Title: Hush
Author: Tal Bauer
Genre: M/M Romance, romantic suspense
Release Date: July 12, 2017
Publisher:  Tal Bauer
Length: 462 pages

Description:

A federal judge running from the truth.
A U.S. marshal running from his past.
A trial that can plunge the world into war.

Federal Judge Tom Brewer is finally putting the pieces of his life back together. In the closet for twenty-five long years, he's climbing out slowly, and, with the hope of finding a special relationship with the stunning Mike Lucciano, U.S. Marshal assigned to his D.C. courthouse. He wants to be out and proud, but he can't erase his own past, and the lessons he learned long ago.

A devastating terrorist attack in the heart of Washington, D.C., and the capture and arrest of the terrorist leads to a trial that threatens to expose the dark underbelly of America's national security. The Russian president is gravely injured and fixated on revenge, while a gay Russian dissident is arrested and put on trial in Judge Tom Brewer's courtroom.

As Russia beats the drums of war and the United States struggles to contain the trial before it races out of control, secrets and lies, past and present, collide in his courtroom, before his bench. With the world's attention fixed on Tom, secrets from his past explode during the course of the trial, which place him at the very center of the case and make him the only man who can try to stop the world's slide into war.


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OUR REVIEW

When we heard that Tal Bauer had released Hush, we were excited, but also a little worried. How could Bauer possibly write another book as good as the ones in The Executive Office series?

Well, we shouldn't have worried. Bauer has done it again! Hush is once again set in D.C., but this time, we are plunged into the fascinating world of the Federal Court system where Federal Judge Tom Brewer meets sexy U.S. Marshal Mike Lucciano.

Tom has been in the closet since being given an ultimatum between being gay and going to law school. So, for twenty-five years, he's been celibate, but now that he's found Mike and now that times have changed, maybe it's his chance to come out, to be himself, and live the life he's always wanted to have.

"Living like I have, I don't recommend it."

Mike pulled back slowly, his hands on Tom's shoulders. He searched Tom's gaze, his expression unreadable. "Why now? Why are you doing this now?"

He squirmed. "I... fell for a guy," he breathed. "I fell for this guy, this amazing guy. I think he's worth it."

Mike looked like Tom had just kicked his puppy. "Tom..."

"It's okay, I don't expect anything. I know I'm not your type. But you are amazing, Mike. Just this. Just... telling you." He squeezed his eyes shut. Licked his lips. "Feeling your hands on me. It's worth it." His eyes fluttered open.

"You need to stop saying that," Mike grunted.

"Saying what?"

"That you're not my type." Mike swiped his thumb over Tom's cheek, brushing away the river of tears. "I met this guy, too. He's..." Mike sighed. "He's so brave. So, so brave."

With Mike at his side, Tom decides to take baby steps towards coming out. First with friends, and maybe later at work. But then there's an attack on the Russian president on the steps of the Capitol, and Tom's worst nightmare begins to unfold.

He couldn't think. Couldn't put two and two together. Could not string neurons into a coherent thought. Blind panic had replaced all higher order functions. Pure, unadulterated panic.

This was everything he'd feared. Exposure, media evisceration, millions of eyeballs poring over his life, his every movement, following him everywhere he went. Fears fell like drenching rain, and he tried to swim out of the rising tide before he drowned. Mike, the choices he'd started making, planning for his eventual coming out.

[...]

All of that, everything he'd planned, every careful step he'd agonized over, was going up in smoke. 

Page by page, Bauer weaves a web of plots, deals, and double-crossings that will blow your mind when it all comes to a head in a Bauer's usual spectacular way.

OUR RATING: 5 stars!

See our review of Enemies of the State (The Executive Office, Book 1) here.
See our review of Enemy Within (The Executive Office, Book 3) here.

ARC #REVIEW Enemy Within by Tal Bauer #mmromance #suspense #adventure

Title: Enemy Within (The Executive Office Book 3)
Author: Tal Bauer
Genre: M/M Romance, romantic suspense
Release Date: March 28, 2017
Publisher:  Tal Bauer
Length: 485 pages

Description:

The White House, infiltrated.
The president, running for his life.
A traitorous general, intent on burning the world to the ground.

When everything falls apart, who do you trust?

President Jack Spiers fled Washington DC on the heels of a devastating attack on CIA headquarters, masterminded by one of America’s own, former General Porter Madigan. While the world believes Jack was killed in the bombing, he embarks on a wild infiltration mission, smuggling himself into occupied Russia to rescue the love of his life: former Secret Service Agent and First Gentleman Ethan Reichenbach.

Reunited, Jack, Ethan, and deposed Russian president Sergey Puchkov, along with President Elizabeth Wall—the only person left in Washington DC who Jack trusts—must work together. They piece together a desperate plan, hunting Madigan to the ends of the earth and the bitter frigidity of the Arctic, where Madigan’s world-shattering doomsday plan comes together.

Outnumbered, outmaneuvered, and outgunned, Jack, Ethan, Sergey, and the rest of the team struggle to put a stop to Madigan and his army. In the desolate extremes of the Arctic, their resolve, their strength, and even their love is tested, pushed to the absolute limits as choices must be made: choices that pit the fate of the world against the love in their hearts, and the loves of their life.

As the world crumbles around them, Jack and Ethan find themselves waging a war on two fronts—against an enemy they can see, and another, hiding within their ranks.

Who can be trusted when the enemy is within you?


