Second Shot

by Ali Atwood

Dillon McQueen has magic in his blood, but it’s untrained and hard to control. His spells don’t always hit the mark. He wishes there was someone he could turn to for guidance, but he was abandoned as an infant, and his heritage remains a mystery. Out in the everyday world, Dillon has a law degree from Harvard, but opted to work independently, on the investigative side of things.

Enter Nick Montana, former Army Ranger, still connected to Special Forces, presently working freelance. Six years ago, Dillon had a mad crush on the enigmatic Montana, but his feelings went unfulfilled, as Montana is straight. Now the ranger steps back into Dillon’s life to ask him to team-up and rescue a young boy who was kidnapped by human traffickers.

When the two men go undercover at a male strip club, to play the roles of gay men, Dillon inadvertently casts a spell that has interesting repercussions.

71 pages, Kindle Edition

Published December 8, 2016

About the author

Ali Atwood is a multi-genre author of steamy romance. Her backlist series, The Huntress Chronicles, was a CAPA nominee in the Best Sci-Fi category.

Ali's latest offering, Accidental Love, is the first book in the Special Forces Veterans series. The books will feature an array of heroes from military and law enforcement backgrounds.

Aside from writing, Ali enjoys horseback riding and golf. She has an eclectic taste in music, a fondness for French champagne, and a slight obsession with social media.

Ali welcomes comments from readers. You can find her at these places:
aliatwood1@gmail.com
http://aliatwood.com
http://aliatwood.blogspot.com/
https://twitter.com/aliatwood1
http://www.facebook.com/ali.atwood.3

Reviews

[JustJen "Miss Conduct" · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 Stars Dillon is reunited with Nick when they join forces to rescue a missing young boy believed to be soon auctioned into the sex trade. Dillon keeps his feelings for Nick under wraps for the sake of the mission still believing Nick to be straight. The lines get a little blurry once they take on their undercover roles and are in the club.

I love a good undercover story, especially one where people are rescued from sex trafficking. Throw in some hot romance brewing in the process, and it’s a win win for me. This story is very fast, especially once the guys go undercover. Before they can complete the mission, Dillon ends up using his magic skills out of a bit of a jealous fit. Unfortunately, his skills are not all that fine tuned, and his spells tend to bleed out in other directions. In this case, it has turned Nick into a sexed up man focused on Dillon. Dillon tries to resist, knowing it is the magic and not Nick’s true intentions, but he quickly gives in.

Meanwhile, back on the case, they are able to track down the missing boy and aside from a quick altercation, the rescue goes through without a hitch. There were a few things keeping me from really enjoying this story. One, Dillon and his magic were really glossed over, and with the exception of the one spell, and proving his skills to Nick, the story never really delved much into it. The rescue happened really fast, and I wish things were a bit more drawn out. I also would have liked to have known some more about Dillon and Nick’s initial time together. We were told about it, but I had a difficult time seeing them working so closely together after all that time had passed and wished the overall relationship and characters were a bit more developed.

The biggest niggle I had though was that Ms. Atwood uses both first and last names, mostly for Nick. So, it was constantly going from Nick to Montana, back to Nick. I kept thinking there was a third person I was missing which kept pulling me out of the story.

But, all in all, this was quite enjoyable. Dillon was really cute, and I loved the dynamic between him and Nick. I would love to see a future story about their new partnership, perhaps another case now that their dynamic has changed. Either way, I will definitely be looking out for more from Ms. Atwood.

Received in exchange for a fair and honest review written for Love Bytes Reviews.

[Joyfully Jay · Rating 2 out of 5]

A Joyfully Jay review.

2.5 stars

For me, this book missed the mark. It all seemed rushed, and there were issues with plot and the magic aspect. Dillon doesn’t use any of his magic for like two-thirds of the book. It’s never even mentioned. Then, bam! He’s flinging curses and faster than The Flash. I had trouble suspending my disbelief that this meek man, who can’t even get his parents to believe he’s really gay, is suddenly crashing secret lairs. Also, what kind of investigator goes off exploring creepy warehouses supposedly owned by brutal immigrant gangsters who think nothing of deadly bloodsport and child sex trafficking, all without notifying their partner? Dead ones, that’s who.

I felt like so much of the plot was convenience-driven. Oh, no rooms at the inn? Share mine, sexy former teacher! Need to have immediate sex with me, but condoms and lube are lacking? No problem, fire away! While escaping we need dead-eye accuracy to shoot the bad guys? Well, handy that I’m a closet marksman! To put it mildly, I struggled with the plot.

Read Veronica’s review in its entirety here.