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Iron and Blood #2
Core of Silence
Ghost doesn't feel. He processes.
Four years ago, the man he loved sold his classified work to a broker and got eleven people killed. Ghost buried his name, buried the memories, buried everything that made him human. Now he's Lakefront's hacker — brilliant, untouchable, and running on caffeine and code in a basement full of screens.
Then the crew pulls a DEA agent out of a Toledo warehouse, and the agent won't stop smiling.
Trip Valdez has been beaten, starved, and held captive for six weeks. He should be broken. Instead, he cracks jokes. He makes the crew laugh. He leaves food where Ghost will find it and sits in Ghost's space without crowding it and learns the difference between the silences that mean leave me alone and the silences that mean stay.
Ghost doesn't know what to do with a man who sees through walls he's spent four years building.
Trip doesn't know how to stop.
The network that caged Trip is run by the same man who destroyed Ghost. And he wants Ghost back.Core of Static is a dark MM romance about a man who turned himself into nothing and the man who finds something still there.
Heat 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (explicit)
Rescuer x Rescued Forced Proximity Sunshine x Grump He Falls First Touch-Starved Neurodivergent MC Found Family
HEA
Trigger
Human trafficking (on-page)Explicit MM sexual contentGraphic violence and on-page deathsPsychological abuse and manipulation by an intimate partnerCaptivity and psychological torture of a main characterNon-consensual touch (not sexual assault; sensory manipulation by an abuser)Autistic MC whose neurodivergent traits are weaponized by an abuserConsensual pain play during sexTouch aversion and sensory overloadPast betrayal resulting in eleven deaths (guilt as central thread)Survivor's guiltPhysical abuse and starvation of a captive characterOn-page killing of an abusive ex by the MC he abusedGun violenceDrug trafficking (referenced)Parental loss (referenced)Institutional failure / intelligence community complicityThis is not a story where a neurotypical character "fixes" a neurodivergent one. Both MCs are navigating their own damage. The romance develops through mutual learning, not rescue. Ghost's autism is not his wound. Everett's exploitation of it is.The pain and kink elements in the sex scenes are consensual, desired, and framed as part of how Ghost's body processes pleasure, not as a symptom of brokenness. The book draws an explicit line between pain that is chosen and pain that is weaponized.
Four years ago, the man he loved sold his classified work to a broker and got eleven people killed. Ghost buried his name, buried the memories, buried everything that made him human. Now he's Lakefront's hacker — brilliant, untouchable, and running on caffeine and code in a basement full of screens.
Then the crew pulls a DEA agent out of a Toledo warehouse, and the agent won't stop smiling.
Trip Valdez has been beaten, starved, and held captive for six weeks. He should be broken. Instead, he cracks jokes. He makes the crew laugh. He leaves food where Ghost will find it and sits in Ghost's space without crowding it and learns the difference between the silences that mean leave me alone and the silences that mean stay.
Ghost doesn't know what to do with a man who sees through walls he's spent four years building.
Trip doesn't know how to stop.
The network that caged Trip is run by the same man who destroyed Ghost. And he wants Ghost back.Core of Static is a dark MM romance about a man who turned himself into nothing and the man who finds something still there.
Heat 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 (explicit)
Rescuer x Rescued Forced Proximity Sunshine x Grump He Falls First Touch-Starved Neurodivergent MC Found Family
HEA
Trigger
Human trafficking (on-page)Explicit MM sexual contentGraphic violence and on-page deathsPsychological abuse and manipulation by an intimate partnerCaptivity and psychological torture of a main characterNon-consensual touch (not sexual assault; sensory manipulation by an abuser)Autistic MC whose neurodivergent traits are weaponized by an abuserConsensual pain play during sexTouch aversion and sensory overloadPast betrayal resulting in eleven deaths (guilt as central thread)Survivor's guiltPhysical abuse and starvation of a captive characterOn-page killing of an abusive ex by the MC he abusedGun violenceDrug trafficking (referenced)Parental loss (referenced)Institutional failure / intelligence community complicityThis is not a story where a neurotypical character "fixes" a neurodivergent one. Both MCs are navigating their own damage. The romance develops through mutual learning, not rescue. Ghost's autism is not his wound. Everett's exploitation of it is.The pain and kink elements in the sex scenes are consensual, desired, and framed as part of how Ghost's body processes pleasure, not as a symptom of brokenness. The book draws an explicit line between pain that is chosen and pain that is weaponized.
191 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 7, 2026
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 8, 2026
Story is good. However the multiple mistakes in the books were annoying. And I don't mean the grammar. They often switched up the names. Or described jack and then used nate's name or the other way around. This always pulled you out of the story...
Also when Trip didn't know the name of Mateo yet when ghost was kidnapped he suddenly referred to ghost as Mateo in his POV
Also when Trip didn't know the name of Mateo yet when ghost was kidnapped he suddenly referred to ghost as Mateo in his POV
June 17, 2026
Would have loved it more if....
This book had a lot of potential, but it really needed a stronger proofreader or editor. The biggest issue wasn't the grammar, it was the continuity. There were several points where it was unclear who was speaking, who was in the scene, or when events were taking place. At times, a scene felt like it was introducing something for the first time, even though a very similar event had already occurred a few chapters earlier. These inconsistencies made the story confusing and took away from the overall reading experience. With more thorough editing and honest, constructive feedback during the proofreading process, this could have been a much stronger book.
This book had a lot of potential, but it really needed a stronger proofreader or editor. The biggest issue wasn't the grammar, it was the continuity. There were several points where it was unclear who was speaking, who was in the scene, or when events were taking place. At times, a scene felt like it was introducing something for the first time, even though a very similar event had already occurred a few chapters earlier. These inconsistencies made the story confusing and took away from the overall reading experience. With more thorough editing and honest, constructive feedback during the proofreading process, this could have been a much stronger book.
June 6, 2026
The first and second stories in the series have potential, but the result is disappointing.
I am not a young book addict, and I have never read books written in such a sloppy manner. I honestly do not understand how anyone allows themselves to publish such careless books without even minimal editing.
There are many inaccuracies in the books. One example of an inaccuracy is that one of the covers does not match the character description in the book at all.
The group of men in the book is presented as an elite, highly professional fighting force. In reality, they are amateurs acting in a careless, unprofessional, dangerous, and illogical way—even to an untrained eye like mine…
I am not a young book addict, and I have never read books written in such a sloppy manner. I honestly do not understand how anyone allows themselves to publish such careless books without even minimal editing.
There are many inaccuracies in the books. One example of an inaccuracy is that one of the covers does not match the character description in the book at all.
The group of men in the book is presented as an elite, highly professional fighting force. In reality, they are amateurs acting in a careless, unprofessional, dangerous, and illogical way—even to an untrained eye like mine…
Did Not Finish
June 5, 2026Dnf @27% This book is....questionable..lots of issues with said...writing?
Did Not Finish
June 15, 2026AI 🗑️
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews