GAGE
TRENTON SECURITY BOOK 3
J.M. DABNEY
M/M ROMANCE/SUSPENSE
RELEASE DATE: 01.29.19
BLURB
The forbidden is the sweetest lure.
Trenton Security’s Public Relations go-to was Hayden Gage. He loved his job, and it kept him distracted from the demons haunting his nightmares. His past wasn’t up for discussion, and Hayden wouldn’t allow it to intrude on his future. Yet, that was easier said than done when his best friend came to him desperate for help, and it put him right on the path to his one weakness.
Young didn’t equal lost.
Derrick Thorpe lived in the shadow of his father’s mistakes. Although he was adopted by Linus Trenton, he wanted to prove that he wasn’t like his biological father. When he was asked to go undercover to help at Trenton Security, it put him in close quarters with Gage. Being Gage’s was only an act, but when lines blur, what happens when the operation ends?
Universal Link - books2read.com/TrenSecurity-Gage
EXCERPT
“How about I buy you dinner, Gage,” the confident young man across the table from him asked.
He stared at the boy as if he'd lost his mind. He slowly closed his laptop and calmly leaned back in the booth. The first time he’d seen Derrick Thorpe the kid was skin and bones, skittish from years of abuse by Derrick’s homophobic and racist father, the former Sheriff of Powers County, Georgia. The last time he’d allowed himself to be in the same space with Derrick, he had graduated from college. His boss, Linus, adopted Derrick and his toddler brother after the death of their father and, well, the mother hadn’t fought Linus when the man demanded she sign over custody.
Today Derrick was a man in his mid-twenties, and even with the pale blond stubble, he was still as pretty as the last time he’d seen him which had occurred Christmas a year ago. He’d made his excuses and went to stay with friends for the holiday. Fighting any of the Crews to get out of a family function always turned into a lost cause, and he’d found it easier to escape.
Gage forced a chuckle and a good-natured smile at the eager boy in front of him, but he felt neither of those actions. Because his greatest hell sat across from him and there was no way he’d ever allow the boy close to him.
“Not going to happen, kid.”
“Why not?” Derrick looked offended.
He wasn’t fucking around with some boy with Daddy issues. No matter how much he wanted to find out what his handprint looked like on the boy’s ass. Derrick wasn’t for him. Age difference aside, with Derrick’s history, he wouldn’t let the young man find out how interested he was.
“Go find someone your own age, Derrick.”
“What’s this got to do with age? I’m an adult, and I think I’m old enough to know what I want.”
He felt the muscles in his jaw clench. He didn’t like telling people no twice. When he made a decision, it was final. This little boy was asking for a spanking. A vision of Derrick over his knee came to mind, and he banished it as quickly as it appeared. This was getting out of hand. That’s why he’d avoided anything that had to do with seeing Derrick.
“And I said it wasn’t happening. I don’t like to repeat myself, Derrick.”
Derrick’s chin lowered to rest on his chest. There was a deep breath, and then Derrick looked up, his dark brown eyes shimmered with indignation. “Yes, sir,” Derrick pushed the words through clenched teeth.
5 Stars
Before hearing about this book I was still trying to make myself pick up Bull, but I was a little scared too, because the closer I got to Gage, the longer I knew I would have to wait for another one of J.M’s book’s to be released. But I knew I wanted to read Gage as soon as it came out, so in one week I finished Bull and Hunter and then proceeded to devour the Executioners series and then the first two books in the Trenton series, and loved every minute.
This book had me gripped from page one. I felt fear for young Gage and heartache for the man he became. I could not put this book down for anything... not even for my mother’s physical therapy session; I had to pause a few times to collect myself as I read out in public. Gage is a fantastic character, so well rounded, and the things he thinks and feels about himself and Derrick make me wanna shake him.
Derrick grew up to be a great man who didn’t know how great he really was but saw so much in Gage. I felt so much when we first met Derrick and his baby brother in Hunter. After that, I wondered if we would see him again since I had tried to not read any of J.M’s teasers, given I wasn’t up to date with the series, yet he became so much more than I could have hoped for. Stronger than any muscle men from his past; he didn’t let it consume him like it could have done.
The things that went down in this story had me on the edge of my seat, gripping my Kindle tightly, needing every word that would ease my worries. But up until the end, and even after, I was a slight mess mentally.
J.M writes some of the best characters I have come across. The perspective on body positivity and the flaws and the real way the characters were described, whether it be chunky, or hairy, or scarred, or messed up mentally, was refreshing to me.
*** Copy provided to Bayou Book Junkie for my reading pleasure, a review wasn't a requirement. ***
J.M. Dabney is a multi-genre author who writes mainly LGBT romance and fiction. She lives with a constant diverse cast of characters in her head. No matter their size, shape, race, etc. she lives for one purpose alone, and that’s to make sure she does them justice and give them the happily ever after they deserve. J.M. is dysfunction at its finest and she makes sure her characters are a beautiful kaleidoscope of crazy. There is nothing more she wants from telling her stories than to show that no matter the package the characters come in or the damage their pasts have done, that love is love. That normal is never normal and sometimes the so-called broken can still be amazing.
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