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Soft Launch
Not yet published
Expected 26 Jan 26It’s soft until it’s hard.
Sam Yarmark is going to be a detective. He’s done everything right—the trainings, the homework, the performance evaluations. He’s even got a mentor. So, when the chief of police tells him his lack of community involvement might cost him the promotion, there’s only one thing to get involved. Fast.
Gray Dulac is putting his life back together. After a self-destructive spiral, he’s finally found solid ground in the nonprofit he founded to help victims of intimate-partner violence. The only problem? Funding. And when a consultant tells Gray that his bad boy reputation is keeping donors away, there’s only one thing to fix his image. Fast.
When Sam shows up at Gray’s nonprofit, looking for an opportunity to pad his resume, Gray sees a way they can help each Gray will make sure Sam gets the community endorsements he needs if Sam pretends to be Gray’s loving—and stable—boyfriend.
What could possibly go wrong?
Sam Yarmark is going to be a detective. He’s done everything right—the trainings, the homework, the performance evaluations. He’s even got a mentor. So, when the chief of police tells him his lack of community involvement might cost him the promotion, there’s only one thing to get involved. Fast.
Gray Dulac is putting his life back together. After a self-destructive spiral, he’s finally found solid ground in the nonprofit he founded to help victims of intimate-partner violence. The only problem? Funding. And when a consultant tells Gray that his bad boy reputation is keeping donors away, there’s only one thing to fix his image. Fast.
When Sam shows up at Gray’s nonprofit, looking for an opportunity to pad his resume, Gray sees a way they can help each Gray will make sure Sam gets the community endorsements he needs if Sam pretends to be Gray’s loving—and stable—boyfriend.
What could possibly go wrong?
290 pages, Kindle Edition
Expected publication January 26, 2026
2 people are currently reading
63 people want to read
About the author
Gregory Ashe
135 books1,800 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 - 11 of 11 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
4.5 ⭐️
Sam's adorable, Dulac (Gray! we're on first-name terms now!) got his HEA, and we have never been more back, babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
After the agony that was Body Count, it was wonderful, and much-needed, to check in with a healthier, more functioning Gray. He isn't able to fully outrun his trauma-induced fear of emotional intimacy and his self-destructive craving of attention and validation -- in whatever form they may come -- but nor is he pretending that these patterns don't exist. Gray is driven to redeem himself, both in his own eyes and others'; but while he is determined to no longer be the hard-drinking, hard-sexing, extreme risk-taking shambles that we saw in Body Count, he is still recognizably himself -- if, thankfully, a bit less juvenile on the bro-joke front.
Sam, meanwhile, has come a long way from the bigoted, lazy rookie cop we first saw in (???? -- don't ask me to figure this out, it was forever ago), but he is still such a pure, honest soul. And I don't mean "pure" in the gross way, although his sexual history might incline one to think that. He really is just a lovely, determined, straightforward, brave, polite young man who takes things in his stride, and in that way is a perfect match for the more volatile, cynical Gray. Put that way, Sam seems like he should be boring as hell, but he's got just enough self-awareness and rough edges to keep him interesting. Gentleman Dom, indeed!
Whereas Body Count had a brutal murder mystery driving the suspense side (and tying together Gray's personal agony with his professional monomania), this was more akin to The Kiss Principle in being contemporary romance without a crime plot. Greg so rarely writes books where no one is in deadly peril, that I kept waiting for something horrible to happen. Here, though, the romance -- facilitated by a silly fake-dating scheme that both seem to acknowledge as the transparent excuse it is -- stands on its own, and it was nice to give these two men time to breathe and ease their way into companionship and love.
Half star off because I NEEDED that Gray-JH convo that must have happened off-page. The Gray-Emery and JH-Sam convos were both fantastic -- Emery, in particular, does his gruff-but-astute-and-sneakily-compassionate thing to great effect -- but there would have been some crazy shit flying around when Gray and JH were finally in the same space again, especially given their history. Greg giveth and Greg withholdeth!
I'm not much for LEO books these days, but Ashe's books are always an exception -- not least because he is openly critical of how law enforcement and policing is done, and this is reflected in the characters working these jobs or adjacent to them. But to new readers: don't start here, or even with Body Count. There is way too much backstory to get the full effect and satisfaction; I'm afraid more intense immersion is required (huzzah!).
Damn, I'm glad to be back in Hazardverse. Tean and Jem, here we come!!
