Friday, February 15, 2019

Daylight Again (Hell or High Water #3) by SE Jakes

This is my last re-read (re-listen really) and I can't WAIT to start reading the last installment. The book ended with a big reveal, one that both men (though mostly Tom) have been circling around concerning the triggers to Prophet's flash backs. It's going to make things A WHOLE LOT complicated. 

In this book Prophet and Tom are a couple. For real. They are living together (since Tom got evicted at the end of the last installment) and though Prophet still won't come back to EE, Tom works there still. It took quite a lot but Prophet is opening up to Tom more and more, realizing Tom can handle it, can handle HIM. He even trusts him in his most valued secret - his eyesight situation (which is getting worse). It was truly heart breaking to listen to. They are quite domesticated now if you can believe it, I could even say they are becoming a sort of a family and there are starting to think about the future (well, Tom does at least..). 


The action in this one was mostly about FINALLY dealing with Sadiq on their own terms. Mal have been shadowing Cillian for a while now and his report isn't was anyone has expected. Also something is happening between them - and there's a spin-off series about these two called "Dirty Deeds". The first book was published back when Jakes wrote this one, but she hasn't continued it yet. I guess because the timeline of the second suppose to be after the ending of this series. There's a bit issue for Mal and Cillian to get through concerning their past which was entwined somewhere but it seems only Mal knows how exactly, saving this HUGE secret as his own and though Tom knows about it now, neither Prophet OR Cillian does.

Since we are dealing with Prophet's past concerning Sadiq and John Morse we get more about Prophet's SEAL team. They are "bad-ass" like you'd imagine but in the end, it's still mostly Prophet's mission. His team might be roaming the world unable to return to the states until John's issue is dealt with but their feelings about him are FAR different than Prophet's. Prophet is somehow more of a romantic than they are, hoping John isn't the terrorist everyone thinks him to be now.

There's also another "blast from the past" with Agent Lancing, the guy from the video who interrogated Prophet in the tape Tom got before he and Prophet were joined by Phil as partners and we FINALLY get an answer to WHO sent it to him. Though the way the issue was "resolved" was quite anti climatic. I wish we got MORE than we actually did.. I guess there are a lot of big reveals in this one, putting Prophet and Tom in the best place as a couple but also story-wise be ready to deal with John.

My big issue with this book, really this series, is the amount of sex. It's unreal. I started skimming it more often than not. Yeah I might have missed some innuendos between them since sex for them is a way to communicate emotionally without saying the words, though they get THERE finally somewhere near the end. I understand that the sex is needed to be there and not "fade to  black" when there is so much about the sex that makes them, well, THEM. But for me, it distracted from the story and got OLD very fast. Especially since this is the 3rd book, and reading it one after the other I just want the story, and the relationship buildup - the emotional one! - much more than them subduing each other and trying to own one another physically.

My other issue is Prophet being the "favorite child" (I had this issue with Ty from Cut and Run as well). Prophet is SO MUCH BETTER than ANYONE,  but especially Tom. He is stronger, more capable, better trained, smarter or more manipulative. He even has more issues, and more of a problematic past than Tom (or anyone..) has and though Prophet starts to appreciate Tom more and more, it's still there in the subtext, it's there whenever I turn a page (or the narrator does ;)). I want them to be EQUAL. But alas, they are not. Yet Tom steals my heart every time HE is being the bigger person, the one who knows how to handle Prophet, be there for him. He was NEVER running away from Prophet or his feelings, not really. He was always the one who tries to patch things up and make it right. I appreciate it even more than Prophet's childish behavior of running, keeping silence and hiding not to put himself out there.

I really DID enjoy this one, I like this series, the fast pace, the tangled past of both men, the rush of finding truths which were suppose to be long gone and buried but aren't really and I REALLY can't wait to getting into the next book and get Tom and Prophet's long awaited HEA.

Originally Read (Kindle Edition): 11-18 July 2014 (Rating 3 Stars)

Rating:
Audio
Book 
265
pages
Read on:
11-15 February 2019
     

ABOUT THIS SERIES

Hell or High Water is a 4 book MM Romance series by SE JAKES telling us the romance between Elijah "Prophet" Drews (a former navy SEAL) and Tom Boudreaux (former FBI). As a new member of "EE" (Extreme Escapes Ltd. - A private contracting firm), Tom is partnered with Prophet who isn't into having a partner. From there you can guess what happens :) 

Each book has it's own story line / missions but there is a wider arc of story for all books. In the first book we learn more about Prophet (the case involve someone from his past) and the second gives us the background on Tom (taking place in where Tom grew up). The third build to the last novel and final confrontation of the wider story line. With the in-between novella mostly being about releasing sexual tension (which they do A LOT in this series which personally I'm less of a fan..). The fourth and last installment FINALLY deals with the big villain - Prophet's former best friend and SEAL team member John Morse ending this series with a bitter sweet note of everything that was lost, but enough that is still left to mend and heal. I can see Prophet and Tom living a long and happy life together. 

I like the series but don't LOVE it. I have a few issues with it. Firstly, you better remember all the small details and who's who and what's their agenda when you go through the series because there is hardly any explanation to things that happened in the previous books or in the past and were re-visited. Second issue is I feel this series has too many similarities in MC to the Cut & Run series by Abigail Roux. Prophet is too much of a Ty and Tom is too much of a Zane. I do feel like these two series ARE independent and there is a "place" for both of them and yet I have my misgivings sometimes. My third issue I mentioned above - there is WAY too much sex. While there's a good reason - them using sex to communicate emotionally - it was TOO DAMN MUCH for me. 

Free Falling (published 5 September 2012) ★★★★★
This is a standalone short novella telling us of Mitch and Blue, two EE Ltd. operatives. Their story line takes place before Hell or High Water. The both of them have their appearances in some of the next books but they bare no significant to the main story lines. 

Dirty Deeds (published 13 January 2014) ★★★
This is an intended as a spinoff. Currently it's only a short novella of Mal, former teammate of Prophet in charge of shadowing Cillian - Prophet's neighbor and a spook who Prophet suspects knows more than he's should about their business. This one takes place in the same time line as (and a bit after) the third book of "Hell of High Water". Honestly, did really like this one so I don't think I'll continue with this one whenever the next ones are published.

Books:
1. Catch a Ghost (published 13 September 2013) ★★★★
2. Long Time Gone (published 28 October 2013) ★★★★½
3. Daylight Again (published 5 May 2014) ★★★
3.5. Not Fade Away (published 14 August 2014) ★★★
4. If I Ever (published 21 January 2019) ★★★★ 

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