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OUR REVIEW

Enemy Within is another fabulous addition to The Executive Office series. Seriously, I can't get enough of these guys and of Tal Bauer's incredible writing. The characters are vivid, the dialogue is snappy, the action is riveting, and the romance is entrancing. Here's an example of the tension, pervasive in this final (?) battle to save the world from the villainous former General Porter Madigan.

One of Ethan's arms rested under the blankets and wrapped around Jack's chest, holding him tight.

His other hand gripped his pistol.

He'd kept hold of his weapon all night long. At the slightest noise, Ethan had it up in the darkness, ready to fire.

Another snap, and then the crunching of footsteps in the snow, coming up the side of the jeep.

Ethan's arm tightened around Jack, and his gloved finger hovered on the trigger. He held his pistol ready, pointed at the passenger window, and waited, not breathing. 

I loved every word of this book. The characters and actions are so well portrayed that the reader is there with them, through every skipped heartbeat and drip of sweat. There are three main angles in this novel: Jack and Ethan, Sergey and Sasha, and Adam and Faisal. Each of these couples continues to face completely different hurdles, yet equally unwinnable odds. They are all heroes, willing to lay down their lives to save their respective countries and the man they love.

Perfection rolled through Sergey, a wave crashing against his soul, followed by searing, roaring flame, enough to blind him and whiteout his vision. Everything clicked into place suddenly, as if he'd been trying to solve a Rubik's cube and could previously only see one side. His life came into focus with a snap, a clarity that stole his breath away.

[...]

He saw, in Sasha's eyes, his desire, his passion, and even, deep in his ice-blue gaze, his love, tangled and twisted around an aching, gnawing fear. "Sasha..." 

Congratulations to Tal on a truly epic series. I truly hope that we have not seen the last of these amazing men.

OUR RATING: 5 stars!

See our review of Enemies of the State (The Executive Office, Book 1) here.

#REVIEW Enemies of the State by Tal Bauer #gayromance #suspense #romhero

Title: Enemies of the State (The Executive Office Book 1)
Author: Tal Bauer
Genre: M/M Romance
Release Date: February 14, 2016
Publisher:  NineStar Press
Length: 336 pages

Description: A rogue Black Ops unit with the president in their crosshairs.

A Secret Service agent who will break every rule.

A president falling for the one person he shouldn’t—a man.

Newly elected President Jack Spiers’s presidency is rocked from the very beginning, and he’s working furiously to keep the world from falling apart. Between terrorism attacks ripping apart Europe, Russia’s constant posturing and aggression, and the quagmire of the Middle East, Jack is struggling to keep his campaign promise—to work toward a better, safer world.

For Special Agent Ethan Reichenbach, Jack is just another president, the third in twelve years. With Jack’s election, he’s been promoted, and now he’s running the presidential detail, which puts him side by side with Jack daily. He’s expecting another stuffed suit and an arrogant DC politician, but Jack shocks him with his humor and humanity.

There are rules against a Secret Service agent and one of their protectees developing a friendship—big rules. Besides, Jack is straight as a ruler, and a widower, and Ethan has always avoided falling for straight men. Ethan keeps his distance, but Jack draws him in, like gas to a naked flame, and it’s a lure he isn’t strong enough to turn away from.

As the two men collide, rules are shattered and the world teeters on the verge of war, and a rogue Black Ops unit bent on destruction sets Jack in their deadly crosshairs. Ethan must put everything on the line in order to save the man he’s come to love, Jack’s presidency, and the world.


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OUR REVIEW

Enemies of the State is without a doubt one of the best books I've read this year. It is captivating, intriguing, and ambitious. Bauer very dexterously takes on a delicate topic--a president involved in a gay relationship--as well as a plot by rogue operatives that could endanger the entire world. I love it from the first page to the last!

Ethan is the Secret Service Special Agent in charge of protecting the president. A very lonely president who wants a friend. Of course, Ethan knows he's not supposed to be develop personal relationships with his protectees. He's certainly not supposed to befriend one, or worse, fall for one. Ethan's struggle to remain impartial, to smother his growing attraction for the president is real and felt by the reader as though it were happening to us.

President Spiers smiled, big and broad. "I'd appreciate that, Ethan. You know, I do value your advice. You've seen my predecessors, and all of their foibles and faults. If you have advice for me, I'm always all ears."

That was not what he'd been expecting. Swallowing, Ethan tried to find his tongue. "I'm just your detail lead, sir."

"You're the kind of guy I'd be proud to call a friend."

And there it was, that invisible barrier the president had bemoaned, slamming down between them with all the force of a guillotine. Ethan felt the physical push of the barrier against him, a klaxon blaring in his mind, telling him to back away. This was dangerous, this path to familiarity and traded smiles. Where there was familiarity, there was ease, and where there was ease, there was danger and risk, and breaches in security. He couldn't be a friend to him, the man he was supposed to protect at all costs, even with his own life. How could he ever be objective if he was to befriend this man?

How indeed? Especially when everyone of the president's friendly overtures feels like flirting to Ethan? The slow burn between Ethan and Jack will have you flipping the pages to see where their friendship will go. Is Jack interested in Ethan or is this up-to-now straight man really just looking for a friend?

You'll have to read the book to find out!

There are so many touching moments in this story. The secondary characters characters are amazing and interesting in their own right, including a very interesting president of Russia. You'll be like me and want to know all their stories as well. Lucky for us, Enemies of the State is the first book in a series. Yay! I can't wait for the next one.

If you love slow burn tension that leads to explosive romance in the midst of crises of international importance, this is the book for you!

OUR RATING: 5 stars!