ETA: One thing that was a bit hand-wavey is Gray's scars. These physical, and very visible, manifestations of the "incident" were a big part of Gray's story in Body Count -- they were an unavoidable reminder of the trauma (as if he needed one) every time Gray looked in the mirror, they created visceral responses of fear, disgust, and pity among strangers, and they very much dislocated Gray's sense of self, which has always been tied up in his attractiveness and desirability. In BC, there is reference made to some potential treatment or surgeries intended to, insofar as possible, fix or minimize the appearance of the facial scarring. In the intervening period between BC and Soft Launch, Gray has had those procedures, and it seems they were successful: the scars no longer feature in his POV (whereas in BC, there was constant reference made to them; he basically avoided all mirrors and dreaded meeting new people), while we only get a brief mention in Sam's POV that the scarring is barely noticeable anymore. Like I said, this felt a bit hand-wavey to me. (And here I should add that I don't have any knowledge or personal experience with treatments for scars, and have no idea what's actually possible in this area. I am way too squeamish to google it, so my assumption is that plastic surgery and other non-surgical treatments can do a lot of amazing stuff nowadays, even if "almost no longer visible" is probably a stretch.)
Anyway, I thought a bit about this throughout, in terms of my reaction to a character who struggles with a visible disfigurement having that disfigurement essentially fixed. Part of me was like, oh, how convenient! But another part of me was like, well, these scars are clearly a source of suffering for Gray, so fixing them as much as possible is obviously the right move, and is both physically and psychologically healing. I think I personally would have preferred a kind of middle ground -- that the scars are significantly less obvious than before, but still visible -- and it could be that this was actually was Greg was going for. The reason being that Gray's obsession over the scarring was so intertwined with all the other trauma he was carrying around in Body Count, that it was kind of weird, from the reader's perspective, to just remove that issue entirely. On the other hand, we see Gray really doing the work to manage his behavioral patterns and trauma reactions in Soft Launch, so it's not like removing the scarring removed all the trauma. Anyway, just an interesting point of reflection, not so much about Greg's decision to neutralize the scar issue, but in terms of my reaction to a character who is getting the treatment he needs to keep moving forward, where the treatment in question has to do with a visible disfigurement. Why is my readerly response to someone improving their quality of life through cosmetic procedures so knee-jerk suspicious? Why do I have this readerly impulse that having obvious scars would somehow make Gray more noble -- whereas in real life, if I had a friend or loved one (or myself) in a similar situation, I would of course encourage them to get any treatment that would improve their physical and mental well-being? Why am I so mean to my blorbos????
I got an ARC from the author, disclaimer disclaimer.
Sam's adorable, Dulac (Gray! we're on first-name terms now!) got his HEA, and we have never been more back, babyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy.
After the agony that was Body Count, it was wonderful, and much-needed, to check in with a healthier, more functioning Gray. He isn't able to fully outrun his trauma-induced fear of emotional intimacy and his self-destructive craving of attention and validation -- in whatever form they may come -- but nor is he pretending that these patterns don't exist. Gray is driven to redeem himself, both in his own eyes and others'; but while he is determined to no longer be the hard-drinking, hard-sexing, extreme risk-taking shambles that we saw in Body Count, he is still recognizably himself -- if, thankfully, a bit less juvenile on the bro-joke front.
Sam, meanwhile, has come a long way from the bigoted, lazy rookie cop we first saw in (???? -- don't ask me to figure this out, it was forever ago), but he is still such a pure, honest soul. And I don't mean "pure" in the gross way, although his sexual history might incline one to think that. He really is just a lovely, determined, straightforward, brave, polite young man who takes things in his stride, and in that way is a perfect match for the more volatile, cynical Gray. Put that way, Sam seems like he should be boring as hell, but he's got just enough self-awareness and rough edges to keep him interesting. Gentleman Dom, indeed!
Whereas Body Count had a brutal murder mystery driving the suspense side (and tying together Gray's personal agony with his professional monomania), this was more akin to The Kiss Principle in being contemporary romance without a crime plot. Greg so rarely writes books where no one is in deadly peril, that I kept waiting for something horrible to happen. Here, though, the romance -- facilitated by a silly fake-dating scheme that both seem to acknowledge as the transparent excuse it is -- stands on its own, and it was nice to give these two men time to breathe and ease their way into companionship and love.
Half star off because I NEEDED that Gray-JH convo that must have happened off-page. The Gray-Emery and JH-Sam convos were both fantastic -- Emery, in particular, does his gruff-but-astute-and-sneakily-compassionate thing to great effect -- but there would have been some crazy shit flying around when Gray and JH were finally in the same space again, especially given their history. Greg giveth and Greg withholdeth!
I'm not much for LEO books these days, but Ashe's books are always an exception -- not least because he is openly critical of how law enforcement and policing is done, and this is reflected in the characters working these jobs or adjacent to them. But to new readers: don't start here, or even with Body Count. There is way too much backstory to get the full effect and satisfaction; I'm afraid more intense immersion is required (huzzah!).
