Cross & Crown by Abigail Roux

4.5 STARS

Sidewinder - Book 2

First thing - this has got to be one of the most beautiful covers I have seen in a long, long while. Especially on a M/M eBook where the covers often tend to the cartoonish or headshots of two bare-chested men.

Secondly - the magic is back! I love Abi's books, don't get me wrong. There's not one that I've read that I've not liked, a lot. But with Crown & Cross, everything that I love about Abi's stories is here - two distinct, different, still surprising, fun and sexy main characters; a cast of supporting characters that's not too unweidly nor do they intrude on the story, fun banter back and forth, twists and turns, no over-the-top emotional or physical cliffhanger, wonderfully hot and steamy sex scenes, affection and love. I had become worried over the past few releases if Abi was losing her steam for this whole universe. If felt more like she had written this book saying, "Look here, look what the characters did, isn't it fun?" instead of "Look here, look how I wrote this for all of you. Did you see I gave you what you wanted?" I don't know if that makes sense to anyone but me though. *LOL*

So... the book...

I never saw - even after going back and re-reading - the instant connection between Nick and Kelly that many other fans of Abi's Cut & Run series did. It seemed like wishful thinking to me and continued to do so through the beginning or their relationship in Shock & Awe. There was a glimmer of fun for me to find in Nick and Kelly's appearance in the latest Ty and Zane, Ball & Chain, but I was too annoyed to really enjoy it because I felt they were taking screen time away from the real stars of the story, Ty and Zane.

But in Cross & Crown, the first full novel of the Sidewinder Stories, it all clicked for me. I've been in love with Kelly since day one and I have to admit, and I've always enjoyed Nick, even when he was being the tragic, love-lorn figure in Ty and Zane's relationship. *LOL* And now? THEY WORK!! And I want them together and I'm rooting for them to be together, to fight and love and dream and tease and get into trouble and out of trouble.

The plot of C&C is interesting and fun. There's an amnesiac who gets a crush on Nick (and I wonder if we've seen the last of him), a lost treasure, a historical puzzle, some mob interaction and a couple of murders to start things off. It all hangs together fine enough for me, and doesn't get overwhelmed by Nick and Kelly's romance. And we have a visit, well more than a visit, from Julian Cross, one of my favourite Abi characters.

And it's the perfect springboard to the adventures of the New Sidewinder Team the boys (and another surprise erstwhile team member) are going to embark on with Ty's sister who we met in Ball & Chain.

In the end, I had a hard time putting C&C down, it's one of those page-turning books and when I finally finished it, I had a huge smile on my face.

Shock & Awe by Abigail Roux

4 STARS

Sidewinder - Book 1

Abi never disappoints. This was all kinds of sexy fun. :)

That being said, I was one of the few who never.. NEVER saw anything other than close friendship between Kelly and Nick in Touch & Geaux. I still don't, but that's okay. Many others did and were vocal about and Abi picked it up and ran with with it and we, the readers and fans, end up with another couple to cheer for, and Abi gets a terrific way to segue from Ty and Zane's story into the tales of the Sidewinder boys. And Kelly... dammit, he's on his way to becoming my all time favourite in the C&R/Sidewinder Universe. I love his crazy sense of fun and adventure, love his dirty, twisty mind and his utter boyishness.

Along with the ebook novella of Shock & Awe, came another shorty, Bait & Switch. For my money, this all could have been combined together in one Shock & Awe novella quite neatly. I don't know why Abi chose to do it this way, but she did. Both parts are terrific. Hot and steamy sexytimes. Men baring their emotions to each other as well as laughing and being silly together. This is Abi's world and she does it so well.

And Zane... baby... he came near to making me cry.