What do you think?
Rate this book
Hazardverse: Sidetracks #6
Soft Launch
It’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
Published January 26, 2026
24 people are currently reading
148 people want to read
About the author
Gregory Ashe
143 books1,814 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.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews
February 15, 2026
4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this. Sam is such a lovely, endearing and sweet character. Loved him. The way he refers to John-Henry and Emery as "Mr. Somerset" and "Mr. Hazard", not only when he talks to them but in his head too, is so adorable. And the way he looks up to JH.
Despite my initial impression, I loved Gray, too. I loved watching their relationship develop and deepen, and all the little things they did for each other. I feel they're exactly what the other person needed.
I know it's suggested to read all the related books and series before reading this one. I have only read the first four H&S books and Nico's book, but I was still able to understand, follow and enjoy this story. Also, poor Robin. 😅
I really enjoyed this. Sam is such a lovely, endearing and sweet character. Loved him. The way he refers to John-Henry and Emery as "Mr. Somerset" and "Mr. Hazard", not only when he talks to them but in his head too, is so adorable. And the way he looks up to JH.
Despite my initial impression, I loved Gray, too. I loved watching their relationship develop and deepen, and all the little things they did for each other. I feel they're exactly what the other person needed.
I know it's suggested to read all the related books and series before reading this one. I have only read the first four H&S books and Nico's book, but I was still able to understand, follow and enjoy this story. Also, poor Robin. 😅
Review of advance copy received from Author
Re-upping for release day. Happy book birthday, Gray and Sam! This book is a treat.
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.
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.
January 26, 2026
First thought on finishing this book? MORE PLEASE!!! Greg could write five books about Gray and Sam watching paint dry and I would eat them up and still ask for more. I LOVE LOVE LOVE these two together - I wanted this pairing as soon as Sam became JH's duckling, and I am so happy about it.
I have no clue how to even put my thoughts in order so I'm just going to list out everything I loved, because all honesty there isn't a single thing I would complain about except I wanted like 500 more pages.
1 - Sam playing Stardew Valley. My heart!!! I loved how we saw a glimpse of who Sam is in the free short from the newsletter, but honestly his thoughts on playing Stardew just made me love this man even more. He deserves the whole world and I hope we get more of him in future in his new role and more of him and Gray.
2 - Sam's wardrobe! I love how JH is like his style guru except Emery would lose his shit if John was buying the same things.
3 - Emery Hazard. I love this man so much and I always get so happy when he appears in a book. His tough love talk to Gray was epic, the way Sam considers Emery to be a better source of knowledge than Google was hilarious, and basically everything Emery says or does is amazing and I won't hear a bad word about him!
4 - Gray being the sweetest when it came to his and Sam's first times. This is the Gray I could always see behind his abrasive persona and I'm so fucking happy that he was able to finally just be who he is with Sam. It was great to finally see Gray in a healthy relationship honestly and I genuinely would read so many more books about him and Sam.
5 - Is there a book that goes by with JH where I don't get the urge to shake him at least once?! The things he said about Sam and Gray at the Purple Party made me want to full on slap some sense into him. I love John Henry Somerset, but sometimes I hate him too and that's one of the reasons Gregory Ashe is my favourite author because his characters are so real.
6 - How stinking cute Sam and Gray are together! I love how they take care of each other and give each other that safe space to just be who they are. The way they feed each other and spend every spare moment finding ways to spend time together just gave me the biggest heart eyes.
7 - Gray still fucks up. I honestly think it'd be too out of character and unrealistic if Gray had suddenly got all his ducks in a row in the year between the end of Body Count and the beginning of Soft Launch. He still has flaws, he still makes mistakes, he still acts rashly... but the difference is that he's aware of his destructive behaviour now and he (mostly) manages to pull himself back and look at why he's doing what he's doing.
8 - I love Gray Dulac as a character, I have pretty much right from the time he appeared in the Hazardverse, and that might be an unpopular opinion but I don't care. He's abrasive, he's crass, he's too much, he's a walking disaster, he tries to cause problems for others and divide people - great way to sell you on him 😂 But he has all these flaws and they make him feel like a real person. I think when you look at how far Gray has come it's really impressive and I honestly want to read more about him in future because he's still growing as a person.
9 - Where the hell do these guys find their assistants?! Nico was bad enough and it took me until basically the end of the Iron on Iron series to actually like him, but Robin was somehow even more annoying! I hated him 😂😂 Probably because I love Sam so much though...
10 - I want more Hazardverse! More Gray and Sam, more Emery and JH, more Auggie and Theo... I can't wait to finally get a book for Colt and Ash, I'm looking forward to Cart's redemption story. I just never want to leave the Hazardverse.
I have no clue how to even put my thoughts in order so I'm just going to list out everything I loved, because all honesty there isn't a single thing I would complain about except I wanted like 500 more pages.
1 - Sam playing Stardew Valley. My heart!!! I loved how we saw a glimpse of who Sam is in the free short from the newsletter, but honestly his thoughts on playing Stardew just made me love this man even more. He deserves the whole world and I hope we get more of him in future in his new role and more of him and Gray.
2 - Sam's wardrobe! I love how JH is like his style guru except Emery would lose his shit if John was buying the same things.
3 - Emery Hazard. I love this man so much and I always get so happy when he appears in a book. His tough love talk to Gray was epic, the way Sam considers Emery to be a better source of knowledge than Google was hilarious, and basically everything Emery says or does is amazing and I won't hear a bad word about him!
4 - Gray being the sweetest when it came to his and Sam's first times. This is the Gray I could always see behind his abrasive persona and I'm so fucking happy that he was able to finally just be who he is with Sam. It was great to finally see Gray in a healthy relationship honestly and I genuinely would read so many more books about him and Sam.
5 - Is there a book that goes by with JH where I don't get the urge to shake him at least once?! The things he said about Sam and Gray at the Purple Party made me want to full on slap some sense into him. I love John Henry Somerset, but sometimes I hate him too and that's one of the reasons Gregory Ashe is my favourite author because his characters are so real.
6 - How stinking cute Sam and Gray are together! I love how they take care of each other and give each other that safe space to just be who they are. The way they feed each other and spend every spare moment finding ways to spend time together just gave me the biggest heart eyes.
7 - Gray still fucks up. I honestly think it'd be too out of character and unrealistic if Gray had suddenly got all his ducks in a row in the year between the end of Body Count and the beginning of Soft Launch. He still has flaws, he still makes mistakes, he still acts rashly... but the difference is that he's aware of his destructive behaviour now and he (mostly) manages to pull himself back and look at why he's doing what he's doing.
8 - I love Gray Dulac as a character, I have pretty much right from the time he appeared in the Hazardverse, and that might be an unpopular opinion but I don't care. He's abrasive, he's crass, he's too much, he's a walking disaster, he tries to cause problems for others and divide people - great way to sell you on him 😂 But he has all these flaws and they make him feel like a real person. I think when you look at how far Gray has come it's really impressive and I honestly want to read more about him in future because he's still growing as a person.
9 - Where the hell do these guys find their assistants?! Nico was bad enough and it took me until basically the end of the Iron on Iron series to actually like him, but Robin was somehow even more annoying! I hated him 😂😂 Probably because I love Sam so much though...
10 - I want more Hazardverse! More Gray and Sam, more Emery and JH, more Auggie and Theo... I can't wait to finally get a book for Colt and Ash, I'm looking forward to Cart's redemption story. I just never want to leave the Hazardverse.
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...
January 28, 2026
4.5⭐️ This was a much-needed sweet reprieve from the darkness of Body Count. I loved the sweet, slow-burn and intimacy between Sam and Gray. A huge change of pace for poor Gray.
I will say I prefer when there’s a mystery/crime plot woven throughout, just because they always bring his books to the next level. But this was very enjoyable for a contemporary romance.
GA does use a few romance cliches in here but he doesn’t shy away from acknowledging it and making fun of himself.
I will say I prefer when there’s a mystery/crime plot woven throughout, just because they always bring his books to the next level. But this was very enjoyable for a contemporary romance.
GA does use a few romance cliches in here but he doesn’t shy away from acknowledging it and making fun of himself.
February 20, 2026
4,25 stars
I wasn’t going to read this book.