Damn, I'm glad to be back in Hazardverse. Tean and Jem, here we come!!
ETA: One thing that was a bit hand-wavey is Gray's scars. These physical, and very visible, manifestations of the "incident" were a big part of Gray's story in Body Count -- they were an unavoidable reminder of the trauma (as if he needed one) every time Gray looked in the mirror, they created visceral responses of fear, disgust, and pity among strangers, and they very much dislocated Gray's sense of self, which has always been tied up in his attractiveness and desirability. In BC, there is reference made to some potential treatment or surgeries intended to, insofar as possible, fix or minimize the appearance of the facial scarring. In the intervening period between BC and Soft Launch, Gray has had those procedures, and it seems they were successful: the scars no longer feature in his POV (whereas in BC, there was constant reference made to them; he basically avoided all mirrors and dreaded meeting new people), while we only get a brief mention in Sam's POV that the scarring is barely noticeable anymore. Like I said, this felt a bit hand-wavey to me. (And here I should add that I don't have any knowledge or personal experience with treatments for scars, and have no idea what's actually possible in this area. I am way too squeamish to google it, so my assumption is that plastic surgery and other non-surgical treatments can do a lot of amazing stuff nowadays, even if "almost no longer visible" is probably a stretch.)
Anyway, I thought a bit about this throughout, in terms of my reaction to a character who struggles with a visible disfigurement having that disfigurement essentially fixed. Part of me was like, oh, how convenient! But another part of me was like, well, these scars are clearly a source of suffering for Gray, so fixing them as much as possible is obviously the right move, and is both physically and psychologically healing. I think I personally would have preferred a kind of middle ground -- that the scars are significantly less obvious than before, but still visible -- and it could be that this was actually was Greg was going for. The reason being that Gray's obsession over the scarring was so intertwined with all the other trauma he was carrying around in Body Count, that it was kind of weird, from the reader's perspective, to just remove that issue entirely. On the other hand, we see Gray really doing the work to manage his behavioral patterns and trauma reactions in Soft Launch, so it's not like removing the scarring removed all the trauma. Anyway, just an interesting point of reflection, not so much about Greg's decision to neutralize the scar issue, but in terms of my reaction to a character who is getting the treatment he needs to keep moving forward, where the treatment in question has to do with a visible disfigurement. Why is my readerly response to someone improving their quality of life through cosmetic procedures so knee-jerk suspicious? Why do I have this readerly impulse that having obvious scars would somehow make Gray more noble -- whereas in real life, if I had a friend or loved one (or myself) in a similar situation, I would of course encourage them to get any treatment that would improve their physical and mental well-being? Why am I so mean to my blorbos????
I got an ARC from the author, disclaimer disclaimer.
Want to read
November 2, 2025Soft Launch by Gregory Ashe hard launching (heh) January 26, 2026!
Witness how much Sam Yarmark has grown since his first appearance in the original H&S series in his very own book! Ft. an unexpectedly perfect case of fake boyfriendom - another favorite trope of mine that GA has generously added to his repertoire, much to my complete joy.
Customary warning: blurb has spoilers!
Suggested reading order: after all three Hazard & Somerset arcs, The Evening Wolves, and Body Count
Can’t wait? Currently serializing on his patron site: https://patrons.gregoryashe.com/tag/s...
Witness how much Sam Yarmark has grown since his first appearance in the original H&S series in his very own book! Ft. an unexpectedly perfect case of fake boyfriendom - another favorite trope of mine that GA has generously added to his repertoire, much to my complete joy.
Customary warning: blurb has spoilers!
Suggested reading order: after all three Hazard & Somerset arcs, The Evening Wolves, and Body Count
Can’t wait? Currently serializing on his patron site: https://patrons.gregoryashe.com/tag/s...
November 3, 2025
Loved this story. Sam Yarmark is to be protected at all cost !!
January 11, 2026
I think this is my favorite of the GA Sidetracks novels. It is SUCH a delight. Sam is adorable, Gray is supremely himself, there’s great John-Henry content, & Gran is in the (admittedly very small) pantheon of fantastic parental figures in this universe. Just a delight from beginning to end, love love love.
October 21, 2025
started reading weekly in serial chapters per week.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Here we goooooooooooooooooo! Back to scenic Wahredua, with an update on the post-self-destructive-spiral Gray Dulac and the post-junior-douchebro Sam Yarmark, engaged in what is possibly the most facepalm-worthy romcom cliche of them all: fake dating.
FAKE DATING, people. I have a tag for "great premise, sloppy execution"; I should maybe add one for "terrible premise, terrific execution." Anyway, the deal is that Gray Dulac, no longer catting around, blackout drinking, or in imminent danger of being buried alive (but still vaping: ew), has started a nonprofit directed at intimate partner violence. He's operating on a shoestring, he's out of money, and he needs some rich donors. The biggest rich-donor fish is one of those respectable gays -- you know the ones: they would strongly prefer that the kinky/poly/trans queers, also the femmeboys and butch dykes, disappear completely or at least stay out of straight view. Historically speaking, Gray Dulac is ... not respectable.
You know what would make him respectable? A nice steady boyfriend, that's what.
Behold Sam Yarmark. He used to be a macho jerk, or at least a wannabe macho jerk, but a couple of years of mentoring by John-Henry Somerset (i.e., idolizing him) + a lot of diligent note-taking & reading of self-improvement books have turned him into, earnestly, a good guy. The Wahredua PD has an opening for a detective; Sam has been preparing to apply, but trouble is he's been preparing so hard that he has no life outside of work, and since after That Horrorshow involving ex-chief John-Henry, the PD has a lot of work to do to build community trust, any new detective will need to be an engaged member of the Wahredua community.
You know what an engaged member of the Wahredua community might do? He might volunteer with a new nonprofit helping victims of intimate partner violence. Oh, and also fake-date the director.
Sam’s pretty repressed, as in has had no conscious inkling that he’s interested in men, but Gray proves thoughtful, funny, sensitive, and irresistible. Gray’s just looking for help setting up a Greek Life outreach at Wroxhall College (or is it University now? I can’t remember), plus a magic cloak of respectability, but Sam is smart, diligent, sometimes bitchily adorable or adorably bitchy, and irresistible.
Hot sex and love ensue. So (this being A Gregory Ashe Special) does a great big mess, thankfully resolved with a lot of talk and forgiveness going around. John-Henry continues his trajectory of honest self-assessment, too: hooray growth even for the secondary characters! And hooray for Sam’s decidedly slutty Gran, who’s only about a decade older than I am and an inspiration. In her way.
Incidentally, there’s no murder. Amazing.
Thanks to GA for the ARC; this is my honest opinion, based on how much fun I had and how much I cried during the great big mess.
FAKE DATING, people. I have a tag for "great premise, sloppy execution"; I should maybe add one for "terrible premise, terrific execution." Anyway, the deal is that Gray Dulac, no longer catting around, blackout drinking, or in imminent danger of being buried alive (but still vaping: ew), has started a nonprofit directed at intimate partner violence. He's operating on a shoestring, he's out of money, and he needs some rich donors. The biggest rich-donor fish is one of those respectable gays -- you know the ones: they would strongly prefer that the kinky/poly/trans queers, also the femmeboys and butch dykes, disappear completely or at least stay out of straight view. Historically speaking, Gray Dulac is ... not respectable.
You know what would make him respectable? A nice steady boyfriend, that's what.
Behold Sam Yarmark. He used to be a macho jerk, or at least a wannabe macho jerk, but a couple of years of mentoring by John-Henry Somerset (i.e., idolizing him) + a lot of diligent note-taking & reading of self-improvement books have turned him into, earnestly, a good guy. The Wahredua PD has an opening for a detective; Sam has been preparing to apply, but trouble is he's been preparing so hard that he has no life outside of work, and since after That Horrorshow involving ex-chief John-Henry, the PD has a lot of work to do to build community trust, any new detective will need to be an engaged member of the Wahredua community.
You know what an engaged member of the Wahredua community might do? He might volunteer with a new nonprofit helping victims of intimate partner violence. Oh, and also fake-date the director.
Sam’s pretty repressed, as in has had no conscious inkling that he’s interested in men, but Gray proves thoughtful, funny, sensitive, and irresistible. Gray’s just looking for help setting up a Greek Life outreach at Wroxhall College (or is it University now? I can’t remember), plus a magic cloak of respectability, but Sam is smart, diligent, sometimes bitchily adorable or adorably bitchy, and irresistible.
Hot sex and love ensue. So (this being A Gregory Ashe Special) does a great big mess, thankfully resolved with a lot of talk and forgiveness going around. John-Henry continues his trajectory of honest self-assessment, too: hooray growth even for the secondary characters! And hooray for Sam’s decidedly slutty Gran, who’s only about a decade older than I am and an inspiration. In her way.
Incidentally, there’s no murder. Amazing.
Thanks to GA for the ARC; this is my honest opinion, based on how much fun I had and how much I cried during the great big mess.
