Title: Upside Down
Series: Inside Out, #2
Author: Andrew Grey
Genre: Contemporary
Length: Novel (200 pages)
Publisher: Dreamspinner Press (August 15th 2014)
Heat Level: Moderate
Heart: ♥♥♥♥♥ 5 Hearts
Reviewer: Tams
Blurb: Lowell Cartwright’s life as a mercenary problem solver has taken its toll, and after one more difficult job, he wants out. For help, he turns to Bull, a soldier of fortune turned club owner—not exactly a friend, but the best chance Lowell has. He visits Bull’s club to scope it out and meets Jeremy Hodgson. The twink captures his attention in a big way. Bull tells Lowell to stay away from the club until he decides whether he can help, so Lowell stays in town. When he spots Jeremy passed out on the floor of a convenience store, he goes to Jeremy’s aid.
Lowell piques Jeremy’s interest immediately, pushing all the right buttons. Then, when Jeremy needs help, Lowell’s kindness turns interest into something more.
But trouble comes knocking when Jeremy’s place is bugged. Maybe Lowell’s past is catching up to him, or maybe the danger centers on Jeremy’s roommate Tristan’s mysterious boyfriend. Whatever the source of the problem, the future Lowell and Jeremy hope for doesn’t stand a chance unless they can find a way to protect themselves.
Purchase Link: http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com/store/product_info.php?products_id=5217
Review: Lowell Cartwright, Spook, is a mercenary looking to start over. He reaches out to the only other man he knows of that has gotten out of the business virtually unscathed, Bull. When he arrives at Bull’s bar, he’s busy, but the tall brown-haired twink out on the dance floor catches Lowell’s eye, so he makes a move. But by the end of the night, Jeremy knows exactly who Lowell is and he tries hard not to be attracted to a monster, but the heart wants what the heart can’t have.
More than once Lowell is there to help Jeremy. First when has an insulin issue and passes out at a local convenience store, and again when they learn that Jeremy and Tristan’s apartment has been bugged. Has Lowell been found by the people he’s trying to hide from? Or is there something else going on here with the young group of friends that Bull and Lowell find themselves calling family, find themselves protecting no matter the cost.
Jeremy may be young but he is not naive, he sees something in Lowell that everyone else either can’t or refuses to. He sees love, compassion, tenderness and honesty there. As well, Lowell is attracted to Jeremy’s strength and devotion, no one has backed him up in a very long time, and so having Jeremy believe in him gives Lowell the strength he needs to end this once and for all. It’s not all sunshine and roses though. First Lowell will have to disappear, and some people are making that very hard to do. And then there is the question, will Jeremy still love him, still want to be with him when Lowell tells him every dark and dirty detail of his mercenary past.
Action packed and nonstop, danger around every corner, who can you trust? This story will literally turn you upside down while you converge through each character trying to figure out what will happen next. You will root for Lowell and Jeremy to get at least a little bit of happiness, and scream at your book when it looks like they won’t. There is passion and intimacy between Lowell and Jeremy that jumps right off the pages, it makes them more relatable. I love the mechanics of the friendship between the four “twinks” as Lowell calls them… Zach, Jeremy, Tristan and Kevin.
“It’s like the twink version of Sex and the City!”
And that right there tells me there will be four books in this series, or at least I hope there will be! One for each twink. And then to watch these big, burly, and killing machines become these gooey puddles of love and compassion when they find the other piece of their soul, it’s a thing of beauty. Yes, this is a must read. You must read this series, this book, anything with the name Andrew Grey on it is a must read. That’s a no brainer!