I simply could not stand Gray Dulac in so many previous books, my interest in him was rather minute. (Sorry Gray, but it is, what it is!)
But then it happened anyway, and (of course) I really enjoyed it!
I love it when Gregory Ashe writes contemporary romance without any of the usual angst fest and plethora of pain. Not that there isn’t tension and worry, but it’s all perfectly wonderful.
What a fabulous idea to pair ‘weather-beaten’ Gray with someone as cutely naïve and ‘good’ as Sam! Not that Sam is a push-over. Far from it, but his values are pure, his honesty is absolute and his feelings are genuine.
Both men have a lot of growing to do, with Sam learning to accept himself and stand by it, and Gray finding the courage to put his heart out there and believe it won’t get trampled on.
Both, the character and relationship development are really beautifully done, and I thoroughly enjoyed how this romance unfolds.
I also loved how different Sam and Gray’s voices sound. Maybe I’m totally off base here, but Sam sounds a little bit like he might be on the spectrum. The fact that he calls Emery and John Henry Mr.Hazard and Mr. Somerset is utterly adorable and made me grin from ear to ear.
It was also good to see to that Sam’s hero worship for John Henry is pushed slightly askew in favour of a friendship vibe towards the end.
Great book!
I wasn’t going to read this book.
I simply could not stand Gray Dulac in so many previous books, my interest in him was rather minute. (Sorry Gray, but it is, what it is!)
But then it happened anyway, and (of course) I really enjoyed it!
I love it when Gregory Ashe writes contemporary romance without any of the usual angst fest and plethora of pain. Not that there isn’t tension and worry, but it’s all perfectly wonderful.
What a fabulous idea to pair ‘weather-beaten’ Gray with someone as cutely naïve and ‘good’ as Sam! Not that Sam is a push-over. Far from it, but his values are pure, his honesty is absolute and his feelings are genuine.
Both men have a lot of growing to do, with Sam learning to accept himself and stand by it, and Gray finding the courage to put his heart out there and believe it won’t get trampled on.
Both, the character and relationship development are really beautifully done, and I thoroughly enjoyed how this romance unfolds.
I also loved how different Sam and Gray’s voices sound. Maybe I’m totally off base here, but Sam sounds a little bit like he might be on the spectrum. The fact that he calls Emery and John Henry Mr.Hazard and Mr. Somerset is utterly adorable and made me grin from ear to ear.
It was also good to see to that Sam’s hero worship for John Henry is pushed slightly askew in favour of a friendship vibe towards the end.
Great book!
November 3, 2025
Loved this story. Sam Yarmark is to be protected at all cost !!
January 28, 2026
4.50 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Finally some good f-cking food! Greg Ashe never disappoints me. Even when he has disappointed me, he never disappoints me. Another forray for him into the contemporary romance genre, and I have to say when he decides to go all the way in and do a full standalone series everyone should be scared. I’ve said it so many times but he’s soooo goooooood at characterization, nuance, tension, emotional vulnerability, and humor(!). Like he has never met a one-dimensional character in his life and thank god for that.
The story follows 24 yr old Sam, a patrol cop trying to better himself and make detective who agrees to a fake relationship with my f-cked up baby, 29 yr old detective Gray Dulac. This story takes place a year after Body Count and in that time Gray has been actively working on being a better version of himself. He’s still fighting demons, but it is no where near the agony he was in during Body Count. Gray needs money for his non-profit that supports victims and families of partner violence, but in order to do that he has to show he can do the #tradlife thing now that he’s #responsible. Sam’s life is limited and lonely, focused solely on work, so in order to show the Chief he has more going on he volunteers at WISP…enter in fake relationship.
The relationship development between them was honestly beautiful. I was smiling and kicking my feet reading the whole time. Don’t get me wrong, none of it is riddled with cheesy purple prose AT ALL, but it was just so honest you couldn’t help be endured by them. As with all Greg’s books, it’s heavily rooted in reality. Even the fake dating aspect felt handled in realism. What more can I say other than I haven’t been this happy for two fictional characters in a long time. Can I have 10 more books, please? 🫶🏼
Finally some good f-cking food! Greg Ashe never disappoints me. Even when he has disappointed me, he never disappoints me. Another forray for him into the contemporary romance genre, and I have to say when he decides to go all the way in and do a full standalone series everyone should be scared. I’ve said it so many times but he’s soooo goooooood at characterization, nuance, tension, emotional vulnerability, and humor(!). Like he has never met a one-dimensional character in his life and thank god for that.
The story follows 24 yr old Sam, a patrol cop trying to better himself and make detective who agrees to a fake relationship with my f-cked up baby, 29 yr old detective Gray Dulac. This story takes place a year after Body Count and in that time Gray has been actively working on being a better version of himself. He’s still fighting demons, but it is no where near the agony he was in during Body Count. Gray needs money for his non-profit that supports victims and families of partner violence, but in order to do that he has to show he can do the #tradlife thing now that he’s #responsible. Sam’s life is limited and lonely, focused solely on work, so in order to show the Chief he has more going on he volunteers at WISP…enter in fake relationship.
The relationship development between them was honestly beautiful. I was smiling and kicking my feet reading the whole time. Don’t get me wrong, none of it is riddled with cheesy purple prose AT ALL, but it was just so honest you couldn’t help be endured by them. As with all Greg’s books, it’s heavily rooted in reality. Even the fake dating aspect felt handled in realism. What more can I say other than I haven’t been this happy for two fictional characters in a long time. Can I have 10 more books, please? 🫶🏼
Read
February 9, 2026B+/4.5 stars
Like all the other books in Gregory Ashe’s Hazardverse: Sidetracks series, Soft Launch will make little sense to you if you haven’t read at least some of the Hazard and Somerset books and (probably) Body Count. The Sidetracks books have been previously published as serials via the author’s newsletter, and as well as featuring popular secondary characters from the Hazardverse , the stories are all a little different in style to those in the ‘main’ series ( Follows with Intent is romantic suspense, The Kiss Principle is contemporary romance, Body Count is a hard-hitting mystery with no romance at all). That said, the things that keep me coming back to Gregory Ashe’s books – the incredible and insightful character and relationship development, the clever plots, the humour – are all very much present and reporting for duty here.
Soft Launch is another contemporary romance, and you could’ve knocked me down with a feather when I saw who the pairing was because I honestly wouldn’t ever have considered putting Gray Dulac and Sam Yarmark together! – but the author makes it work spectacularly well. When Gray first appeared in the second Hazard and Somerset series, he divided reader opinion. He was an irreverent, reckless, unrepentant and unfiltered fuckboi – a pretty good detective actually, but one with a terrible attitude, a propensity for pushing buttons and boundaries, and an indiscriminate sexual appetite that, as we see in Body Count, gets him into trouble over and over again. It was always clear, however, that there was a lot more to him than met the eye; after Gray is injured in an explosion at the end of the third Hazard and Somerset series, his already balanced-on-a-knife-edge sense of self-worth is destroyed (he’s left with a fair amount of facial scarring and temporary loss of vision on one eye) and he falls into a self-destructive spiral of drinking, drugs and sex which takes him to rock bottom in Body Count (which is a really tough read, but well worth it for the fantastic exploration of his character, background and motivations). We do leave Gray in a better place at the end of that book; it’s clear he’s still got a lot of work to do on himself, and also that he seems now to be prepared to do it.
We first met Sam Yarmark, a rookie patrol officer in… I can’t remember which book, but he appears throughout the H&S series. When he first shows up as a rookie beat cop, he’s nineteen (?) and he’s a bit of a dick, but as the books progress it becomes clear that his dickishness is more about him trying to fit in than it is about him actually being bigoted or lazy and that he actually wants to do a good job. Meeting him again a few years on (he’s twenty-four here), he’s stopped trying to fit in by adopting negative traits and is more himself – sweet, determined, bright and straightforward – and is looking to progress in his career and take the detective’s exam.
Soft Launch begins around a year after the events of Body Count, and Gray has clearly got (some of) his shit together and has pulled himself up and out of the mire he was so sunk into. He’s more self-aware and honest about his failings, but while he’s determined to redeem himself and to eschew his former coping mechanisms, he’s also recognisably the same guy. He’s started an organisation to help victims of domestic violence – as a survivor, it’s something very close to his heart – but is struggling to attract the kind of funding he needs to be able to grow and develop the initiative so he can help more people.
Sam’s ambition to make detective hits a stumbling block when his boss, Chief Peterson, (and I really need to know what Somers has been doing after all the shit he went through in The Evening Wolves !) tells him that he’s looking for a detective who’s going to be able to go out and establish relationships within the local community, and that Sam’s lack of experience in that direction will almost certainly count against him. A chat with his mentor – Somers – confirms this, and leads to a suggestion that Sam should go out and build some of those relationships, prove to Peterson that he can do the work required.
Which is how Sam ends up volunteering at WISP (Wahredua Intimate/Sexual Partner Violence Initiative) – the non-profit Gray is struggling to get off the ground – and Gray, having been told his reputation is going to be a problem when it comes to securing funding, decides that what he needs is a squeaky-clean serious (fake)boyfriend, who can “convince these fuckwads that I’m a model of family values or whatever the fuck they want.”
The whole ‘I need to fake-date someone who will be good for my image’ is a staple of the fake-relationship trope, so it’s best not to squint too hard, just take it with a pinch of salt and go with the flow. The important thing is that these two men absolutely work as a couple – yes, they’re opposites in so many ways (Gray is mouthy and impulsive, Sam is polite and thoughtful) but they are absolutely what the other needs, providing a safe space for the other to just be who they really are. I loved the way they actively find ways to spend time together, how they take care of each other, how Gray is so tender and careful with Sam as Sam explores his sexuality; Gray still screws up and acts rashly, but now he’s completely aware of his self-destructive tendencies and (mostly) manages to pull himself back from the brink, examine his behaviour and adjust it accordingly. He’s not ‘fixed’ – but he’s doing the work and it shows; Sam is exactly who Gray needs to help him on the way to becoming the person he really wants to be and Gray becomes Sam’s biggest cheerleader.
Sam’s grandmother is a hoot - what might once have been termed ‘a feisty old broad’ – but she adores him and he her; Emery Hazard is his usual, dryly funny, snarky self (“And have you considered trying not to be a poorly functioning nymphomaniac?”) while also being a dispenser of wisdom, and John-Henry… oh, dear, much as I’m a Somers fangirl, he does put his foot in it quite badly here at one point, which really had me shaking my head at him. But then that’s who he is; he’s not perfect, he can screw up really badly, but he does at least recognise it and try to make it right.
Gregory Ashe once again proves that he can write pretty much whatever he turns his hand to; I appreciate his switching up the genres in the Hazardverse : Sidetracks books, and getting to revisit so many favourite characters. Soft Launch is an excellent contemporary romance (I’ve seen reviews complaining that it doesn’t have a plot; the romance IS the plot in a romance novel!); it’s funny and sexy with a lot of depth, the characters are superbly drawn and easy to root for, the relationship is superbly developed and it was a lot of fun to read. Recommended (with caveats as stated at the beginning of this review.)
Like all the other books in Gregory Ashe’s Hazardverse: Sidetracks series, Soft Launch will make little sense to you if you haven’t read at least some of the Hazard and Somerset books and (probably) Body Count. The Sidetracks books have been previously published as serials via the author’s newsletter, and as well as featuring popular secondary characters from the Hazardverse , the stories are all a little different in style to those in the ‘main’ series ( Follows with Intent is romantic suspense, The Kiss Principle is contemporary romance, Body Count is a hard-hitting mystery with no romance at all). That said, the things that keep me coming back to Gregory Ashe’s books – the incredible and insightful character and relationship development, the clever plots, the humour – are all very much present and reporting for duty here.
Soft Launch is another contemporary romance, and you could’ve knocked me down with a feather when I saw who the pairing was because I honestly wouldn’t ever have considered putting Gray Dulac and Sam Yarmark together! – but the author makes it work spectacularly well. When Gray first appeared in the second Hazard and Somerset series, he divided reader opinion. He was an irreverent, reckless, unrepentant and unfiltered fuckboi – a pretty good detective actually, but one with a terrible attitude, a propensity for pushing buttons and boundaries, and an indiscriminate sexual appetite that, as we see in Body Count, gets him into trouble over and over again. It was always clear, however, that there was a lot more to him than met the eye; after Gray is injured in an explosion at the end of the third Hazard and Somerset series, his already balanced-on-a-knife-edge sense of self-worth is destroyed (he’s left with a fair amount of facial scarring and temporary loss of vision on one eye) and he falls into a self-destructive spiral of drinking, drugs and sex which takes him to rock bottom in Body Count (which is a really tough read, but well worth it for the fantastic exploration of his character, background and motivations). We do leave Gray in a better place at the end of that book; it’s clear he’s still got a lot of work to do on himself, and also that he seems now to be prepared to do it.
We first met Sam Yarmark, a rookie patrol officer in… I can’t remember which book, but he appears throughout the H&S series. When he first shows up as a rookie beat cop, he’s nineteen (?) and he’s a bit of a dick, but as the books progress it becomes clear that his dickishness is more about him trying to fit in than it is about him actually being bigoted or lazy and that he actually wants to do a good job. Meeting him again a few years on (he’s twenty-four here), he’s stopped trying to fit in by adopting negative traits and is more himself – sweet, determined, bright and straightforward – and is looking to progress in his career and take the detective’s exam.
Soft Launch begins around a year after the events of Body Count, and Gray has clearly got (some of) his shit together and has pulled himself up and out of the mire he was so sunk into. He’s more self-aware and honest about his failings, but while he’s determined to redeem himself and to eschew his former coping mechanisms, he’s also recognisably the same guy. He’s started an organisation to help victims of domestic violence – as a survivor, it’s something very close to his heart – but is struggling to attract the kind of funding he needs to be able to grow and develop the initiative so he can help more people.
Sam’s ambition to make detective hits a stumbling block when his boss, Chief Peterson, (and I really need to know what Somers has been doing after all the shit he went through in The Evening Wolves !) tells him that he’s looking for a detective who’s going to be able to go out and establish relationships within the local community, and that Sam’s lack of experience in that direction will almost certainly count against him. A chat with his mentor – Somers – confirms this, and leads to a suggestion that Sam should go out and build some of those relationships, prove to Peterson that he can do the work required.
Which is how Sam ends up volunteering at WISP (Wahredua Intimate/Sexual Partner Violence Initiative) – the non-profit Gray is struggling to get off the ground – and Gray, having been told his reputation is going to be a problem when it comes to securing funding, decides that what he needs is a squeaky-clean serious (fake)boyfriend, who can “convince these fuckwads that I’m a model of family values or whatever the fuck they want.”
The whole ‘I need to fake-date someone who will be good for my image’ is a staple of the fake-relationship trope, so it’s best not to squint too hard, just take it with a pinch of salt and go with the flow. The important thing is that these two men absolutely work as a couple – yes, they’re opposites in so many ways (Gray is mouthy and impulsive, Sam is polite and thoughtful) but they are absolutely what the other needs, providing a safe space for the other to just be who they really are. I loved the way they actively find ways to spend time together, how they take care of each other, how Gray is so tender and careful with Sam as Sam explores his sexuality; Gray still screws up and acts rashly, but now he’s completely aware of his self-destructive tendencies and (mostly) manages to pull himself back from the brink, examine his behaviour and adjust it accordingly. He’s not ‘fixed’ – but he’s doing the work and it shows; Sam is exactly who Gray needs to help him on the way to becoming the person he really wants to be and Gray becomes Sam’s biggest cheerleader.
Sam’s grandmother is a hoot - what might once have been termed ‘a feisty old broad’ – but she adores him and he her; Emery Hazard is his usual, dryly funny, snarky self (“And have you considered trying not to be a poorly functioning nymphomaniac?”) while also being a dispenser of wisdom, and John-Henry… oh, dear, much as I’m a Somers fangirl, he does put his foot in it quite badly here at one point, which really had me shaking my head at him. But then that’s who he is; he’s not perfect, he can screw up really badly, but he does at least recognise it and try to make it right.
Gregory Ashe once again proves that he can write pretty much whatever he turns his hand to; I appreciate his switching up the genres in the Hazardverse : Sidetracks books, and getting to revisit so many favourite characters. Soft Launch is an excellent contemporary romance (I’ve seen reviews complaining that it doesn’t have a plot; the romance IS the plot in a romance novel!); it’s funny and sexy with a lot of depth, the characters are superbly drawn and easy to root for, the relationship is superbly developed and it was a lot of fun to read. Recommended (with caveats as stated at the beginning of this review.)
