Shock & Awe (A Sidewinder Story) (utgåvan 2013)

The first installment of the Sidewinder series, Shock & Awe is a deliciously sexy friends to lovers novella that fans of Abigail Roux's Cut & Run series are going to love!

Following his release from the hospital, Kelly Abbott and his close friend and co-worker Nick O'Flaherty, head to Kelly's secluded cabin where a surprising confession from Kelly leads to a very hot experimental kiss. The sexual tension between them skyrockets after their extremely steamy kiss but will Kelly be able to persuade Nick to explore the unexpected and scorching attraction between them?

Their shared history is what makes Kelly and Nick's transition from friends to lovers so believable. Nick is at first reluctant to indulge Kelly's curiosity and I like that they take the time to discuss his concerns about what a kiss could mean for their friendship. Both men are caught off guard by their reactions to their kiss and Nick is once again unwilling to take their explorations to the next step. His concern is not just for their friendship, but he is also worried that Kelly's thinking is impaired by pain medication.

It does not take Kelly long to overcome Nick's objections and their explorations lead to toe-curling and explosive sex scenes. Nick's care and concern for Kelly's well-being extends to the bedroom and leads to some pretty inventive and creative almost but not quite sex between them.

But what I enjoyed the most about Shock & Awe is the depth of feeling between Kelly and Nick. They share an obvious affection, and neither man is afraid to show it or admit it. There is an incredible amount of intimacy between them before they give in to their passion and in the aftermath, that closeness only deepens.

Shock & Awe is a short and enjoyable beginning for Nick and Kelly's new relationship. It ends rather abruptly, but Abigail Roux provides a very satisfying glimpse of their future with a short (but very hot) teaser that will leave readers impatient for the next installments of both the Cut & Run and Sidewinder series.
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This one is really sweet. Kels and Nick are nothing like Ty and Zane. Their relationship is definitely easier and more simple. They know each other for years and trust each other. I pretty enjoyed the fact that they don't just fell for each other without any problems, that they have doubts and try to take it slowly. Nice to see Nick happy and in love.

It will be really great to watch their relationship also in Ty and Zane stories. ( )

I can take a lot from writers, but laziness at this level is frustrating. This book is advertised like the first in a standalone series but (a) it's a 70 page story, which means all three stories in this series would be the size of a novel and (b) it's most definitely not a standalone.

You join the characters in medias res and all it would have taken was a few sentences to catch the reader up: This is Kelly, this is how he was injured. This is Nick, this is how he knows Kelly. Here are two sentences about their last mission and how Kelly ended up injured. Four sentences! A paragraph! But nope. The author gave us 30 pages of "bonus content" to inflate the page count but couldn't add a paragraph to make the story accessible to new readers. Nah, homie. I wasn't all that impressed with her first series (and I know I'm in the minority on that one), but I'll definitely be giving her a pass from here on out. ( )

A nice little side-story to Cut & Run series. Fun and definitely hot. ( )

A bit rushed, especially the ending, but still made me love Nick and Kelly. Now I just need more of them. NOW! ( )