Review of advance copy received from Author
So, full disclosure this is my 5th GA book in a month. I reread the Lamb and the Lion, I finished the Last Picks series, I read a collection of stories... You name one emotion, I can honestly say I've experienced it during these 5 books. Greg put me through the wringer so many times and yes he made me laugh too and go weak at the knees too but it seems unreal to me that someone so adept at hurting us (and yes we all love it and come back begging for more), someone so good at angst and pain would ALSO excel at soft and sweet. It seems unfair somehow?
Like The Kiss Principle (another book in the Sidetracks series and an absolute favourite of mine), Soft Launch is the best comfort read you can imagine. It's two people finding each other and creating a peaceful bubble for them in the mist of a crazy hurtful world. And there's never been two people who deserve it more.
You know I've been on a real roller-coaster when it comes to Gray Dulac. I'm sorry to say that I hated him when he first started working with John and it's a miracle of Greg's writing that after 2 seasons of H&S books, the Iron on Iron series and of course Body Count, I find myself being his number one supporter. Cheering for him, hoping for a well earned HEA.
This is what this book is about. Flawed characters who try so so so hard to be better, to be deserving of love, finally (finally) finding understanding, love and belonging. And to me, there's nothing more moving or more satisfying than that.
Add the most adorable MC, Sam Yamark (Sammy) who the sweetest sweetheart ever.
The best gran, I honest to God cackled so many times.
Some fantastic cameos from John (I'm not mad I'm just disappointed, John. I still love you though) and Emery (never ever change)
And you've got yourself another fantastic sweet romance by the king of angst. There's nothing the man can't do, I'm telling you.
Like The Kiss Principle (another book in the Sidetracks series and an absolute favourite of mine), Soft Launch is the best comfort read you can imagine. It's two people finding each other and creating a peaceful bubble for them in the mist of a crazy hurtful world. And there's never been two people who deserve it more.
You know I've been on a real roller-coaster when it comes to Gray Dulac. I'm sorry to say that I hated him when he first started working with John and it's a miracle of Greg's writing that after 2 seasons of H&S books, the Iron on Iron series and of course Body Count, I find myself being his number one supporter. Cheering for him, hoping for a well earned HEA.
This is what this book is about. Flawed characters who try so so so hard to be better, to be deserving of love, finally (finally) finding understanding, love and belonging. And to me, there's nothing more moving or more satisfying than that.
Add the most adorable MC, Sam Yamark (Sammy) who the sweetest sweetheart ever.
The best gran, I honest to God cackled so many times.
Some fantastic cameos from John (I'm not mad I'm just disappointed, John. I still love you though) and Emery (never ever change)
And you've got yourself another fantastic sweet romance by the king of angst. There's nothing the man can't do, I'm telling you.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Fans of Gregory Ashe know he’s a master of the emotional roller coaster. Sometimes the ride is brutal, as it was in this book’s precursor, Body Count. Sometimes—like in many of the Hazard and Somerset books—the emotional arc takes a back seat to the mystery. And sometimes, you get that rare and wonderful payoff: watching characters you love slowly realize that what they’ve been searching for has been right in front of them all along.
This book is that kind of story, and I loved it.
This book is that kind of story, and I loved it.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I enjoyed the serialized book as it was crafted and then enjoyed an ARC.
Ashe’s works are character-forward; he crafts protagonists (and antagonists) who are unique, fully formed, and complicated. Then he drops them into an adventure that forces them to develop, fail, succeed, and love.
Inspired to see how Ashe takes a secondary character from earlier work and gives them layers of richness to showcase powerful themes: friendship, trust, recovery and relapse, shame, social justice, and hope.
Wonderful read; hope we see more of these characters in future sidetracks.
Ashe’s works are character-forward; he crafts protagonists (and antagonists) who are unique, fully formed, and complicated. Then he drops them into an adventure that forces them to develop, fail, succeed, and love.
Inspired to see how Ashe takes a secondary character from earlier work and gives them layers of richness to showcase powerful themes: friendship, trust, recovery and relapse, shame, social justice, and hope.
Wonderful read; hope we see more of these characters in future sidetracks.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I don't know how Greg keeps producing amazing books in this universe, but I'm grateful he does! I'd been hoping to see more of Gray's recovery after Body Count, though I was surprised to get it this soon. And what a delightful surprise this story was. Gray is still very much a work in progress, of course (as all Greg's characters are), and then there's Sam Yarmark, finally becoming the hero of his own story. I loved this from beginning to end.
My thanks to the author for an advance copy of this book.
My thanks to the author for an advance copy of this book.
Review of advance copy received from Author
I've read this three times, my ultimate 2025 comfort read!
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews