mentioned 'issues', at the price the books are I'm not certain I could wholeheartedly recommend the series - not without mentioning the cons as well as the pros.All that said, it is a series which I shall reread.

Review of books 1 - 8Where have I been? How could I have not read this series until now? The Cut & Run series is a must for MM romance readers.FBI Special Agents Ty & Zane appear outwardly different but we soon see they are similar in many ways. Ty, with his rep for being difficult to work with, likes to ruffle suited Zane's feathers but Zane has many surprises up his sleeve.Each book features its own suspense plot which, although focusing on Ty and Zane, draw in great secondary characters (members of their families, colleagues, marine buddies).This series isn't insta-romance, it's a slow sizzle as 2 pig headed men get to know each other through the job. They have to rely on each other, trust each other & look after each other, building a bond which although tested to the max, withstands every challenge coming their way.Be prepared for laughter, tears, uncertainty, despair, tenderness and smoking sexual chemistry combined with truly excellent suspense plots.Love love love this series. Ty & Zane are THE couple of MM romance.

I'm totally in love with this series. Ty and Garrett are so very good together. They both care deeply for each other, willing to take a bullet for their partner, but what they completely seem to be able to do, is to tell each other how much they mean. In this book the two guys are undercover aboard a cruise ship, hoping to gain info on the people running a ring for stolen antiquities. They manage to encounter all kinds of problems, including someone trying to maim/kill Ty. Brilliant story, brilliant series, one you must read

My faith in these guys is realised as Ty's courageousness wins through. I knew his father's accusation was false in Book 2, and here in Book 3 we see Ty bite the proverbial bullet. Oh yes, I cried!This seres just gets better and better. A series to rival Marie Sexton's A to Z, and Z.A. Maxfield's St. Nacho's collections. Reviewer BevS informs me that Book 7 is to be published in April 2013. Hopefully it will be released for Kindle readers at the same time as the printed version.

Like Zane I am finding my addiction hard to fight and unlike Zane i want to stay hooked - to this series! Love the dynamic between Ty and Zane and this book in particular serves to feed the need to find them in more of an intimate and playful setting. Apart from all the bullets etc! Action packed but funny and gripping too. Loved it and have already bought Book 4.