January 30, 2026
4.5⭐️ - I really enjoyed this so much. I’m not a fan of the fake dating trope but this one actually worked because there was fallout. It actually involved risk, hurt feelings and repercussions.
Grey was finally not annoying as shit!! Sam was such a puppy. I loved their dynamic and the progression of quasi-friends to lovers was well done. I even appreciated Sam’s bi realization.
GA did it again!! Oh and ol’ granny was actually a pretty funny lady!
Grey was finally not annoying as shit!! Sam was such a puppy. I loved their dynamic and the progression of quasi-friends to lovers was well done. I even appreciated Sam’s bi realization.
GA did it again!! Oh and ol’ granny was actually a pretty funny lady!
February 21, 2026
Gray somewhat redeemed himself for me, I’m still not a fan girl of his but him and Sam made a cute couple.
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.
February 5, 2026
I loved this! It’s so rare to get a book by Gregory Ashe that isn’t a mystery and so this was a total change from what I’m used to. Except it was also amazing like his mystery books are.
I love Gray even though he’s very messed up but he is trying very hard to change and become a version of himself that he likes. He’s started WISP, a non-profit for intimate partners violence, and he has put all of himself into this. He knows he has the best intentions but he also has a reputation in town and some may not take him or WISP seriously.
Sam is a total sweetheart. He works hard and has tried to become his best self to achieve his goals. Right now his goal is to become the newest detective but his chief tells him he needs to get himself involved in something more that studying. He needs to make the town see him as more than an officer. So he decides to volunteer at WISP. He knows Gray of course but he thinks WISP is important and he sees the hard work Gray is putting in. Gray puts him in charge of a fundraiser to hopefully get the recognition he needs for people to take himself and WISP seriously. Gray also suggests that him and Sam pretend to be boyfriends so it looks like he has a steady partner and it helps erase his past.
Gray and Sam have major chemistry. I loved how they became friends and how Sam saw Gray for more than his past. Sam agrees to pretend to be his boyfriend but it doesn’t take him long to notice things about Gray. Actually Sam has been noticing things about men for a long time and once he realizes this it opens up his world in a dramatic way.
I wasn’t happy with the conflict that occurred. I was disappointed in John-Henry. I know there needed to be a moment like this but I was hoping it would be different. That was my one complaint about this book.
I loved seeing more of Emery and Sam’s grandmother was so funny. It was nice to be In Wahredua without a mystery or case. Gray and Sam were so perfect for each other. I adored them together. Gray deserves a person like Sam and Sam was just so amazing.
Arc received for review
All thoughts and opinions are my own
I love Gray even though he’s very messed up but he is trying very hard to change and become a version of himself that he likes. He’s started WISP, a non-profit for intimate partners violence, and he has put all of himself into this. He knows he has the best intentions but he also has a reputation in town and some may not take him or WISP seriously.
Sam is a total sweetheart. He works hard and has tried to become his best self to achieve his goals. Right now his goal is to become the newest detective but his chief tells him he needs to get himself involved in something more that studying. He needs to make the town see him as more than an officer. So he decides to volunteer at WISP. He knows Gray of course but he thinks WISP is important and he sees the hard work Gray is putting in. Gray puts him in charge of a fundraiser to hopefully get the recognition he needs for people to take himself and WISP seriously. Gray also suggests that him and Sam pretend to be boyfriends so it looks like he has a steady partner and it helps erase his past.
Gray and Sam have major chemistry. I loved how they became friends and how Sam saw Gray for more than his past. Sam agrees to pretend to be his boyfriend but it doesn’t take him long to notice things about Gray. Actually Sam has been noticing things about men for a long time and once he realizes this it opens up his world in a dramatic way.
I wasn’t happy with the conflict that occurred. I was disappointed in John-Henry. I know there needed to be a moment like this but I was hoping it would be different. That was my one complaint about this book.
I loved seeing more of Emery and Sam’s grandmother was so funny. It was nice to be In Wahredua without a mystery or case. Gray and Sam were so perfect for each other. I adored them together. Gray deserves a person like Sam and Sam was just so amazing.
Arc received for review
All thoughts and opinions are my own
February 14, 2026
The contrast between this book and Body Count…. This one feels like the soothing balm we all needed. I was so happy to see Gray making good choices, the way he treated Sam, how loving and sweet they were together, always checking, being patient and respectful. I absolutely love Sam for Gray. After everything Gray went through, he finally gets the happiness and kindness he deserved, without losing that sassy part of himself. This is one of the things GA does so well, staying true to the characters’ voices.
Random thoughts:
Gran is the best. She made me laugh so much! I need Gran and Shaw in the same room.
Emery! Ugh, that man never disappoints. I love him to the moon and back.
Sam and Bobby would definitely be besties.
JH actions in this book sadden me and I’m honestly worried about him because you can tell how low and insecure he’s become. HS fourth arc is going to be a tough one for sure.
Random thoughts:
Gran is the best. She made me laugh so much! I need Gran and Shaw in the same room.
Emery! Ugh, that man never disappoints. I love him to the moon and back.
Sam and Bobby would definitely be besties.
JH actions in this book sadden me and I’m honestly worried about him because you can tell how low and insecure he’s become. HS fourth arc is going to be a tough one for sure.
January 28, 2026
started reading weekly in serial chapters per week.
Read
January 28, 2026Mostly, I liked this book. I was really looking forward to the release and enjoyed reading it! There are good, likeable things in it, as mentioned by other reviewers. However, there are some aspects that gave me pause. I'm not sure if those are drawbacks; probably more of a matter of opinion, but I still would like to talk about them:
- Not really about the story itself, but I have to say - the capitalization of the word "white" strikes me as a weird choice. Might not be my place to say, as english is not my first language and I don't live in the usa, but still. It's good that more people started capitalizing "Black", it's definitely the right and respectful thing to do. But as for the "white", the opinions seem to be divided. After looking at different arguments, I personally don't think it should be capitalized. Particularly, I've seen many Black people deliberately not capitalizing it, and calling the capitalization unnecessary and suspicious. I'm not saying that white supremacists (and some news outlets) are the only ones choosing to capitalize "white", but it's an association that's hard to shake off. What I'm trying to say is that "White" just looks off. Maybe there are some new opinions on this topic that I'm unaware of, who knows.
- This next one is a matter of preference - I think it's good that people can write whatever they want, however they want. But: it's kind of sad to me how both main characters in this book are handsome. Yarmark started out as a regular looking guy, but by the time he gets his own story, he has a glow up, and is now turning heads. Dulac has had glass blow up in his face, and for the span of a book ("Body Count") had a promising storyline of dealing with the loss of his good looks, but now his scars are practically healed and he's back to being a dude (and chick) magnet. I find it a little strange how Gregory Ashe's protagonists are always described as incredibly attractive and fit. Not ugly, not even average looking - always so handsome they get hit on everywhere they go. At most they have small imperfections in their appearance. It's depressing enough when film and tv producers go out of their way to cast the most conventionally attractive people they can find in leading roles, but it's even bleaker when it happens to book characters. Why make all of them handsome?.. Even the ones who start out as average or are injured aren't safe from it. Unrelated, but almost all men, who (across Hazardverse) were described as having thinning hair or balding, turned out to be some unsavory characters; I can only think of like one exception to that. Anyway, it's a matter of personal taste, but I would've liked this book more if Sam remained average looking even after his gym efforts and Gray remained somewhat visibly scarred. I think it would've been more interesting.
- I wish there was more of a plot to it (outside of romance). Somehow, the story feels incomplete. Especially all the stuff with instances of intimate violence. As is, it feels like it's just a backdrop for characters to be emotional about, like some brutal inevitability of life. Yes, their efforts to get WISP some more funding and attention are an important part of the story. Still, it feels like the book doesn't really say much about domestic violence, other than that it happens, it's bad and that some people want to stop it. I don't think that there are rules about what each story should or shouldn't be, but in this case not going deeper into it feels like a missed opportunity (in my opinion).
- I think slightly more time could've been devoted to Sam's family, it felt like some things went unsaid there, especially with regards to his father. Maybe that's on purpose, and I'm just missing something. Also, in the "Domestic Animals" it's mentioned that Yarmark has a little sister. Whatever happened to that?..
Still, I have read a lot of books by Gregory Ashe, and there is always something to like about them, so I will read the new ones in the future, even though some parts of them I will probably continue to find wanting. As for this book, it was nice to read Sam's story and see Gray's efforts continue.
- Not really about the story itself, but I have to say - the capitalization of the word "white" strikes me as a weird choice. Might not be my place to say, as english is not my first language and I don't live in the usa, but still. It's good that more people started capitalizing "Black", it's definitely the right and respectful thing to do. But as for the "white", the opinions seem to be divided. After looking at different arguments, I personally don't think it should be capitalized. Particularly, I've seen many Black people deliberately not capitalizing it, and calling the capitalization unnecessary and suspicious. I'm not saying that white supremacists (and some news outlets) are the only ones choosing to capitalize "white", but it's an association that's hard to shake off. What I'm trying to say is that "White" just looks off. Maybe there are some new opinions on this topic that I'm unaware of, who knows.
- This next one is a matter of preference - I think it's good that people can write whatever they want, however they want. But: it's kind of sad to me how both main characters in this book are handsome. Yarmark started out as a regular looking guy, but by the time he gets his own story, he has a glow up, and is now turning heads. Dulac has had glass blow up in his face, and for the span of a book ("Body Count") had a promising storyline of dealing with the loss of his good looks, but now his scars are practically healed and he's back to being a dude (and chick) magnet. I find it a little strange how Gregory Ashe's protagonists are always described as incredibly attractive and fit. Not ugly, not even average looking - always so handsome they get hit on everywhere they go. At most they have small imperfections in their appearance. It's depressing enough when film and tv producers go out of their way to cast the most conventionally attractive people they can find in leading roles, but it's even bleaker when it happens to book characters. Why make all of them handsome?.. Even the ones who start out as average or are injured aren't safe from it. Unrelated, but almost all men, who (across Hazardverse) were described as having thinning hair or balding, turned out to be some unsavory characters; I can only think of like one exception to that. Anyway, it's a matter of personal taste, but I would've liked this book more if Sam remained average looking even after his gym efforts and Gray remained somewhat visibly scarred. I think it would've been more interesting.
- I wish there was more of a plot to it (outside of romance). Somehow, the story feels incomplete. Especially all the stuff with instances of intimate violence. As is, it feels like it's just a backdrop for characters to be emotional about, like some brutal inevitability of life. Yes, their efforts to get WISP some more funding and attention are an important part of the story. Still, it feels like the book doesn't really say much about domestic violence, other than that it happens, it's bad and that some people want to stop it. I don't think that there are rules about what each story should or shouldn't be, but in this case not going deeper into it feels like a missed opportunity (in my opinion).
- I think slightly more time could've been devoted to Sam's family, it felt like some things went unsaid there, especially with regards to his father. Maybe that's on purpose, and I'm just missing something. Also, in the "Domestic Animals" it's mentioned that Yarmark has a little sister. Whatever happened to that?..
Still, I have read a lot of books by Gregory Ashe, and there is always something to like about them, so I will read the new ones in the future, even though some parts of them I will probably continue to find wanting. As for this book, it was nice to read Sam's story and see Gray's efforts continue.
January 27, 2026
Enjoyed reading this. Can't say I care much about either of these characters but was still curious to see what can turn out with this fake bf set up. Gotta say that even though technically the story does start out with this trope, the pretending part doesn't last long lol
I liked that we got to see John and Emery: and I can't help it, I liked their guest appearances even more than reading the story hahah I also feel like we need a new book about these two; Somers is definitely going through something hahah but then I always want a new book about them lol
Not 5 stars, mainly bc of personal preferences:
1) I really don't like double/dual/multiple first person POVs hahah especially in romance: it's like "I" is romancing the "I" if you know what mean. I don't mind a first person POV in general but when it's just ONE person; less confusing and more immersive imho
2) I liked that this story had some streamy parts (since it's a romance and all) and they were well written but outside of them I felt pretty disconnected from the couple. I don't know I just didn't buy them in love. idk. Felt like I was told they're in love rather than feeling it. And I know that this author can make me FEEL it okay? so yeah, higher standards and all hahahah
3) I kind of wish there was a more complex plotline, instead this was a cute story for the fans, that's what this felt like. and I guess it's okay, just not a 5 star read.
but all in all, this is well written, and good for those readers who can't stand secondary characters not having their HEA (not a problem for me hahaha I liked Gray being all emo and as for Sam - I literally couldn't care less lol).
I liked that we got to see John and Emery: and I can't help it, I liked their guest appearances even more than reading the story hahah I also feel like we need a new book about these two; Somers is definitely going through something hahah but then I always want a new book about them lol
Not 5 stars, mainly bc of personal preferences:
1) I really don't like double/dual/multiple first person POVs hahah especially in romance: it's like "I" is romancing the "I" if you know what mean. I don't mind a first person POV in general but when it's just ONE person; less confusing and more immersive imho
2) I liked that this story had some streamy parts (since it's a romance and all) and they were well written but outside of them I felt pretty disconnected from the couple. I don't know I just didn't buy them in love. idk. Felt like I was told they're in love rather than feeling it. And I know that this author can make me FEEL it okay? so yeah, higher standards and all hahahah
3) I kind of wish there was a more complex plotline, instead this was a cute story for the fans, that's what this felt like. and I guess it's okay, just not a 5 star read.
but all in all, this is well written, and good for those readers who can't stand secondary characters not having their HEA (not a problem for me hahaha I liked Gray being all emo and as for Sam - I literally couldn't care less lol).
January 28, 2026
My ideal outcome for Gray
It's the Hazardverse so of course main characters have been through the proverbial wringer, especially Gray Dulac in Body Count. So to see him getting an opportunity at a real HEA, and with the adorkable puppy glow up that is Sam Yarmark, is everything I wanted for these characters. Naturally, the course does not run smoothly - I'm giving giant side eye to another Wahredua mainstay here - but I love the perfectly imperfect sweetness of how Sam and Gray make things work for and with each other. And it just wouldn't be the same without a shout out for Emery Hazard's unique brand of tough love. He's still.my favourite. Brilliant installment in the Hazardverse and notable for not having a investigation as the backdrop to the relationship building. Love it!
It's the Hazardverse so of course main characters have been through the proverbial wringer, especially Gray Dulac in Body Count. So to see him getting an opportunity at a real HEA, and with the adorkable puppy glow up that is Sam Yarmark, is everything I wanted for these characters. Naturally, the course does not run smoothly - I'm giving giant side eye to another Wahredua mainstay here - but I love the perfectly imperfect sweetness of how Sam and Gray make things work for and with each other. And it just wouldn't be the same without a shout out for Emery Hazard's unique brand of tough love. He's still.my favourite. Brilliant installment in the Hazardverse and notable for not having a investigation as the backdrop to the relationship building. Love it!
January 30, 2026
Jesus’ fucking nuts—
Less crime = more swearing.
Fuck, the writing’s good.
Less crime = more swearing.
Fuck, the writing’s good.
January 26, 2026
Finally Gray gets to be happy
Snow day and a new Gregory Ashe book=Perfection! Love Sam’s story and honestly it was nice that Gray didn’t have something horrible happen to him in this one. Here’s hoping J-H can figure things out because my heart can’t handle a sad Somers much longer.
Snow day and a new Gregory Ashe book=Perfection! Love Sam’s story and honestly it was nice that Gray didn’t have something horrible happen to him in this one. Here’s hoping J-H can figure things out because my heart can’t handle a sad Somers much longer.
February 3, 2026
I had an interesting experience with this one. I basically binged the first 50%, though that was more due to Circumstances™ (being stuck at home while repairs were being made). I DNF’d at just past the 50% mark.
I liked Sam, and as always, Ashe did a fantastic job fleshing him out. I also like the progression of Dulac’s character that’s happened since the start of BODY COUNT. I also liked the chemistry between these two characters. As always, Ashe is a wonderful writer at the line level, and his interiority is some of the best I’ve ever read.
The reason that I DNF’d this story is similar to the reason I found it hard to continue the Theo/Auggie stories: the tension really starts to sag at about the halfway point. In this case, the external conflict—pretend to date so that Dulac can convince investors that he’s a stable, reliable person to invest in—was a bit thin, and we never really see this aspect of the story. Within the first half of the book, we don’t meet the investor in person, and this plot device remains extremely thin and barely-there. It’s obviously just a mechanism to force these two together, and it comes off super contrived. That would be fine—it’s a romance story, so I’m willing to forgive this to some degree—but there were no other external stakes explored. The main—and perhaps only—sources of tension were Sam’s uncertainty regarding his sexual identity and Dulac’s fear of getting romantically involved again. And so, once we got to that moment in which they admit their feelings….what’s left of the story? I didn’t feel invested in Dulac’s charity success because it stayed in the background of the story. And I’m not sure what the consequences of this will be for Sam, because those dominos were never really set up.
I’ll be honest: this felt like a gratuitous story written for superficial gratification and without the layers and layers of depth and conflicts and stakes that the original Hazard/Somerset novels held.
More specifically, the point at which I DNF’d the story was after they had sex for the first time, and that’s because the sex itself was emotionally devoid of anything unique to either character. You could have replaced either of their names with someone else’s and it would have read just fine. More specifically, Dulac’s interiority is so wholesome and supportive and without any of the hangups and trauma he has gathered through his life. He was terrified of ruining Sam’s life, and yet we never see even a glimpse of this leading up to or during their first sexual encounter. I didn’t recognize Dulac in this scene, which felt really weird considering how amazing Ashe typically is at character voice/interiority AND layering that interiority with painful/problematic/messy contradictions. One might make the argument that the lack of contradictory interiority in this scene was intentional and meant to show how good of a guy Dulac is, but that would absolutely cheapen Dulac’s character, and Ashe typically treats his characters with more respect than this.
One of the things I really like about Ashe’s Hazard/Somerset series (and his North/Shaw series as well) is how he doesn’t shy away from pushing into controversial opinions. For example, seeing Hazard use the word “faggot” to refer to himself so often in those early books really challenged my own issues with the word and it also challenged me to think more deeply about why the character used it so often. Ashe doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable topics.
HOWEVER, in this novel—and for the first time while reading a novel by Ashe—I genuinely felt uncomfortable by how Robin (and Dulac, to a lesser extent) act within the confines of their charity. When Sam goes to their office to find Dulac, he’s . This is a charity explicitly meant to help those who are victims of sexual violence. I cannot see any “counterargument” to having the receptionist of what should be a safe place doing such a thing. Like, could you imagine? What’s the counter-argument to this, the redeeming feature, the aspect that’s supposed to make the reader stop and think more deeply about a controversial issue? There is none. There is no possible reason for a person to do this. And I know, in-story, that Sam isn’t there for help, but Robin didn’t know that. As far as the reader knows, he .
And then, Dulac’s casual comments—while perfectly in-line with his character—were unacceptable in such a context as well. The fact that the chick he’s talking to doesn’t seem to mind isn’t an excuse. Slip-ups would be fine—and I’d expect them from Dulac—but the fact that he never once thinks, “Oh shit, I really shouldn’t say that here,” genuinely made me wonder if he established this charity for altruistic reasons, or if he’s doing it for purely selfish, self-aggrandizing reasons. I know the answer is the former, but it really doesn’t read that way when you look at how Dulac acts/thinks within the confines of the charity. In addition, we never really see Dulac doing charity work. He has that one breakdown after interacting with a victim off-screen, but that also felt gratuitous and didn’t really delve into the themes I’d expect in a story by Gregory Ashe.
In short, this novel felt like a short-cut, a way to speed-run a developing relationship without worrying about other external factors. I was going to give this 3 stars, but I did lower it to 2 because there was almost no effort put into making Dulac’s charity—or his dedication to it—feel authentic, and the in-story treatment of a potential victim was beyond careless; it really, really turned my stomach.
I liked Sam, and as always, Ashe did a fantastic job fleshing him out. I also like the progression of Dulac’s character that’s happened since the start of BODY COUNT. I also liked the chemistry between these two characters. As always, Ashe is a wonderful writer at the line level, and his interiority is some of the best I’ve ever read.
The reason that I DNF’d this story is similar to the reason I found it hard to continue the Theo/Auggie stories: the tension really starts to sag at about the halfway point. In this case, the external conflict—pretend to date so that Dulac can convince investors that he’s a stable, reliable person to invest in—was a bit thin, and we never really see this aspect of the story. Within the first half of the book, we don’t meet the investor in person, and this plot device remains extremely thin and barely-there. It’s obviously just a mechanism to force these two together, and it comes off super contrived. That would be fine—it’s a romance story, so I’m willing to forgive this to some degree—but there were no other external stakes explored. The main—and perhaps only—sources of tension were Sam’s uncertainty regarding his sexual identity and Dulac’s fear of getting romantically involved again. And so, once we got to that moment in which they admit their feelings….what’s left of the story? I didn’t feel invested in Dulac’s charity success because it stayed in the background of the story. And I’m not sure what the consequences of this will be for Sam, because those dominos were never really set up.
I’ll be honest: this felt like a gratuitous story written for superficial gratification and without the layers and layers of depth and conflicts and stakes that the original Hazard/Somerset novels held.
More specifically, the point at which I DNF’d the story was after they had sex for the first time, and that’s because the sex itself was emotionally devoid of anything unique to either character. You could have replaced either of their names with someone else’s and it would have read just fine. More specifically, Dulac’s interiority is so wholesome and supportive and without any of the hangups and trauma he has gathered through his life. He was terrified of ruining Sam’s life, and yet we never see even a glimpse of this leading up to or during their first sexual encounter. I didn’t recognize Dulac in this scene, which felt really weird considering how amazing Ashe typically is at character voice/interiority AND layering that interiority with painful/problematic/messy contradictions. One might make the argument that the lack of contradictory interiority in this scene was intentional and meant to show how good of a guy Dulac is, but that would absolutely cheapen Dulac’s character, and Ashe typically treats his characters with more respect than this.
One of the things I really like about Ashe’s Hazard/Somerset series (and his North/Shaw series as well) is how he doesn’t shy away from pushing into controversial opinions. For example, seeing Hazard use the word “faggot” to refer to himself so often in those early books really challenged my own issues with the word and it also challenged me to think more deeply about why the character used it so often. Ashe doesn’t shy away from uncomfortable topics.
HOWEVER, in this novel—and for the first time while reading a novel by Ashe—I genuinely felt uncomfortable by how Robin (and Dulac, to a lesser extent) act within the confines of their charity. When Sam goes to their office to find Dulac, he’s . This is a charity explicitly meant to help those who are victims of sexual violence. I cannot see any “counterargument” to having the receptionist of what should be a safe place doing such a thing. Like, could you imagine? What’s the counter-argument to this, the redeeming feature, the aspect that’s supposed to make the reader stop and think more deeply about a controversial issue? There is none. There is no possible reason for a person to do this. And I know, in-story, that Sam isn’t there for help, but Robin didn’t know that. As far as the reader knows, he .
And then, Dulac’s casual comments—while perfectly in-line with his character—were unacceptable in such a context as well. The fact that the chick he’s talking to doesn’t seem to mind isn’t an excuse. Slip-ups would be fine—and I’d expect them from Dulac—but the fact that he never once thinks, “Oh shit, I really shouldn’t say that here,” genuinely made me wonder if he established this charity for altruistic reasons, or if he’s doing it for purely selfish, self-aggrandizing reasons. I know the answer is the former, but it really doesn’t read that way when you look at how Dulac acts/thinks within the confines of the charity. In addition, we never really see Dulac doing charity work. He has that one breakdown after interacting with a victim off-screen, but that also felt gratuitous and didn’t really delve into the themes I’d expect in a story by Gregory Ashe.
In short, this novel felt like a short-cut, a way to speed-run a developing relationship without worrying about other external factors. I was going to give this 3 stars, but I did lower it to 2 because there was almost no effort put into making Dulac’s charity—or his dedication to it—feel authentic, and the in-story treatment of a potential victim was beyond careless; it really, really turned my stomach.
Review of advance copy received from Author
5⭐️
I read these first five chapters through Ashe's patron page immediately after Body Count knowing it would be the lightheartedness I needed. I love how endearing Sam is, and when I realized it was actually Gray's story too I couldn't have been more excited and put off reading the rest until the release date. It's a perfect follow up!
Sam is such a sweetheart and I loved his character development. He came to the force as just another asshole cop, but John-Henry set him on the right path. Then he went in the opposite direction, becoming a bit of a suck up to John-Henry but in the most genuine and endearing way. He's very honest and has a no nonsense personality, which is perfect for dealing with Gray and his shenanigans. Sam has struggled with his identity and who he wants to be, but slowly becomes more sure of himself. He eventually stands up for who he is and is very much a "take it or leave it" kinda guy. You'd never know it when you first read about him, but he's easily one of the best and kindest characters in this universe.
Now if you've made it this far in this Hazardverse you know Gray, and coming off of Body Count we probably know a little too much about him. He's gone through a lot of horrible things but now we are seeing his climb from rock bottom. He's going to therapy, changing his playboy ways, and creating healthier coping mechanisms but he's still the same Gray. He's trying so hard to be better and do better, starting with his nonprofit, WISP. It's not an easy path and he's still scared of slipping into old habits, but he's working for a better life for himself and that's all anyone could want for him after what he's been through.
Gray and Sam have known each other for a while, but they come together as friends (and more) at the perfect time. Sam needs something more to his life than work, and Gray is at the point where he needs to face his fear of being in another relationship. They are complete opposites, but exactly what the other needs. Gray needs the support and honesty of someone like Sam, a good person who's there for him but won't take his shit. Sam is a big softie too, and Gray is (surprisingly) so kind and considerate with his feelings. Sam truly brings out the best parts of Gray. The Sam and Gray of a few years ago wouldn't have worked, but they've both come so far to be better people and grow into who they are.
There aren't two characters who deserved a more perfect and easy romance (maybe Emery and John-Henry, but that ship has sailed). I loved everything about this. It was an easy read with characters who you're rooting for so, so hard, all set in my favorite fucked up universe. I'm so glad we got some Emery and John-Henry moments because they're such a big part of Gray and Sam's life. Especially seeing John-Henry and Sam becoming more like friends than mentor/mentee, that was so sweet. This book was nothing but happiness and I couldn't ask for more for Sam and Gray!
TL;DR: A perfect follow up for Body Count. Protect Sammy at all costs and thank the LORD that Gray has such a sweet man by his side now.
Read if you like:
• opposites attract
• small town
• fake dating
•••••••••••••••••••••
I read these first five chapters through Ashe's patron page immediately after Body Count knowing it would be the lightheartedness I needed. I love how endearing Sam is, and when I realized it was actually Gray's story too I couldn't have been more excited and put off reading the rest until the release date. It's a perfect follow up!
Sam is such a sweetheart and I loved his character development. He came to the force as just another asshole cop, but John-Henry set him on the right path. Then he went in the opposite direction, becoming a bit of a suck up to John-Henry but in the most genuine and endearing way. He's very honest and has a no nonsense personality, which is perfect for dealing with Gray and his shenanigans. Sam has struggled with his identity and who he wants to be, but slowly becomes more sure of himself. He eventually stands up for who he is and is very much a "take it or leave it" kinda guy. You'd never know it when you first read about him, but he's easily one of the best and kindest characters in this universe.
Now if you've made it this far in this Hazardverse you know Gray, and coming off of Body Count we probably know a little too much about him. He's gone through a lot of horrible things but now we are seeing his climb from rock bottom. He's going to therapy, changing his playboy ways, and creating healthier coping mechanisms but he's still the same Gray. He's trying so hard to be better and do better, starting with his nonprofit, WISP. It's not an easy path and he's still scared of slipping into old habits, but he's working for a better life for himself and that's all anyone could want for him after what he's been through.
Gray and Sam have known each other for a while, but they come together as friends (and more) at the perfect time. Sam needs something more to his life than work, and Gray is at the point where he needs to face his fear of being in another relationship. They are complete opposites, but exactly what the other needs. Gray needs the support and honesty of someone like Sam, a good person who's there for him but won't take his shit. Sam is a big softie too, and Gray is (surprisingly) so kind and considerate with his feelings. Sam truly brings out the best parts of Gray. The Sam and Gray of a few years ago wouldn't have worked, but they've both come so far to be better people and grow into who they are.
There aren't two characters who deserved a more perfect and easy romance (maybe Emery and John-Henry, but that ship has sailed). I loved everything about this. It was an easy read with characters who you're rooting for so, so hard, all set in my favorite fucked up universe. I'm so glad we got some Emery and John-Henry moments because they're such a big part of Gray and Sam's life. Especially seeing John-Henry and Sam becoming more like friends than mentor/mentee, that was so sweet. This book was nothing but happiness and I couldn't ask for more for Sam and Gray!
TL;DR: A perfect follow up for Body Count. Protect Sammy at all costs and thank the LORD that Gray has such a sweet man by his side now.
Read if you like:
• opposites attract
• small town
• fake dating
•••••••••••••••••••••
Review of advance copy received from Author
Well, I must say that this book surprised me. After 'Body Count', I didn't expect a pure romance book. And even less, one with Sam Yarmac as protagonist *laughs* To this point, Sam was almost always some kind of comic relief, following John-Henry around and taking notes of every bit of wisdom coming from his mouth :P
So having him paired with Dulac... well, it was a shock to the system, to say the least. And yet... it works beautifully. And by the time I finished the book, I absolutely adored him. He's so down-to-Earth, so matter-of-fact about life and what it throws at him. And his grandmom! She's a force of her own, but you can see where Sam's optimism comes from. Not his self-reflection, though *g*
The Dulac we see in this book is not the one from the previous book. He is truly doing his best to be a better person and to corral his worst coping mechanisms, replacing them with better ones. But you can see that what he did was changing addictions. No booze, no sex apps. Now, it's all work and his new project: a non-profit to help victims of intimate/sexual partner violence. Of course, those are better objectives, it's healthier, but... And he needs to satisfy the possible donors, mainly one who would like a 'family man' to be the head of WISP
And Sam... well, he's also a workaholic, and he's aiming to get the open detective position. And finds that his approach is not the one that Chief Peterson considers the best. Too much work, too little interaction with the community.
Cue to the excuse to fake-dating *laughs until she falls off the chair* Oh, boy, as Hazard says later:
And yes, they wouldn't have worked before, but now? Now they are just what the other one needs. Sam is stability for Dulac's turmoil, and Dulac brings playfulness to Sam's life. They complement each other.
And I loved the roles played by John-Henry and Hazzard. Well, John-Henry's apology, not when he was about to mess everything up for them :P
And another thing: when everything seemed to be lost, and Sam could have easily decided to get back to his life as if nothing had happened, he went to his family and came out to them as bisexual. This is the kind of person he is ♥
And Dulac's decision regarding his non-profit shows the kind of man he has become.
In short, this is a wonderful book, a lovely romance and a satisfactory closure to Dulac and Sam's arcs.
So having him paired with Dulac... well, it was a shock to the system, to say the least. And yet... it works beautifully. And by the time I finished the book, I absolutely adored him. He's so down-to-Earth, so matter-of-fact about life and what it throws at him. And his grandmom! She's a force of her own, but you can see where Sam's optimism comes from. Not his self-reflection, though *g*
The Dulac we see in this book is not the one from the previous book. He is truly doing his best to be a better person and to corral his worst coping mechanisms, replacing them with better ones. But you can see that what he did was changing addictions. No booze, no sex apps. Now, it's all work and his new project: a non-profit to help victims of intimate/sexual partner violence. Of course, those are better objectives, it's healthier, but... And he needs to satisfy the possible donors, mainly one who would like a 'family man' to be the head of WISP
And Sam... well, he's also a workaholic, and he's aiming to get the open detective position. And finds that his approach is not the one that Chief Peterson considers the best. Too much work, too little interaction with the community.
Cue to the excuse to fake-dating *laughs until she falls off the chair* Oh, boy, as Hazard says later:
“They always think it’s not going to get complicated. And then they develop feelings for each other. And the feelings turn out to be real. And that only makes their situation more complicated.” He waits, like I’m supposed to say something, and when I don’t, frustration bleeds into his words. “It’sliterally the plot of every fake dating story ever. She needs a fiancé to take to a family Christmas party. He needs a girlfriend because his brother’s getting married. He has to see his ex at a friend’s wedding, and he doesn’t want to go alone, so—”
And yes, they wouldn't have worked before, but now? Now they are just what the other one needs. Sam is stability for Dulac's turmoil, and Dulac brings playfulness to Sam's life. They complement each other.
And I loved the roles played by John-Henry and Hazzard. Well, John-Henry's apology, not when he was about to mess everything up for them :P
And another thing: when everything seemed to be lost, and Sam could have easily decided to get back to his life as if nothing had happened, he went to his family and came out to them as bisexual. This is the kind of person he is ♥
And Dulac's decision regarding his non-profit shows the kind of man he has become.
In short, this is a wonderful book, a lovely romance and a satisfactory closure to Dulac and Sam's arcs.
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.
January 27, 2026
Este era el ship que no sabía que necesitaba.
Es importante mencionar que no dormí por estar leyendo esto.
Después del libro de Dulac y lo devastador que fue todo, tenía mis dudas con este libro. Dicho más directo: no confiaba en Dulac jajaja mucho menos con el discípulo de Somers.
Pero todo salió tan bien. Sam y Dulac tienen un romance tan lindo, y sus personalidades se complementan muy bien. Es que… mirando todo en perspectiva, este es el camino que debía seguir Dulac.
Amé también el papel de Hazard y Somers en este libro, cada uno apoyando a Sam y Gray.
En concreto, si hay alguien feliz con todo esto es Hazard. Así Dulac y Sam molestan menos a su marido jajaja
Ahora, unos spoilers respecto al libro y también hazardverse (así que si no están al día con todo, ignoren lo de abajo). Repito: Spoilers gigantes.
Es importante mencionar que no dormí por estar leyendo esto.
Después del libro de Dulac y lo devastador que fue todo, tenía mis dudas con este libro. Dicho más directo: no confiaba en Dulac jajaja mucho menos con el discípulo de Somers.
Pero todo salió tan bien. Sam y Dulac tienen un romance tan lindo, y sus personalidades se complementan muy bien. Es que… mirando todo en perspectiva, este es el camino que debía seguir Dulac.
Amé también el papel de Hazard y Somers en este libro, cada uno apoyando a Sam y Gray.
En concreto, si hay alguien feliz con todo esto es Hazard. Así Dulac y Sam molestan menos a su marido jajaja
Ahora, unos spoilers respecto al libro y también hazardverse (así que si no están al día con todo, ignoren lo de abajo). Repito: Spoilers gigantes.
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's 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's 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.
February 5, 2026
**audiobook review**
This is book 6 of the Hazardverse Sidetrack series of stories. These are full stories of some of the other characters in the Hazardverse. I consider this a follow up story to Gray’s Body Count book. In this story Officer Sam Yarmark (remember the officer who worshiped John Henry) wants to be a detective. But he needs to pad his resume with some community service. Meanwhile, Gray Dulak has worked har this past year to clean up his image and mend his ways. One of his vehicles is to start a charity to help domestic violence victims. But he is having a hard time raising money because of his past; he is not seen as “stable.”
Sam & Gray come up with the “fake boyfriend” ruse to help both their goals. Only problem, Sam is not gay. Or is he? What ensues is a voyage of discovery for both men. Sam is a great influence on Gray, but Gray is still Gray and of course he messes it up. I really enjoyed these men together and the lengths they are willing to go from one another. Body Count was a very dark read. In contrast this is a feel good with a HEA. The cameos from Emery and John Henry were great too.
Greg Tremblay gives his regular masterful performance. Highly recommend for fans of the series.
This is book 6 of the Hazardverse Sidetrack series of stories. These are full stories of some of the other characters in the Hazardverse. I consider this a follow up story to Gray’s Body Count book. In this story Officer Sam Yarmark (remember the officer who worshiped John Henry) wants to be a detective. But he needs to pad his resume with some community service. Meanwhile, Gray Dulak has worked har this past year to clean up his image and mend his ways. One of his vehicles is to start a charity to help domestic violence victims. But he is having a hard time raising money because of his past; he is not seen as “stable.”
Sam & Gray come up with the “fake boyfriend” ruse to help both their goals. Only problem, Sam is not gay. Or is he? What ensues is a voyage of discovery for both men. Sam is a great influence on Gray, but Gray is still Gray and of course he messes it up. I really enjoyed these men together and the lengths they are willing to go from one another. Body Count was a very dark read. In contrast this is a feel good with a HEA. The cameos from Emery and John Henry were great too.
Greg Tremblay gives his regular masterful performance. Highly recommend for fans of the series.
Review of advance copy received from Author
If you would have told me that Gray Dulac (and Fer for that matter) would have just the softest, sweetest romances that Ashe wrote I would've laughed right in your face. And then I would have been eating crow because this was just so much sweetness!! Now, it is a Gray Dulac book, its not 100% fluff by any stretch of the imagination. He's still healing and growing, but (surprisingly), Sam "Sammy" Yarmark is the perfect partner to help him become closer to who he wants to be. And we've consistently seen Sammy try to figure out who he is and where he fits, and I loved him growing and moulding and just honestly becoming such a perfect partner for Gray. They're so soft and sweet together - I know, I know I keep repeating myself but it truly is just so lovely how these two love each other. There's some drama, and definitely we're going to get another H&S book soon because OOH BOY JH is going through it, but overall I was just left with the warm fuzzies and the secure feeling that these two were going to make it for the long haul.
March 1, 2026
If you’d have told me last year I’d be giving Gray Dulac’s book five stars I would have laughed. From the moment he made his debut in the Hazardverse I HATED him. Sam Yarmark however? I ADORED. Therefore I was reading this book no matter my feelings on Gray and I have to admit - I fucking loved every second of it.
Gray has grown so much as a character and I am a sucker for complex characters and he is the definition. I won’t say I completely love him but I did LOVE his budding romance with Sam. Their relationship was so so sweet and they fit together perfectly. Sam understands Gray- faults be dammed- and he loves him unconditionally. I think he was just what Gray needed. He’s such a sweet character and I LOVE his Gran.
Also the scene at the end with her leaving Emery speechless I CACKLED!
This book was so full of warmth and after everything Gray has been through throughout the series, it was actually nice to see.
Overall, I adore this book. It’s actually one of my favourite GA books. In fact I think it’s one of my new comfort reads.
Gray has grown so much as a character and I am a sucker for complex characters and he is the definition. I won’t say I completely love him but I did LOVE his budding romance with Sam. Their relationship was so so sweet and they fit together perfectly. Sam understands Gray- faults be dammed- and he loves him unconditionally. I think he was just what Gray needed. He’s such a sweet character and I LOVE his Gran.
Also the scene at the end with her leaving Emery speechless I CACKLED!
This book was so full of warmth and after everything Gray has been through throughout the series, it was actually nice to see.
Overall, I adore this book. It’s actually one of my favourite GA books. In fact I think it’s one of my new comfort reads.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 26, 2026
A Joyfully Jay review.
4.75 stars
In my review of the book Body Count by Gregory Ashe, I mentioned that if you are not familiar with the name Gray Dulac, that book would not be the best place to start and the same can be said again here. You definitely want to have read Body Count before reading Soft Launch, but Gray is so intwined in the Hazardverse, there would be a lot of backstory missing if you are not fully immersed in this world.
Ashe has played an incredibly long game with Gray. He masterfully took a character that was difficult to see on page, a character that others thought they knew, and made him into a multi-layered and alluring character that I still want to read more about. It’s been both shocking and astonishing what Ashe has done with the character of Gray Dulac.
Read Michelle's review in its entirety here.
4.75 stars
In my review of the book Body Count by Gregory Ashe, I mentioned that if you are not familiar with the name Gray Dulac, that book would not be the best place to start and the same can be said again here. You definitely want to have read Body Count before reading Soft Launch, but Gray is so intwined in the Hazardverse, there would be a lot of backstory missing if you are not fully immersed in this world.
Ashe has played an incredibly long game with Gray. He masterfully took a character that was difficult to see on page, a character that others thought they knew, and made him into a multi-layered and alluring character that I still want to read more about. It’s been both shocking and astonishing what Ashe has done with the character of Gray Dulac.
Read Michelle's review in its entirety here.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 52 reviews