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Iron on Iron #2
The Girl in the Wind
The price for the truth might be their family. When Theo and Auggie return home—safe and sound and miraculously alive after being dragged into a murder investigation—all Theo wants is for life to get back to normal. No more murders. No more investigations. Nothing, in other words, that might put Auggie in danger. But when a girl from school goes missing, Theo finds himself reluctantly drawn into looking for her. Shaniyah was his former student, for one reason. And, for another, no one else seems interested in where she’s gone. Worse, her disappearance seems to be linked to a break-in at Theo and Auggie’s house. The search, though, quickly becomes more complicated than either Theo or Auggie could have expected. Shaniyah, they discover, had been conducting an investigation of her own, looking for another missing student. And the path to learning the truth about both disappearances, Theo fears, leads back to the Cottonmouth Club.
391 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 6, 2023
40 people are currently reading
189 people want to read
About the author
Gregory Ashe
136 books1,802 followersI'm a long-time Midwesterner. I've lived in Chicago, Bloomington (IN), and Saint Louis, my current home. Aside from reading and writing (which take up a lot of my time), I'm an educator.
While I enjoy reading across many genres, my two main loves are mystery and speculative fiction. I used to keep a list of favorite books, but it changes so frequently that I've given up. I'm always looking for recommendations, though, so please drop me a line if you have something in mind!
My big goal right now is one day to be responsible enough to get a dog.
While I enjoy reading across many genres, my two main loves are mystery and speculative fiction. I used to keep a list of favorite books, but it changes so frequently that I've given up. I'm always looking for recommendations, though, so please drop me a line if you have something in mind!
My big goal right now is one day to be responsible enough to get a dog.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 87 reviews
December 27, 2023
*🎧Dec 26: merry post-christmas delight! the audiobook has landed under your trees, ripe for the picking. JF Harding knocks it out of the park again with his dulcet tones 😌
to my dear Thuggie compatriots: we have won.
my heart is full. my tear ducts are empty. i’m a changed woman who’d almost dislodged a kneecap scrambling to her laptop, like a day's absence from GA’s literary prowess is nothing short of Armageddon.
in the history of cameos, what is Thuggie if not synonymous with tension? of a shrouding, hushed restlessness edging ever closer toward grating discordance; anxiety, guilt, and fear undisturbed in their crusade to eat away at their host like rot in the rafters (so much fear). but how long can rifts be patched over with temporary stopgaps before bluffs and gimmicks fail to thwart the return of the "bad old days"?
since the beginning of time, i’ve nurtured a soft spot for Theo and Auggie - our underdogs, our average (as you can get in GA’s traumatic terms) Joe’s, our true amateur sleuths. the other couples have backgrounds and/or unconventional skillsets that lend themselves to the chaotic world of murder and mayhem, but Thuggie is out here simply trying to process past trauma, care for a child, survive a rowdy teaching day, and outmaneuver the social media numbers game. they have no business getting embroiled in big mystery plots, but their creator insists, so a hint of a threat to their well-being instantaneously spikes my protective instincts into overdrive 📈 (opposite of the current stock market *insert disgruntled Hazard remark here*)
Auggie resides in a lush cabin at the center of my heart, because i vehemently refuse to let him go. his growth arc from cocky college freshie at the height of adolescent egocentrism to his current evolution - charmingly cheeky as ever, but also displaying a monolithic capacity for love so genuine, so vast, that it blinds me - is masterful. peak literature. i feel physical pain when his big heart is woefully tempered to cater and mollify. Theo, oh Theo. my tragic hero, beautiful in a way only broken things are. never has he been this depleted treading against the waves that threaten to swallow him whole. just barely keeping his head above water, he pretends not to exist in a shell of a body as everything denying him the right to happiness reaches a new crescendo.
this chapter of their journey was a gift in its profound compassion, from the portrayal of damaging coping mechanisms to the dawn of their deconstruction. my entire existence was on tenterhooks waiting for the axe to drop, because the axe was big, and it was looming, and it was terrorizing.
to say i'm impressed by GA's ability to forge something with more legs than a millipede in its structure, prose, and themes within the scope / limitations of an ambitious crossover would be a gross understatement.
returning to Wahredua and its cast of familiar faces and all-too familiar chaos just felt so inexplicably right, like a…homey cesspool (nailed it). GA grants space to explore evolving group dynamics through tag teams and refreshingly gentle bonding moments, without overshadowing the strife of our mainstay couple. i was cheesing so hard during one particular scene that my budding lactose-intolerance *insisted* i take a lactaid. then when the joint dictionary entry for “cliffhanger” and “whiplash" manifested in that final chapter, i fib you not, goosebumps on goosebumps on goosebumps. any vestiges of mental stability are now in tatter (tots. this pun is me hungry and trying to hold it together 🥲). in the wind may reside a girl, but to tuned ears, also the melodic wisps of imminent cries across the globe, as our hearts are collectively hurled into the stratosphere at the unforgettable chain of events that follow. in other words, if you need an outlet, my dms are open 🫂
blessed with a severe Thuggie bias, i’m not afraid to let it delude me into thinking that every miniscule detail was curated for my reckless enjoyment. if my level 9 psychic powers are to be believed, this book will hold pride of place on my bookshelf for this series' run - feel free to place your bets!
in the interim, glutton mode: activated. my post-Iron blues cure wishlist has grown to include a Fer book, a Second Quarto for sideline early H&S snooping, and a Third Quarto for Thuggie to walk down the road they’ve begun to pave (with more of North and Auggie's sibling dynamic, i beg of you. #Nuggie)
Thank you to the author for providing a complimentary copy of this book; this is my honest review :)
---initial reaction---
Theo and Auggie are coming back, baby! 🎶Thuggie nuggie, do the boogie woogie🎶 💃
praise be to Greg’s swift typing fingers for we already have an official release date of Oct. 6 for book 2 of Iron on Iron *jazz hands*
since this is book 2 of the epic crossover series, here's a checklist to help keep track of your Hazardverse reading progress before diving into The Face in the Water:
now which Shakespeare play will we be tackling this time (if any)? my gut instinct insists it will fall somewhere within the realm of comedy - The Taming of the Shrew? Much Ado about Nothing? - or given GA’s infamously angsty track record, a tragicomedy like The Winter's Tale, mayhaps? the possibilities are nearly endless.
the exhilaration that circulates within me with each reminder of this crossover is the fuel powering me through these grossly humid days. ✨ may the countdown begin! ✨
to my dear Thuggie compatriots: we have won.
my heart is full. my tear ducts are empty. i’m a changed woman who’d almost dislodged a kneecap scrambling to her laptop, like a day's absence from GA’s literary prowess is nothing short of Armageddon.
in the history of cameos, what is Thuggie if not synonymous with tension? of a shrouding, hushed restlessness edging ever closer toward grating discordance; anxiety, guilt, and fear undisturbed in their crusade to eat away at their host like rot in the rafters (so much fear). but how long can rifts be patched over with temporary stopgaps before bluffs and gimmicks fail to thwart the return of the "bad old days"?
since the beginning of time, i’ve nurtured a soft spot for Theo and Auggie - our underdogs, our average (as you can get in GA’s traumatic terms) Joe’s, our true amateur sleuths. the other couples have backgrounds and/or unconventional skillsets that lend themselves to the chaotic world of murder and mayhem, but Thuggie is out here simply trying to process past trauma, care for a child, survive a rowdy teaching day, and outmaneuver the social media numbers game. they have no business getting embroiled in big mystery plots, but their creator insists, so a hint of a threat to their well-being instantaneously spikes my protective instincts into overdrive 📈 (opposite of the current stock market *insert disgruntled Hazard remark here*)
Auggie resides in a lush cabin at the center of my heart, because i vehemently refuse to let him go. his growth arc from cocky college freshie at the height of adolescent egocentrism to his current evolution - charmingly cheeky as ever, but also displaying a monolithic capacity for love so genuine, so vast, that it blinds me - is masterful. peak literature. i feel physical pain when his big heart is woefully tempered to cater and mollify. Theo, oh Theo. my tragic hero, beautiful in a way only broken things are. never has he been this depleted treading against the waves that threaten to swallow him whole. just barely keeping his head above water, he pretends not to exist in a shell of a body as everything denying him the right to happiness reaches a new crescendo.
this chapter of their journey was a gift in its profound compassion, from the portrayal of damaging coping mechanisms to the dawn of their deconstruction. my entire existence was on tenterhooks waiting for the axe to drop, because the axe was big, and it was looming, and it was terrorizing.
to say i'm impressed by GA's ability to forge something with more legs than a millipede in its structure, prose, and themes within the scope / limitations of an ambitious crossover would be a gross understatement.
returning to Wahredua and its cast of familiar faces and all-too familiar chaos just felt so inexplicably right, like a…homey cesspool (nailed it). GA grants space to explore evolving group dynamics through tag teams and refreshingly gentle bonding moments, without overshadowing the strife of our mainstay couple. i was cheesing so hard during one particular scene that my budding lactose-intolerance *insisted* i take a lactaid. then when the joint dictionary entry for “cliffhanger” and “whiplash" manifested in that final chapter, i fib you not, goosebumps on goosebumps on goosebumps. any vestiges of mental stability are now in tatter (tots. this pun is me hungry and trying to hold it together 🥲). in the wind may reside a girl, but to tuned ears, also the melodic wisps of imminent cries across the globe, as our hearts are collectively hurled into the stratosphere at the unforgettable chain of events that follow. in other words, if you need an outlet, my dms are open 🫂
blessed with a severe Thuggie bias, i’m not afraid to let it delude me into thinking that every miniscule detail was curated for my reckless enjoyment. if my level 9 psychic powers are to be believed, this book will hold pride of place on my bookshelf for this series' run - feel free to place your bets!
in the interim, glutton mode: activated. my post-Iron blues cure wishlist has grown to include a Fer book, a Second Quarto for sideline early H&S snooping, and a Third Quarto for Thuggie to walk down the road they’ve begun to pave (with more of North and Auggie's sibling dynamic, i beg of you. #Nuggie)
Thank you to the author for providing a complimentary copy of this book; this is my honest review :)
---initial reaction---
Theo and Auggie are coming back, baby! 🎶Thuggie nuggie, do the boogie woogie🎶 💃
praise be to Greg’s swift typing fingers for we already have an official release date of Oct. 6 for book 2 of Iron on Iron *jazz hands*
since this is book 2 of the epic crossover series, here's a checklist to help keep track of your Hazardverse reading progress before diving into The Face in the Water:
now which Shakespeare play will we be tackling this time (if any)? my gut instinct insists it will fall somewhere within the realm of comedy - The Taming of the Shrew? Much Ado about Nothing? - or given GA’s infamously angsty track record, a tragicomedy like The Winter's Tale, mayhaps? the possibilities are nearly endless.
the exhilaration that circulates within me with each reminder of this crossover is the fuel powering me through these grossly humid days. ✨ may the countdown begin! ✨
February 29, 2024
Audiobook - 5 stars
Story - 4.5 stars
Main Cast - Auggie and Theo.
Welp! these two are really good together. I want them to always be okay. I love that Lana is now part of the family and bonding with Evie. Cute.
The rest of the couples are great as always. I don't know but I feel like there is something going on with Somers. Huh! I hope it is not something heartbreaking, I need my guys to be okay.
Shaw is Shaw, North.. Hmmm.. Tean yay! Jem is Jem... Hazard, my Hazard! is too grumpy even for me. I hope everything is okay because I don't want to lose my GR user name.
Anyhoo, the mystery was good and easy to flow.
Many thanks to the author for the complimentary audiobook.
Story - 4.5 stars
Main Cast - Auggie and Theo.
Welp! these two are really good together. I want them to always be okay. I love that Lana is now part of the family and bonding with Evie. Cute.
The rest of the couples are great as always. I don't know but I feel like there is something going on with Somers. Huh! I hope it is not something heartbreaking, I need my guys to be okay.
Shaw is Shaw, North.. Hmmm.. Tean yay! Jem is Jem... Hazard, my Hazard! is too grumpy even for me. I hope everything is okay because I don't want to lose my GR user name.
Anyhoo, the mystery was good and easy to flow.
Many thanks to the author for the complimentary audiobook.
January 24, 2024
These books have no business being better the second time.
------Original Review------
Ah, Thuggie. The couple who started this journey for me and hold a very special place in my heart. I knew after finishing The Face in the Water that things weren't sunshine and rainbows in their world, but I had no idea how close the "bad old days" were to creeping into the present. Anxieties, fears and insecurities were still hovering near the surface, turning the slightest deviation from the status quo into a siren song luring them towards their most reliable and unhealthy coping mechanisms. Auggie and Theo were working around each other, functioning through apologies and placation and avoidance. It hurt so much to see them struggle, especially since it was obvious that everything they did, good and bad, came from a place of love.
My emotions were all over the place while reading this book. I love all of these characters so much and feel like I know each and every one of them, so their interactions felt incredibly personal to me. Like, they're all my friends and I just want them to get along. I shed every kind of tear imaginable, sometimes out of anger or sadness or frustration or even indignation, but mostly out of joy. There was one scene in particular that I could barely read because I was crying so much. My husband took one look at me and pivoted in the other direction. After 30+ books and numerous short stories in the Hazardverse alone, you'd think I'd be used to the way GA sneaks those emotional moments in where you'd least expect them, but I guess I'm still capable of being surprised.
North and Shaw are next and after the events in the last chapter and that brutal cliffhanger, I'm both scared and excited. Shaw is my spirit twin and I can't wait to spend time with his random thoughts and crocheted booty shorts again.
------Original Review------
Ah, Thuggie. The couple who started this journey for me and hold a very special place in my heart. I knew after finishing The Face in the Water that things weren't sunshine and rainbows in their world, but I had no idea how close the "bad old days" were to creeping into the present. Anxieties, fears and insecurities were still hovering near the surface, turning the slightest deviation from the status quo into a siren song luring them towards their most reliable and unhealthy coping mechanisms. Auggie and Theo were working around each other, functioning through apologies and placation and avoidance. It hurt so much to see them struggle, especially since it was obvious that everything they did, good and bad, came from a place of love.
My emotions were all over the place while reading this book. I love all of these characters so much and feel like I know each and every one of them, so their interactions felt incredibly personal to me. Like, they're all my friends and I just want them to get along. I shed every kind of tear imaginable, sometimes out of anger or sadness or frustration or even indignation, but mostly out of joy. There was one scene in particular that I could barely read because I was crying so much. My husband took one look at me and pivoted in the other direction. After 30+ books and numerous short stories in the Hazardverse alone, you'd think I'd be used to the way GA sneaks those emotional moments in where you'd least expect them, but I guess I'm still capable of being surprised.
North and Shaw are next and after the events in the last chapter and that brutal cliffhanger, I'm both scared and excited. Shaw is my spirit twin and I can't wait to spend time with his random thoughts and crocheted booty shorts again.
September 24, 2023
So, I have an ARC of this and accordingly am torn between excitement and terror. Today's the day! *takes deep breath and jumps*
...Oof.
Well, it was obvious in The Face in the Water that Theo and Auggie were Not in a Good Place, so I should have been prepared. But somehow I never am. Somehow, every damn time I start a Gregory Ashe book, I'm sucked in by the opening (in this case, Theo and Auggie are leaving Lana with the rest of the gang while they have an evening out) and then a few pages later comes the sucker punch and I remember why a box of tissues is an essential accessory for any reader of GA's books.
I didn't read the preview of this book at the end of Face in the Water, and consequently got a joyful surprise during the sucking-in portion of Girl in the Wind: LANA'S HOME!!! She talks! She plays! She runs around with a leg brace and her speech sounds a bit affectless BUT SHE'S HOME!!!!!!!!!!
But back to Theo and Auggie. Theo's been decompensating for a while, and the case he and Auggie are embroiled in hits him in every last one of his pain points. In one of my all-time favorite romances, Morgan Hawes's Late Bloomer, one of the MCs is described this way: "Vincent didn't know how to be afraid without also being angry. He knew that about himself and didn't like it much." Well, Theo also doesn't know how to be afraid without being angry -- or, given his history, without being violent -- but although he sort of knows that about himself, and doesn't like it, he also sort of doesn't know it, or doesn't understand it, or doesn't know how to act on the understanding. As for Auggie, the lessons he learned at his mother's knee and, later, Dylan's, are all about how to manage a difficult person by agreeing with them and presenting aspects of himself that will please them. These lessons don't serve him well as Theo's falling apart.
So, Deep Thoughts:
- I'm in the middle of the audiobook of The Fairest Show, the third installment of the First Quarto series, and I'm wowed by how credibly GA draws the contrast between the Auggie of those days and the adult Auggie. They're absolutely the same person, with the same sensitivity, the same weakness for praise, the same talents, the same way of teasing Theo, and the same vulnerabilities installed by that unstable, unhappy childhood ... but the adult Auggie is more certain somehow. Confident of his abilities, with more perspective and better impulse control.
- Something I've noted in many GA books is that while investigating the mystery, the MCs happen across people and incidents that rhyme with whatever the couple's struggle of the moment is. Same here. Fear and love emerging as anger all over the place. We see it. I think Auggie sees it. Theo's living at the bottom of a well so deep he only glimpses the sky sometimes.
- There's a beautiful moment when Theo and Auggie are trying to get a witness/suspect to talk; they're basically interrogating her and she throws them out of the house. But at the last moment, before they leave, Auggie switches gears and offers her understanding and insight -- kindness, that is -- and then she talks. "Turn the other cheek" has always seemed to me the most misunderstood of Christian injunctions: the point isn't to be passive in the face of violence, but to do something unexpected, to step out of the cycle of hit-and-hit-back. It's not always appropriate, or possible, and it doesn't always work (maybe it even fails most of the time), but it is often the only thing that has a chance of ending the cycle. Auggie's action, which Theo then joins, is a moving instance of that.
- No effing way does Emery Hazard allow Colt to play football, I'm sorry. I can hear the lecture about chronic traumatic encephalopathy all the way from Missouri to Brooklyn. Gregory Ashe, are you up to something???
Thanks to GA for the ARC. Usual disclaimer about how I know favorable reviews of ARCs from the author are suspect, but I really do mean every word.
...Oof.
Well, it was obvious in The Face in the Water that Theo and Auggie were Not in a Good Place, so I should have been prepared. But somehow I never am. Somehow, every damn time I start a Gregory Ashe book, I'm sucked in by the opening (in this case, Theo and Auggie are leaving Lana with the rest of the gang while they have an evening out) and then a few pages later comes the sucker punch and I remember why a box of tissues is an essential accessory for any reader of GA's books.
I didn't read the preview of this book at the end of Face in the Water, and consequently got a joyful surprise during the sucking-in portion of Girl in the Wind: LANA'S HOME!!! She talks! She plays! She runs around with a leg brace and her speech sounds a bit affectless BUT SHE'S HOME!!!!!!!!!!
But back to Theo and Auggie. Theo's been decompensating for a while, and the case he and Auggie are embroiled in hits him in every last one of his pain points. In one of my all-time favorite romances, Morgan Hawes's Late Bloomer, one of the MCs is described this way: "Vincent didn't know how to be afraid without also being angry. He knew that about himself and didn't like it much." Well, Theo also doesn't know how to be afraid without being angry -- or, given his history, without being violent -- but although he sort of knows that about himself, and doesn't like it, he also sort of doesn't know it, or doesn't understand it, or doesn't know how to act on the understanding. As for Auggie, the lessons he learned at his mother's knee and, later, Dylan's, are all about how to manage a difficult person by agreeing with them and presenting aspects of himself that will please them. These lessons don't serve him well as Theo's falling apart.
So, Deep Thoughts:
- I'm in the middle of the audiobook of The Fairest Show, the third installment of the First Quarto series, and I'm wowed by how credibly GA draws the contrast between the Auggie of those days and the adult Auggie. They're absolutely the same person, with the same sensitivity, the same weakness for praise, the same talents, the same way of teasing Theo, and the same vulnerabilities installed by that unstable, unhappy childhood ... but the adult Auggie is more certain somehow. Confident of his abilities, with more perspective and better impulse control.
- Something I've noted in many GA books is that while investigating the mystery, the MCs happen across people and incidents that rhyme with whatever the couple's struggle of the moment is. Same here. Fear and love emerging as anger all over the place. We see it. I think Auggie sees it. Theo's living at the bottom of a well so deep he only glimpses the sky sometimes.
- There's a beautiful moment when Theo and Auggie are trying to get a witness/suspect to talk; they're basically interrogating her and she throws them out of the house. But at the last moment, before they leave, Auggie switches gears and offers her understanding and insight -- kindness, that is -- and then she talks. "Turn the other cheek" has always seemed to me the most misunderstood of Christian injunctions: the point isn't to be passive in the face of violence, but to do something unexpected, to step out of the cycle of hit-and-hit-back. It's not always appropriate, or possible, and it doesn't always work (maybe it even fails most of the time), but it is often the only thing that has a chance of ending the cycle. Auggie's action, which Theo then joins, is a moving instance of that.
- No effing way does Emery Hazard allow Colt to play football, I'm sorry. I can hear the lecture about chronic traumatic encephalopathy all the way from Missouri to Brooklyn. Gregory Ashe, are you up to something???
Thanks to GA for the ARC. Usual disclaimer about how I know favorable reviews of ARCs from the author are suspect, but I really do mean every word.
October 6, 2023
I am almost at a loss for words because this book was everything and more. I cannot say how much I love the coming together of all these characters and having each couple be the main focus of a book with the other couples also interacting with them. It’s chaos at its finest. There is one scene in this book that was probably my most favorite thing GA has ever written with the guys bonding.
This story is Theo & Auggie’s. When I first read their first book I have to admit that Auggie annoyed me. He was so young and immature. I am amazed at how much he has grown as a character. I loved him in this book. The way he cares for Lana melted my heart. Theo had a tough time in this and I wanted to protect Auggie at all costs but luckily Theo got his head out of his backside.
Theo and Auggie are wrapped up in trying to find out what happened to a student after she goes missing while she was investigating the disappearance of another student. So we have two missing teenagers. All the guys are investigating different avenues from the previous book and Auggie feels these two disappearances may have something to do with that previous case so him and Theo start trying to find answers. This brings back a lot of bad memories for Theo and “the bad old days” which cause a lot of tension. There is a lot of work that Theo and Auggie still need to do in their relationship and things come to a head in true GA fashion.
I love how everyone is supporting each other! This group of guys show up for Auggie and Theo and bonds are forming. It’s fabulous to see!!!! I am so excited for the upcoming books.
**ARC received for review
**All thoughts and opinions are my own
This story is Theo & Auggie’s. When I first read their first book I have to admit that Auggie annoyed me. He was so young and immature. I am amazed at how much he has grown as a character. I loved him in this book. The way he cares for Lana melted my heart. Theo had a tough time in this and I wanted to protect Auggie at all costs but luckily Theo got his head out of his backside.
Theo and Auggie are wrapped up in trying to find out what happened to a student after she goes missing while she was investigating the disappearance of another student. So we have two missing teenagers. All the guys are investigating different avenues from the previous book and Auggie feels these two disappearances may have something to do with that previous case so him and Theo start trying to find answers. This brings back a lot of bad memories for Theo and “the bad old days” which cause a lot of tension. There is a lot of work that Theo and Auggie still need to do in their relationship and things come to a head in true GA fashion.
I love how everyone is supporting each other! This group of guys show up for Auggie and Theo and bonds are forming. It’s fabulous to see!!!! I am so excited for the upcoming books.
**ARC received for review
**All thoughts and opinions are my own
May 23, 2025
Overwhelmed is the best way to describe how I feel after reading this!
That ending with Theo and Auggie...I actually cried and I hate proposals so much, so it was a big surprise to me that I loved it 😂😂 The final piece of news from John-Henry though had me shouting 'Noooooo!!!!' - I mean, what the actual hell!?!
I was ridiculously happy reading that scene where they're all up in the middle of the night doing card tricks, juggling, and just having a good time with no stress for once - and then Colt plays the adult role so perfectly 😂
Again, honestly the crime is kind of in the background for me because I just want to see these eight characters interacting all the damn time! I can't get enough of these group dynamics 😂 The way North and Shaw were so excited they'd been in the same frat as Auggie, the way Jem cared for Theo at the hospital, the way Emery stopped Theo from doing something stupid by just being Emery and needing to debate everything Theo had planned for his classes... my eyes were leaky at that and it made me love Emery Hazard even more.
I do still feel like there's a lot of Theo and Auggie's story that I want to know more about, especially given the cliffhanger their series ended on. I also want to know whatever happened to Cart! Mostly though, I feel like I need to see Fer in the mix of these characters too, because I love Fer and we share a love language, and I just would die to see him encounter Shaw 😂😂😂
I'm very excited to go onto the next book, but I'm also in that space where I really don't want the hazardverse to be ending for me. This crossover series is just so genius and I never want it to end! If there are more story arcs in future for any of these couples, I really do hope there are a lot more cameos because the friendships they're building are just so great!
That ending with Theo and Auggie...I actually cried and I hate proposals so much, so it was a big surprise to me that I loved it 😂😂 The final piece of news from John-Henry though had me shouting 'Noooooo!!!!' - I mean, what the actual hell!?!
I was ridiculously happy reading that scene where they're all up in the middle of the night doing card tricks, juggling, and just having a good time with no stress for once - and then Colt plays the adult role so perfectly 😂
Again, honestly the crime is kind of in the background for me because I just want to see these eight characters interacting all the damn time! I can't get enough of these group dynamics 😂 The way North and Shaw were so excited they'd been in the same frat as Auggie, the way Jem cared for Theo at the hospital, the way Emery stopped Theo from doing something stupid by just being Emery and needing to debate everything Theo had planned for his classes... my eyes were leaky at that and it made me love Emery Hazard even more.
I do still feel like there's a lot of Theo and Auggie's story that I want to know more about, especially given the cliffhanger their series ended on. I also want to know whatever happened to Cart! Mostly though, I feel like I need to see Fer in the mix of these characters too, because I love Fer and we share a love language, and I just would die to see him encounter Shaw 😂😂😂
I'm very excited to go onto the next book, but I'm also in that space where I really don't want the hazardverse to be ending for me. This crossover series is just so genius and I never want it to end! If there are more story arcs in future for any of these couples, I really do hope there are a lot more cameos because the friendships they're building are just so great!
March 24, 2025
Gregory Ashe! How dare you!!
What a rollercoaster this one was. I was laughing, crying, laughing and then sobbing sad and happy tears again.
I don’t want to spoil too much before the release but this was so much fun to read. I liked the second book in the series even more than the first so I am holding out hope that it will only get better as we progress with North/Shaw and Hazard/Somers books.
I like that there is a bigger overarching plot going on but the individual pairs have still managed to “solve” their own mystery. I love the group dynamic, which is something I was really worried about at first, but there were some real touching moments here amongst them all 🥹
Lots of character progression, lots of set backs but all the pain was worth it!
Now I count down the days until book 3!
Ps: Auggie - my wee cinnamon roll, must be protected at all cost !
What a rollercoaster this one was. I was laughing, crying, laughing and then sobbing sad and happy tears again.
I don’t want to spoil too much before the release but this was so much fun to read. I liked the second book in the series even more than the first so I am holding out hope that it will only get better as we progress with North/Shaw and Hazard/Somers books.
I like that there is a bigger overarching plot going on but the individual pairs have still managed to “solve” their own mystery. I love the group dynamic, which is something I was really worried about at first, but there were some real touching moments here amongst them all 🥹
Lots of character progression, lots of set backs but all the pain was worth it!
Now I count down the days until book 3!
Ps: Auggie - my wee cinnamon roll, must be protected at all cost !
October 18, 2023
4.50 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I love this series so, SO much. Like this is a A+ example of how you do an ensemble cast without (1) distracting from the main characters and (2) not creating a jumbled mess with too many people on page.
Iron on Iron is a series compromised of Ashe’s 4 main couples, with each book focusing on each couple and the others included in a supporting capacity. Book 1 followed Tean and Jem (🥇) , and now book 2 is focusing on Theo and Auggie from The First Quarto series. Set in 2020 Auggie is now 25 yrs old and him and Theo are in an established relationship and have been for several years. Theo, now 35 yrs old, has been struggling with “bad Theo” and when he gets pulled into an investigation for a missing student sh-t starts hitting the fan.
The mystery was done well, and I appreciate that they solve the focused mystery while the overarching one continues across the series. Auggie and Theo were so frustratingly wonderful in this. I’m not going to lie, Theo was getting on my last nerve but I was glad to see them start having real conversations by the end. There is a lot of work to be done there, but they are on the right path. Auggie was so great in this. Ashe did a great job of showcasing his growth and maturity from college Auggie we saw before. And that ending had me 🥹🥹🥹
I also LOVED the interactions between all the guys. It really showcased Ashe’s writing abilities because everyone had such a distinct voice and the banter was next level. The slumber party-esque scene was an absolute favorite.
Needless to say I am very excited to continue reading this series and will be very sad when it comes to an end.
I love this series so, SO much. Like this is a A+ example of how you do an ensemble cast without (1) distracting from the main characters and (2) not creating a jumbled mess with too many people on page.
Iron on Iron is a series compromised of Ashe’s 4 main couples, with each book focusing on each couple and the others included in a supporting capacity. Book 1 followed Tean and Jem (🥇) , and now book 2 is focusing on Theo and Auggie from The First Quarto series. Set in 2020 Auggie is now 25 yrs old and him and Theo are in an established relationship and have been for several years. Theo, now 35 yrs old, has been struggling with “bad Theo” and when he gets pulled into an investigation for a missing student sh-t starts hitting the fan.
The mystery was done well, and I appreciate that they solve the focused mystery while the overarching one continues across the series. Auggie and Theo were so frustratingly wonderful in this. I’m not going to lie, Theo was getting on my last nerve but I was glad to see them start having real conversations by the end. There is a lot of work to be done there, but they are on the right path. Auggie was so great in this. Ashe did a great job of showcasing his growth and maturity from college Auggie we saw before. And that ending had me 🥹🥹🥹
I also LOVED the interactions between all the guys. It really showcased Ashe’s writing abilities because everyone had such a distinct voice and the banter was next level. The slumber party-esque scene was an absolute favorite.
Needless to say I am very excited to continue reading this series and will be very sad when it comes to an end.
May 14, 2025
4⭐️ This book has a very different vibe than book one, this one being almost morose in tone.
But I admire that GA is so versatile and he can pivot so seamlessly between light humor and heavy emotions. Auggie and Theo are very much still in turmoil in their relationship and their struggles saddened me.
I do love them both but Theo is difficult to like in this one. Auggie having to tiptoe around Theo due to his trauma and subsequent outbursts and meltdowns was a tad too toxic for my liking this late in the game.
I did adore the end though, and this leaves off on a cliffhanger, so I’m on to book 3.
I do love all these characters together. This was really a brilliant move, combining them all. It’s chaotic in the best way and the banter is unparalleled.
But I admire that GA is so versatile and he can pivot so seamlessly between light humor and heavy emotions. Auggie and Theo are very much still in turmoil in their relationship and their struggles saddened me.
I do love them both but Theo is difficult to like in this one. Auggie having to tiptoe around Theo due to his trauma and subsequent outbursts and meltdowns was a tad too toxic for my liking this late in the game.
I did adore the end though, and this leaves off on a cliffhanger, so I’m on to book 3.
I do love all these characters together. This was really a brilliant move, combining them all. It’s chaotic in the best way and the banter is unparalleled.
February 15, 2024
Theo and Auggie's relationship is so complex - not that the other couples are all easy, happy-go-lucky - and for every jump forward they often seem to fall back just as far. There is no question they love each other, but they always seem to be teetering on the edge. Of course, they also seem to always be pulled into these investigations as well.
Auggie has matured exponentially. While he still has his silly side, he is a great dad to Lana and can see the long-term with Theo. It's Theo who is almost stagnant. While he has handled his addiction, it's always looming, especially when things get tough. He's his own worst stumbling block in everything and his fear of the future, of losing someone again, is almost paralyzing at times.
The other three couples are all back and involved, both in the ongoing mystery and each others' personal lives and honestly, this is just what Theo needs. There is a scene with Hazard that Theo really needed and the ending with everyone together is full of surprises and shocks. What does GA have against these two that they couldn't be joyful for more than a couple of minutes? It was a great way to push me right into the next book, but give these guys just a little bit of a break.
Auggie has matured exponentially. While he still has his silly side, he is a great dad to Lana and can see the long-term with Theo. It's Theo who is almost stagnant. While he has handled his addiction, it's always looming, especially when things get tough. He's his own worst stumbling block in everything and his fear of the future, of losing someone again, is almost paralyzing at times.
The other three couples are all back and involved, both in the ongoing mystery and each others' personal lives and honestly, this is just what Theo needs. There is a scene with Hazard that Theo really needed and the ending with everyone together is full of surprises and shocks. What does GA have against these two that they couldn't be joyful for more than a couple of minutes? It was a great way to push me right into the next book, but give these guys just a little bit of a break.
November 23, 2023
Auggie laughed softly, and then his fingers were at Theo’s forehead, brushing back a few sweat-damp strands. “Knock it off in there, you two.”
He ran his fingers through the flow of Theo’s hair, the movement slow and careful. Theo smiled in spite of himself, eyes still closed. The aches of two nights’ bad sleep, the pounding at the back of his head, the fear and then the bitter backwash after the adrenaline was gone. He realized, with a kind of distant surprise, two things: he had climbed out of that dark pit (been dragged out by Auggie was, maybe, a better way to put it); and he was about to fall asleep.
“You two?”
“My Theo,” Auggie said, “and the one who comes around to beat up on him sometimes.”
Theo smiled again, helpless even at the pain of it.
I was reading this book feeling it started a little slow, in my mind my rating already going back and forth between 5 and 4 (which rarely happens with GA books for me) but the second half came in like a wrecking ball and made me sob and gasp and sob more but this time from joy.
Going into Theo and Auggie's book, I think we all knew they were going to have more of a couple conflict than what we've seen of Jem and Tean in the first book. The Face in the Water was pure enjoyment through and through with all of the characters meeting and us getting to see them all from outsider Jem and Tean's eyes and Jem and Tean unconditionally being sweet to each other. Not that Theo and Auggie are not sweet, they certainly are, and not that the eight of them didn't have some of the best interactions in this installment, they certainly did, but years after their last book, The Girl in the Wind finds Theo and Auggie still grappling with some fundamental issues they couldn't overcome. Namely ones Theo couldn't, as he has many of them. An entire array of them.
And I adored every bit of it, every bit of their relationship in this book; the things they got better at in the time we haven't seen them, the domesticity with Lana, the settled life in Wahredua, but also the things that stayed static or even worsened. It was all handled so well. Theo and Auggie is a weird couple for me because I don't think about them as often - H&S are the blueprint, I'm the nastiest fan of North and Shaw, and Jem and Tean have the most profound place in my heart - but in each book, Theo and Auggie share this one moment that impacts me so strongly. This book had a few of those. The summit they reached at the end was so so gratifying, I just cried.
Talking about crying, this book also had an entire chapter with all eight of them that made me sob from how overwhelmed I felt with joy. This happens so rarely for me that I couldn't even make sense of the experience while I was reading that scene. This review is spoiler free but I think you know what I mean if you read it. The love and humanness felt in those few interactions were so strong. That tiny Jem and Shaw thing, that tiny North and Auggie thing, that tiny Somers and Theo thing... I'm a useless reviewer, like, I just love these men.
I can't, can't, can't wait to read The Spoil of Beasts. If there is one thing I love more than seeing North and Shaw just be North and Shaw through the others' eyes, it's actually being inside their heads. Gonna end this by saying I miss my dingdong dumdum couple so baaad and am so looking forward to seeing them in a few months.
Thank you to the author for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
January 29, 2024
There’s something so comfortingly familiar about starting a new Gregory Ashe book, especially when it’s one set in the Hazardverse. The characters are like old friends, and the fact that they’re allowed to live and breathe off the page between novels makes them feel so much more real. Every new book feels like saying, “So, what’s new with you?” and then having a good catch up.
The Girl In The Wind is a freight train of a book. Fast-paced from the beginning, the characters drive the story from the first to the last page with an impressive tenacity. This novel focuses mainly on Theo and Auggie and it was both a pleasure and a privilege to see how far they’ve come.
This being the second book in the Iron On Iron crossover series, I was, once again, very impressed with how Gregory balances having eight main characters on the stage at (almost) all times. Even though this book is predominantly Theo and Auggie’s story, the other characters are weaved in so effortlessly that nothing feels false or like it’s been shoehorned in. Every character from every different series brings something new and essential to the story. No one is superfluous.
One of my favourite things about Gregory’s characters is that they’re flawed. The author isn’t afraid to show the ugly sides of his characters even when they’re the protagonists. Theo is incredibly complicated, and it’s refreshing — and very real — to be in the POV of a leading character who isn’t the typical hero.
Something I loved about this book is that even with all the drama, even with all the revelations and twists, Gregory takes the time to let his characters breathe and just be. Yes, it’s a murder mystery, and yes it’s time sensitive, but there are these beautiful moments where time has been carved out where we’re reminded just why we love these characters so much. The Girl In The Wind is full of pockets of pure joy where you get to see Shaw be nonsensical, and Hazard be a grouch, or Jem be, well, Jem.
Another thing I have loved seeing develop in this crossover series are the unlikely friendships building between the main characters. Auggie and North, Jem and Theo, Hazard and Tean — there are so many golden moments, so many heartfelt instants, where you cannot help but fall in love with these fictional men and their stories all over again.
It’s been an absolute delight watching this all come together. The book ends on a cliffhanger of epic proportions, because Gregory loves to give his audience reasons to lat awake at night. I wish I could read and experience this book again for the first time. What an exceptional beauty this novel was. Roll on book three!
The Girl In The Wind is a freight train of a book. Fast-paced from the beginning, the characters drive the story from the first to the last page with an impressive tenacity. This novel focuses mainly on Theo and Auggie and it was both a pleasure and a privilege to see how far they’ve come.
This being the second book in the Iron On Iron crossover series, I was, once again, very impressed with how Gregory balances having eight main characters on the stage at (almost) all times. Even though this book is predominantly Theo and Auggie’s story, the other characters are weaved in so effortlessly that nothing feels false or like it’s been shoehorned in. Every character from every different series brings something new and essential to the story. No one is superfluous.
One of my favourite things about Gregory’s characters is that they’re flawed. The author isn’t afraid to show the ugly sides of his characters even when they’re the protagonists. Theo is incredibly complicated, and it’s refreshing — and very real — to be in the POV of a leading character who isn’t the typical hero.
Something I loved about this book is that even with all the drama, even with all the revelations and twists, Gregory takes the time to let his characters breathe and just be. Yes, it’s a murder mystery, and yes it’s time sensitive, but there are these beautiful moments where time has been carved out where we’re reminded just why we love these characters so much. The Girl In The Wind is full of pockets of pure joy where you get to see Shaw be nonsensical, and Hazard be a grouch, or Jem be, well, Jem.
Another thing I have loved seeing develop in this crossover series are the unlikely friendships building between the main characters. Auggie and North, Jem and Theo, Hazard and Tean — there are so many golden moments, so many heartfelt instants, where you cannot help but fall in love with these fictional men and their stories all over again.
It’s been an absolute delight watching this all come together. The book ends on a cliffhanger of epic proportions, because Gregory loves to give his audience reasons to lat awake at night. I wish I could read and experience this book again for the first time. What an exceptional beauty this novel was. Roll on book three!
November 11, 2023
AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH
Greg took my favourite couple, managed to somehow write what has to be his best character development yet (what? How can he outdo himself over and over again ?), threw in the sweetest scene we ever had the fortune to read AND finished off with the biggest whiplash ever written.
I have no words to express the EXCELLENCE of it all. Like book one was great, a gem (no pun intended) but this one leaves it in the dust.
I'll come back for a real proper review, this is just me screaming my satisfaction as a Thuggie fan. This goes beyond anything I could have dreamed of for my favourite couple. I'm in awe and so so grateful.
Thank you to the author for providing this ARC
February 4, 2024
4.5 Stars for this fantastic addition to the Ashe multiverse! Best enjoyed after having read some of part of the series: Hazard & Somerset, North & Shaw, Tem & Jem, and Theo & Auggie.
A missing girl leads Auggie and Theo to launch an investigation into her disappearance. Along the way, they are targeted by unknown individual(s). On the personal front, Theo’s angry outbursts begin to scare Auggie.
A great mystery in which I never guessed the perpetrator(s).
Above all, an AMAZING NARRATION by J.F. Harding!!!! 😍😍
A missing girl leads Auggie and Theo to launch an investigation into her disappearance. Along the way, they are targeted by unknown individual(s). On the personal front, Theo’s angry outbursts begin to scare Auggie.
A great mystery in which I never guessed the perpetrator(s).
Above all, an AMAZING NARRATION by J.F. Harding!!!! 😍😍
September 12, 2024
#3 reread - 12/09/2024- God how I love these eight men! Theo and Auggie are so special to me
Reread - 07/04/2024 it was even better on the reread ❤️
My heart is so full ❤️ that ending was everything ❤️ I love all this couples but there’s something about Auggie and Theo that pulls at my heart strings.
“I love you more than anyone in the entire world,” Theo heard himself saying. “You’re my best friend. You’re Lana’s dad. Her favorite dad.” A chuckle ran through the other men. “You’re so smart and talented and creative, and you’re the most loving person I’ve ever known. You brought me back to life.” He had to swallow. “You’ve been with me through—through everything.” […] “I can honestly say I wouldn’t be here without you. If I hadn’t met you.” He smiled, surprised that he still could, and heard himself add, “If you hadn’t been so goddamn persistent.” Another laugh rolled through their gathering. “I should have done this years ago because I want to spend my life with you. August Paul Lopez, will you please marry me?”
They deserve all the happiness 💕
Reread - 07/04/2024 it was even better on the reread ❤️
My heart is so full ❤️ that ending was everything ❤️ I love all this couples but there’s something about Auggie and Theo that pulls at my heart strings.
“I love you more than anyone in the entire world,” Theo heard himself saying. “You’re my best friend. You’re Lana’s dad. Her favorite dad.” A chuckle ran through the other men. “You’re so smart and talented and creative, and you’re the most loving person I’ve ever known. You brought me back to life.” He had to swallow. “You’ve been with me through—through everything.” […] “I can honestly say I wouldn’t be here without you. If I hadn’t met you.” He smiled, surprised that he still could, and heard himself add, “If you hadn’t been so goddamn persistent.” Another laugh rolled through their gathering. “I should have done this years ago because I want to spend my life with you. August Paul Lopez, will you please marry me?”
They deserve all the happiness 💕
October 29, 2025
Re-read October 2025: honestly, this is probably the weakest of the four -- the crime isn't as compelling, and Theo's issues and the way he (doesn't) deal with them at all for most of the book is super-frustrating. BUT it is saved by the growing bond between the men; and while I'm tempted to knock it down a star to reflect that books 3 and 4 are stronger, I simply can't rob Jem of his well-deserved reward for being the bestest conman that ever conmanned.
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5-starring for the card tricks-juggling scene alone.
(And the Emery-Theo scene, and -- no spoilers! -- the chicken restaurant scene, and that gasp-inducing ending. But really, the juggling scene. My boys!!)
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5-starring for the card tricks-juggling scene alone.
(And the Emery-Theo scene, and -- no spoilers! -- the chicken restaurant scene, and that gasp-inducing ending. But really, the juggling scene. My boys!!)
October 5, 2023
The Girl in the Wind is the second book in Gregory Ashe’s
Iron on Iron
series, and is absolutely not a standalone. All four books in this series spotlight a different Ashe couple and in this one, it’s the turn of Theo and Auggie from
The First Quarto
, so I’d say it’s essential to have read those books in order to better understand the characters and their relationship. Mr. Ashe’s books always pack an visceral punch, and his characters are always flawed, complex and have plenty of emotional baggage to deal with, but #Thuggie seem to have been to some of the darkest places of all his characters, with Theo, especially, impacted by a number of traumatic experiences that have spanned almost his entire life. So The Girl in the Wind is very different in tone to
The Face in the Water
– and I take my hat off to the author for the way he’s so skilfully changed gears here, bringing us a continuation of the main plotline featuring the same characters whilst at the same time making this very much a ‘Theo and Auggie book’.
The Girl in the Wind opens just a week after the events of book one. Jem and Tean have temporarily relocated to Wahredua – more specifically, the Hazard-Somerset house (see the short story, All the Feels) – and are continuing to see what they can find out about the animal trafficking operation they uncovered. Hazard and Somers are trying to work out what/who is operating out of the Cottomouth Club, while North and Shaw are looking for connections to St. Louis, so all three sets of couples are looking into different aspects of the case, leaving Theo and Auggie to get on with their normal, day-to-day lives. HAH! Of course, these two are just as good at attracting trouble as any of the others and find themselves drawn into the search for a missing girl – Shaniyah, a student at Theo’s school whom Auggie was helping with a social media project - who was, in turn, looking into the disappearance of another student, a teenaged boy named Leon who had recently become emancipated from his parents. The idea of vulnerable kids being put at risk hits all Theo’s pressure points, and while he’s reluctant to endanger Auggie by looking into the disappearances, he also can’t just stand back and do nothing, especially as there is no-one else interested in finding out what happened to them. (John-Henry can’t do much with just a hunch that something is wrong, no matter how much he might want to.) There isn’t a lot anyone can do, really, but then Theo and Auggie’s home is broken into and Auggie’s laptop is stolen – and Auggie starts connecting dots. The class ring they found at the end of the previous book, Shaniyah going to see John-Henry to ask about the missing boy and then not showing up for school, the fact that Auggie was working with Shaniyah… someone must think he has something on his laptop that could prove incriminating, and he has the feeling it’s all – somehow – connected to whatever is going on at the Cottonmouth Club. Terrified as Theo is at the prospect of getting mixed up in something that could get Auggie and Lana hurt (or worse), he can’t deny that Auggie might be on to something. Together, they decide to pay another visit to the club.
As I said at the beginning, this second Iron on Iron book is darker in tone than the first, principally due to the fact that Theo and Auggie are not in a good place here. In The First Quarto, we watched them navigate an intensely turbulent relationship laced with addiction and some serious trauma, and although, three years later, they’ve come a long way and things between them are much more stable, the kind of trauma and mental health issues Theo is living with don’t just magically disappear. I appreciate being shown that Theo really has made progress since we last saw him, but that recovery is a hard road to travel and it’s never a straight line from A to B. There was a palpable tension between Theo and Auggie in The Face in the Water that I initially put down to the fact that Theo’s massive protective streak regarding Auggie kicked in at the first thought of becoming involved in an investigation – but which I later realised was about more than that. I expected there to be a fair bit of relationship conflict and heartbreak in this story, given what we already know about this couple and what they’ve been through, and boy do we get it - and then some. Right from the beginning, when we see Theo and Auggie getting ready for date night and leaving Lana at Hazard and Somerset’s for the evening, it’s obvious that all is not well and that both men are falling back into unhealthy coping mechanisms, that they’re in a kind of holding pattern of avoidance, placation and apology and are treading on eggshells around each other. They both know it – but don’t know what to do about it, and it’s very clear that, for both of them, this new investigation is bringing with it a lot of memories of “the bad old days” – with Theo slowly falling apart as his self-loathing, fear and constant anxiety spill over into an almost uncontrollable anger he doesn’t know how to deal with, and Auggie falling back on his old people-pleasing ‘cardboard’ Auggie persona, the one who learned, at a young age, to manage a volatile person by agreeing with them and being what they want him to be.
A Gregory Ashe mystery is always going to be clever and intriguing with plenty of surprises and twists along the way, and as he did in the previous book, he does a fantastic job of balancing out the page time given to each character while keeping the main couple in the spotlight. He very wisely opts to have only a couple of scenes in which all eight of them appear – one of which is a badly-needed and wonderfully light-hearted distraction from everything going on around them in which various members of the group get to show off their ‘party pieces’ – and then carefully chooses other pairings or groupings for other key points in the story. I liked watching the growing bond between North and Auggie, seeing Jem slowly allowing himself to relax around everyone and proving to be someone you’d want to have your back, but near the end is an absolutely stunning scene when Emery effectively talks a severely spiralling Theo off a ledge. Not only is it an incredible piece of writing that shows just how deeply insightful Emery can be and how strongly he cares for his friends, it’s a masterclass in how to write two characters who have one conversation with words while having a completely different one without them.
But Theo and Auggie are the book’s beating heart, and they love each other so very much that it’s hard to see them struggling as a couple. The dichotomy that plagued them in their own series – namely Auggie’s desire to plan a future as opposed to Theo’s belief that he doesn’t have one – hasn’t quite gone away, and Theo’s ingrained trauma response is once again driving his actions. It takes them a while to figure things out but when they do it’s beautiful and sweet and tender; their character and relationship growth is powerful and emotional as they navigate complex dynamics and deep-seated vulnerabilities to find a way forward together that feels true to who they are. I loved seeing the adult Auggie has become; he’s more confident in himself and his abilities and in where he stands with Theo, and he’s less impulsive and more thoughtful, even as he’s the same loving, loyal, funny, kind Auggie he’s always been.
In The Face in the Water, readers got to see the ‘Missouri gang’ through the eyes of the ‘outsiders’, Jem and Tean, and burgeoning friendships between them; The Girl in the Wind consolidates and builds on those relationships, bringing Tean and – especially – Jem more into the friendship group, and showing something of the difficulty Somers has of being Chief of Police on one hand, and a friend on the other. It’s a completely gripping and unputdownable read and a terrific follow-up to the first book, and I am totally in awe of the way the author manages to keep each of his eight characters so much IN character throughout while peppering their interactions with so much warmth and humour and insight, and balancing the darker elements of the story with some beautiful moments of tenderness and affection that remind us just how deeply Theo and Auggie care for one another.
But of course, we can’t end on rainbows and roses, and just as something we’ve all been hoping for (finally) happens, news of an altogether more troubling and upsetting nature is delivered, which opens up a whole other can of worms. It’s a helluva hook into book three, but thankfully, there isn’t too long to wait before North and Shaw pick up the investigative baton in The Spoil of Beasts . I’ll be counting the days.
The Girl in the Wind opens just a week after the events of book one. Jem and Tean have temporarily relocated to Wahredua – more specifically, the Hazard-Somerset house (see the short story, All the Feels) – and are continuing to see what they can find out about the animal trafficking operation they uncovered. Hazard and Somers are trying to work out what/who is operating out of the Cottomouth Club, while North and Shaw are looking for connections to St. Louis, so all three sets of couples are looking into different aspects of the case, leaving Theo and Auggie to get on with their normal, day-to-day lives. HAH! Of course, these two are just as good at attracting trouble as any of the others and find themselves drawn into the search for a missing girl – Shaniyah, a student at Theo’s school whom Auggie was helping with a social media project - who was, in turn, looking into the disappearance of another student, a teenaged boy named Leon who had recently become emancipated from his parents. The idea of vulnerable kids being put at risk hits all Theo’s pressure points, and while he’s reluctant to endanger Auggie by looking into the disappearances, he also can’t just stand back and do nothing, especially as there is no-one else interested in finding out what happened to them. (John-Henry can’t do much with just a hunch that something is wrong, no matter how much he might want to.) There isn’t a lot anyone can do, really, but then Theo and Auggie’s home is broken into and Auggie’s laptop is stolen – and Auggie starts connecting dots. The class ring they found at the end of the previous book, Shaniyah going to see John-Henry to ask about the missing boy and then not showing up for school, the fact that Auggie was working with Shaniyah… someone must think he has something on his laptop that could prove incriminating, and he has the feeling it’s all – somehow – connected to whatever is going on at the Cottonmouth Club. Terrified as Theo is at the prospect of getting mixed up in something that could get Auggie and Lana hurt (or worse), he can’t deny that Auggie might be on to something. Together, they decide to pay another visit to the club.
As I said at the beginning, this second Iron on Iron book is darker in tone than the first, principally due to the fact that Theo and Auggie are not in a good place here. In The First Quarto, we watched them navigate an intensely turbulent relationship laced with addiction and some serious trauma, and although, three years later, they’ve come a long way and things between them are much more stable, the kind of trauma and mental health issues Theo is living with don’t just magically disappear. I appreciate being shown that Theo really has made progress since we last saw him, but that recovery is a hard road to travel and it’s never a straight line from A to B. There was a palpable tension between Theo and Auggie in The Face in the Water that I initially put down to the fact that Theo’s massive protective streak regarding Auggie kicked in at the first thought of becoming involved in an investigation – but which I later realised was about more than that. I expected there to be a fair bit of relationship conflict and heartbreak in this story, given what we already know about this couple and what they’ve been through, and boy do we get it - and then some. Right from the beginning, when we see Theo and Auggie getting ready for date night and leaving Lana at Hazard and Somerset’s for the evening, it’s obvious that all is not well and that both men are falling back into unhealthy coping mechanisms, that they’re in a kind of holding pattern of avoidance, placation and apology and are treading on eggshells around each other. They both know it – but don’t know what to do about it, and it’s very clear that, for both of them, this new investigation is bringing with it a lot of memories of “the bad old days” – with Theo slowly falling apart as his self-loathing, fear and constant anxiety spill over into an almost uncontrollable anger he doesn’t know how to deal with, and Auggie falling back on his old people-pleasing ‘cardboard’ Auggie persona, the one who learned, at a young age, to manage a volatile person by agreeing with them and being what they want him to be.
A Gregory Ashe mystery is always going to be clever and intriguing with plenty of surprises and twists along the way, and as he did in the previous book, he does a fantastic job of balancing out the page time given to each character while keeping the main couple in the spotlight. He very wisely opts to have only a couple of scenes in which all eight of them appear – one of which is a badly-needed and wonderfully light-hearted distraction from everything going on around them in which various members of the group get to show off their ‘party pieces’ – and then carefully chooses other pairings or groupings for other key points in the story. I liked watching the growing bond between North and Auggie, seeing Jem slowly allowing himself to relax around everyone and proving to be someone you’d want to have your back, but near the end is an absolutely stunning scene when Emery effectively talks a severely spiralling Theo off a ledge. Not only is it an incredible piece of writing that shows just how deeply insightful Emery can be and how strongly he cares for his friends, it’s a masterclass in how to write two characters who have one conversation with words while having a completely different one without them.
But Theo and Auggie are the book’s beating heart, and they love each other so very much that it’s hard to see them struggling as a couple. The dichotomy that plagued them in their own series – namely Auggie’s desire to plan a future as opposed to Theo’s belief that he doesn’t have one – hasn’t quite gone away, and Theo’s ingrained trauma response is once again driving his actions. It takes them a while to figure things out but when they do it’s beautiful and sweet and tender; their character and relationship growth is powerful and emotional as they navigate complex dynamics and deep-seated vulnerabilities to find a way forward together that feels true to who they are. I loved seeing the adult Auggie has become; he’s more confident in himself and his abilities and in where he stands with Theo, and he’s less impulsive and more thoughtful, even as he’s the same loving, loyal, funny, kind Auggie he’s always been.
In The Face in the Water, readers got to see the ‘Missouri gang’ through the eyes of the ‘outsiders’, Jem and Tean, and burgeoning friendships between them; The Girl in the Wind consolidates and builds on those relationships, bringing Tean and – especially – Jem more into the friendship group, and showing something of the difficulty Somers has of being Chief of Police on one hand, and a friend on the other. It’s a completely gripping and unputdownable read and a terrific follow-up to the first book, and I am totally in awe of the way the author manages to keep each of his eight characters so much IN character throughout while peppering their interactions with so much warmth and humour and insight, and balancing the darker elements of the story with some beautiful moments of tenderness and affection that remind us just how deeply Theo and Auggie care for one another.
But of course, we can’t end on rainbows and roses, and just as something we’ve all been hoping for (finally) happens, news of an altogether more troubling and upsetting nature is delivered, which opens up a whole other can of worms. It’s a helluva hook into book three, but thankfully, there isn’t too long to wait before North and Shaw pick up the investigative baton in The Spoil of Beasts . I’ll be counting the days.
October 6, 2023
10/6 update: Happy Release Day, y'all!!
This book. Omg. I screamed, I squeed, I teared up so many times.
It was everything I could have wanted and more. I have a real soft spot for these two. I loved The First Quarto and I loved their guest spots in Arrows in the Hand, so finding out they were getting a story in Iron on Iron made me so happy. And these boys, as they always do, broke my heart into tiny little bits that were then tidily swept up and reassembled anew.
Let's just start with growth. My how these two have grown. I knew things were going to hit the fan in this book. We saw tension between them in the short story in Off Duty 3; we saw tension between them in The Face in the Water... Something was going to have to break at some point and boy oh boy did it. But I loved how it was all written.
I honestly felt for Theo so much throughout this book even as I wanted to shake him until something rattled inside his brain. The visceral feeling of anxiety and all the ugly ways it can manifest was just...omg.
That isn't to say I didn't also feel for Auggie. I think one of the best things about GA's writing is that you often can't pick a side because...there are no sides. Both characters are often equally right and wrong, and I honestly adore that because it's so realistic.
I loved getting to see their relationship through their eyes progressed much further than TFQ. To see the things that have changed and the things that have stayed the same and the things that maybe need to be restarted from scratch.
Their dynamic with the other guys was also pretty fantastic. Particularly Auggie and North. Living for all the Nuggie content in this series. The two of them getting along so well should come as no surprise given Auggie's big brother is Fer. 😂
Also, Auggie and Lana together? Absolutely adorable. I loved every scene they were in together.
Honestly, I could go on and on about this book but I'll stop there. Let's just put it this way: run, do not walk, to preorder this book. It'll be out October 6th and it's just so good.
Oh, and if anyone wants to scream about it to me after it comes out and you finish? My DMs are open.
Highly recommend. Can't wait for The Spoil of Beasts out 12/4!
Thank you to the author for providing a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
This book. Omg. I screamed, I squeed, I teared up so many times.
It was everything I could have wanted and more. I have a real soft spot for these two. I loved The First Quarto and I loved their guest spots in Arrows in the Hand, so finding out they were getting a story in Iron on Iron made me so happy. And these boys, as they always do, broke my heart into tiny little bits that were then tidily swept up and reassembled anew.
Let's just start with growth. My how these two have grown. I knew things were going to hit the fan in this book. We saw tension between them in the short story in Off Duty 3; we saw tension between them in The Face in the Water... Something was going to have to break at some point and boy oh boy did it. But I loved how it was all written.
I honestly felt for Theo so much throughout this book even as I wanted to shake him until something rattled inside his brain. The visceral feeling of anxiety and all the ugly ways it can manifest was just...omg.
That isn't to say I didn't also feel for Auggie. I think one of the best things about GA's writing is that you often can't pick a side because...there are no sides. Both characters are often equally right and wrong, and I honestly adore that because it's so realistic.
I loved getting to see their relationship through their eyes progressed much further than TFQ. To see the things that have changed and the things that have stayed the same and the things that maybe need to be restarted from scratch.
Their dynamic with the other guys was also pretty fantastic. Particularly Auggie and North. Living for all the Nuggie content in this series. The two of them getting along so well should come as no surprise given Auggie's big brother is Fer. 😂
Also, Auggie and Lana together? Absolutely adorable. I loved every scene they were in together.
Honestly, I could go on and on about this book but I'll stop there. Let's just put it this way: run, do not walk, to preorder this book. It'll be out October 6th and it's just so good.
Oh, and if anyone wants to scream about it to me after it comes out and you finish? My DMs are open.
Highly recommend. Can't wait for The Spoil of Beasts out 12/4!
Thank you to the author for providing a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
September 26, 2023
This made me laugh out loud several times but also crushed my heart like nothing else eeeek 💔
This installment focuses on Auggie and Theo and was from their POVs. The mystery here is two missing students. Finding them is proving difficult AND dangerous. Lots of peril and mayhem find them all. Shaw, North, Jem , Tean, JH and Emery play significant parts in this story.
The interaction between all the characters is something awesome AND I’m so glad that Gregory decided to do this!
The end is especially eye opening and equal parts wonderful 🥰 and terrible EEEK 😦
Next book is Shaw and North and is that going to be a wild one!
This installment focuses on Auggie and Theo and was from their POVs. The mystery here is two missing students. Finding them is proving difficult AND dangerous. Lots of peril and mayhem find them all. Shaw, North, Jem , Tean, JH and Emery play significant parts in this story.
The interaction between all the characters is something awesome AND I’m so glad that Gregory decided to do this!
The end is especially eye opening and equal parts wonderful 🥰 and terrible EEEK 😦
Next book is Shaw and North and is that going to be a wild one!
March 23, 2024
Every one of my reviews of these books is going to be just incoherent keysmashing, isn't it? ALL MY BOYS HERE. Theo & Auggie, my second favorite GA pairing, sort of grown up now, still perpetuating many of their unhealthy patterns, but still just the best. I love them dealing with their shit, I love the ending, and most of all I love LOVE LOVE all the scenes of all the guys together. GA's comic timing is absolutely on point, I spend many subway rides grinning like a maniac and chuckling to myself, and ch. 18 was a tour de force of making me love them all even more. So much so I'm now going to backtrack and read all the Borealis books (why am I doing this to myself?) before I read the final 2 Iron on Iron books bc I've now even come around to North & Shaw, and been convinced by many readers on here and Discord that perhaps I need to delve into their whole fucked up thing. How quickly can I read all their books? I do have vacation next week...
October 25, 2023
Wowser, what an emotionally intense read that was. Some lovely parts [I loved the juggling and 'pick a card' games, oh and the proposal of course], but the nasty parts were truly nasty. Theo...well, I really did think he was having a breakdown or a heart attack [or possibly both, but SERIOUS anxiety issues people 😕] and poor Auggie...Some nutters are definitely out there trying to kill them, and the Cottonmouth Club seems to be at the centre of it all.
Anyhoo, onto North and Shaw's story next The Spoil of Beasts, and as ever, proud to be a part of Greg's Kickstarter project.
Anyhoo, onto North and Shaw's story next The Spoil of Beasts, and as ever, proud to be a part of Greg's Kickstarter project.
October 9, 2023
Wow !!
4,5/5
J'aimerais savoir comment fait Gregory Ashe pour me faire aimer ses personnages encore plus...
Dans ce deuxième tome de la série crossover « Iron on iron », nous retrouvons bien sûr tous les personnages. Nous le savions déjà en fin de premier tome, mais cette intrigue n'est pas terminée... Cette fois, la disparition d'une personne va conduire à celle d'une autre... "The Girl in the Wind" va se concentrer un peu sur le couple formé par Theo et Auggie, d'autant plus que Shaniyah, la jeune femme disparue, n'est autre qu'une précédente étudiante de Theo.
Ce deuxième tome était tout simplement génial ! Je ne sais pas si mes avis sont biaisés lorsque cela concerne certains personnages et romans de Gregory Ashe ou le fait que ce crossover fait intervenir trois de mes couples favoris. Il doit y avoir un peu de tout, honnêtement, mais franchement, la façon dont l'enquête est menée et comment intervient chacun de nos hommes est juste dingue !
L'auteur m'a baladée tout le long, et j'ai vraiment eu peur pour Theo et Auggie. Ces deux détectives en herbe ont l'habitude de se fourrer dans des situations périlleuses, "The Girl in the Wind" ne déroge pas à la règle, mais ici, on s'attaque directement à eux, à leur foyer, à leur noyau...
Je ne sais pas comment l'auteur a fait pour me faire aimer encore plus ses personnages, mais il l'a fait... Theo et Auggie ont surmonté beaucoup d'épreuves ensemble, leur couple était loin d'être évident, le moteur étant à la base Auggie. Et ici, on se rend compte que rien n'est acquis, car les démons de Theo sont toujours là... Tout comme Auggie, encore et toujours Auggie, prêt à tout pour protéger Theo et surtout son couple. J'aime comment l'auteur continue de les faire évoluer, on a droit encore à des passages bouleversants, si touchants... On voit le poids sur les épaules d'Auggie, on voit la détresse de Theo, la peur qui le terrasse, le paralyse. On voit alors les choses qui ont changé depuis "The first Quarto", celles qui n'ont pas changé, et d'autres choses qui ont besoin d'être soulevées... J'ai vibré encore une fois avec eux, et c'était juste magnifique. Oh et voir Auggie et Lana ensemble n'avait pas de prix, ils étaient tellement adorables tous les deux (c'est ce qui m'avait manqué dans leur propre série). Une jolie complicité s'est établie entre la petite fille et son papa adoptif !
Comme je le disais, l'intrigue est finement menée, comme d'habitude j'ai envie de dire, mais je ne sais pas ici, c'est comme si tout était décuplé par la présente de Theo, Auggie, Emery, John, Jem, Tean, sans oublier North et Shaw (souvent là au bon endroit au bon moment je dois dire ^^), et aussi tous les enfants. J'aime la façon qu'a eu l'auteur de les faire interagir, ils forment ensemble une belle équipe. Quel supplice de devoir poser le livre lorsque la fatigue s'installe le soir, une fois démarré, on ne veut plus le lâcher !
Il me tarde de poursuivre la suite de leurs aventures, car oui, l'intrigue n'est pas terminée...
**** Nouvelle "Add me Back"
Une nouvelle intermédiaire qui nous permet de retrouver nos personnages préférés. J'aime toujours ces nouvelles, ce sont presque des petits moments privilégiés avec eux, avec de l'émotion au rendez-vous mais surtout de l'humour ! Je me suis bien marrée avec mon petit Auggie ^^
4,5/5
J'aimerais savoir comment fait Gregory Ashe pour me faire aimer ses personnages encore plus...
Dans ce deuxième tome de la série crossover « Iron on iron », nous retrouvons bien sûr tous les personnages. Nous le savions déjà en fin de premier tome, mais cette intrigue n'est pas terminée... Cette fois, la disparition d'une personne va conduire à celle d'une autre... "The Girl in the Wind" va se concentrer un peu sur le couple formé par Theo et Auggie, d'autant plus que Shaniyah, la jeune femme disparue, n'est autre qu'une précédente étudiante de Theo.
Ce deuxième tome était tout simplement génial ! Je ne sais pas si mes avis sont biaisés lorsque cela concerne certains personnages et romans de Gregory Ashe ou le fait que ce crossover fait intervenir trois de mes couples favoris. Il doit y avoir un peu de tout, honnêtement, mais franchement, la façon dont l'enquête est menée et comment intervient chacun de nos hommes est juste dingue !
L'auteur m'a baladée tout le long, et j'ai vraiment eu peur pour Theo et Auggie. Ces deux détectives en herbe ont l'habitude de se fourrer dans des situations périlleuses, "The Girl in the Wind" ne déroge pas à la règle, mais ici, on s'attaque directement à eux, à leur foyer, à leur noyau...
Je ne sais pas comment l'auteur a fait pour me faire aimer encore plus ses personnages, mais il l'a fait... Theo et Auggie ont surmonté beaucoup d'épreuves ensemble, leur couple était loin d'être évident, le moteur étant à la base Auggie. Et ici, on se rend compte que rien n'est acquis, car les démons de Theo sont toujours là... Tout comme Auggie, encore et toujours Auggie, prêt à tout pour protéger Theo et surtout son couple. J'aime comment l'auteur continue de les faire évoluer, on a droit encore à des passages bouleversants, si touchants... On voit le poids sur les épaules d'Auggie, on voit la détresse de Theo, la peur qui le terrasse, le paralyse. On voit alors les choses qui ont changé depuis "The first Quarto", celles qui n'ont pas changé, et d'autres choses qui ont besoin d'être soulevées... J'ai vibré encore une fois avec eux, et c'était juste magnifique. Oh et voir Auggie et Lana ensemble n'avait pas de prix, ils étaient tellement adorables tous les deux (c'est ce qui m'avait manqué dans leur propre série). Une jolie complicité s'est établie entre la petite fille et son papa adoptif !
Comme je le disais, l'intrigue est finement menée, comme d'habitude j'ai envie de dire, mais je ne sais pas ici, c'est comme si tout était décuplé par la présente de Theo, Auggie, Emery, John, Jem, Tean, sans oublier North et Shaw (souvent là au bon endroit au bon moment je dois dire ^^), et aussi tous les enfants. J'aime la façon qu'a eu l'auteur de les faire interagir, ils forment ensemble une belle équipe. Quel supplice de devoir poser le livre lorsque la fatigue s'installe le soir, une fois démarré, on ne veut plus le lâcher !
Il me tarde de poursuivre la suite de leurs aventures, car oui, l'intrigue n'est pas terminée...
**** Nouvelle "Add me Back"
Une nouvelle intermédiaire qui nous permet de retrouver nos personnages préférés. J'aime toujours ces nouvelles, ce sont presque des petits moments privilégiés avec eux, avec de l'émotion au rendez-vous mais surtout de l'humour ! Je me suis bien marrée avec mon petit Auggie ^^
Read
June 27, 2024This is rated higher than I would normally rate an Auggie/ Theo purely based on North McKinney appearances. (I'm the weirdo who far prefers North& Shaw to these two!)
September 20, 2023
PHEWWWWWW AMAZING
Love love love love love!
It’s incredible feat to weave a complex mystery plot that connected back to the previous book in the series and made sense to have Theo and Auggie center stage investigating, especially on Emery and John-Henry’s home turf, but the incomparable Gregory Ashe has done it again!
Theo and Auggie’s relationship growth, the vulnerabilities and flaws, and the dynamics between them are addressed in an emotional and complex way that is true to them, and feels like a step forward in the years since their last book as main characters.
Truly some heartbreaking moments on each of their behalf, but I felt for both of them so much. Give yourself time to recover from this one, folks.
I cried and laughed and gasped and yelled at the characters, as is true with any Gregory Ashe novel.
As with the previous one, we got some delightful and insightful moments with various characters from our other couples pairing up to interact with Theo or Auggie, as well as some short small or whole group interactions.
I love seeing the different dynamics between all of them, and some unique ways they support and entertain and bother one another. North’s interactions in particular are a treat in this one.
Cannot recommend highly enough, but definitely read their previous series The First Quarto, starting with They Told Me I Was Everything, before you dig into this one. Our main characters have years of history!
If you are new to Gregory Ashe and don’t want to worry about previous series to keep track of, I’d recommend his recent series The Adventures of Holloway Holmes, which is a trilogy not connected to any other characters or trilogies. And the ebooks are on Hoopla if you are a library-ing sort.
*Note: this is an ARC so I technically received this for free in exchange for an honest review, but let’s be real here, I also backed the Kickstarter so I’ll be getting a paid copy with the rest of the Kickstarter folks in a few days. Got to support one of the best authors writing today!
Love love love love love!
It’s incredible feat to weave a complex mystery plot that connected back to the previous book in the series and made sense to have Theo and Auggie center stage investigating, especially on Emery and John-Henry’s home turf, but the incomparable Gregory Ashe has done it again!
Theo and Auggie’s relationship growth, the vulnerabilities and flaws, and the dynamics between them are addressed in an emotional and complex way that is true to them, and feels like a step forward in the years since their last book as main characters.
Truly some heartbreaking moments on each of their behalf, but I felt for both of them so much. Give yourself time to recover from this one, folks.
I cried and laughed and gasped and yelled at the characters, as is true with any Gregory Ashe novel.
As with the previous one, we got some delightful and insightful moments with various characters from our other couples pairing up to interact with Theo or Auggie, as well as some short small or whole group interactions.
I love seeing the different dynamics between all of them, and some unique ways they support and entertain and bother one another. North’s interactions in particular are a treat in this one.
Cannot recommend highly enough, but definitely read their previous series The First Quarto, starting with They Told Me I Was Everything, before you dig into this one. Our main characters have years of history!
If you are new to Gregory Ashe and don’t want to worry about previous series to keep track of, I’d recommend his recent series The Adventures of Holloway Holmes, which is a trilogy not connected to any other characters or trilogies. And the ebooks are on Hoopla if you are a library-ing sort.
*Note: this is an ARC so I technically received this for free in exchange for an honest review, but let’s be real here, I also backed the Kickstarter so I’ll be getting a paid copy with the rest of the Kickstarter folks in a few days. Got to support one of the best authors writing today!
August 11, 2024
This one centers Theo and Auggie, as these friends work their way through this part of the mystery. Fantastic characterization, of course. Chapter 12, in Theo's POV, the way Ashe layered a (pre-story) walk through a changed landscape with the current events was just... That's gonna stick with me.
On to #3
On to #3
April 15, 2024
4.5 stars
The angst is angsting with this one and Auggie and Theo are really starting to grow on me, especially Auggie. It’s fun to see the entire gang of Hazard and Somers, North and Shaw, as well as Gem and Tean. The mystery is pretty good too.
The angst is angsting with this one and Auggie and Theo are really starting to grow on me, especially Auggie. It’s fun to see the entire gang of Hazard and Somers, North and Shaw, as well as Gem and Tean. The mystery is pretty good too.
April 4, 2024
Juggling’s everything.
Balanced octet delight with
deep’ng mystery.
Balanced octet delight with
deep’ng mystery.
July 22, 2025
2023: 5.0
2025: 4.5
Average: 4.75
2025: 4.5
Average: 4.75
April 16, 2024
this was a rollercoaster of emotions 😭 (also, a cliffhanger of epic proportions if you’ve read the Hazard and Somerset books and know the secondary cast)
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