Herc's Mercs: The Collection Volume 1

Herc’s Mercs

by Ari McKay

Meet the men of Hercules Security. Brave, strong, and determined, they make the safety of their clients priority one. They face real danger without fear or hesitation. When the chips are down, Herc’s Mercs get the job done.Injury forced Cade “Hercules” Thornton to retire from field work, but there are jobs even he can’t refuse. Scientist Jude Morgan doesn’t want a bodyguard, but an ex who won’t take no for an answer helps Jude learn that Cade might be what he needs in The Bigger They Come.Alec “Red” Davis plays by the rules, but protecting actor Jon Baldwin presents temptations he finds hard to resist. When a vacation in the jungle goes horribly awry, will Alec hold fast to his principles or will he cross his professional Line in the Sand?Daryl “D-Day” Greer lives for the thrill of his job. When he rescues Dr. Emerson Winfield III from a group of terrorist kidnappers, their intense chemistry is almost his undoing. Emerson thinks they can make a relationship work, but it means Daryl must emerge from his latest mission Bloody but Unbowed.

Genres: M M Romance, Romance, Contemporary

429 pages, Kindle Edition

Published July 24, 2019

About the author

Ari McKay is the professional pseudonym for Arionrhod and McKay, who collaborate on original m/m fiction. They began writing together in 2004 and finished their first original full length novel in 2011. Recently, they’ve begun collaborating on designing and creating costumes to wear and compete in at Sci Fi conventions, and they share a love of yarn and cake.

Arionrhod is an avid costumer, knitter, and all-around craft fiend, as well as a professional systems engineer. Mother of two human children and two dachshunds who think they are human, she is a voracious reader with wildly eclectic tastes, devouring romance novels, military science fiction, horror stories and Shakespeare with equal glee. She is currently preparing for the zombie apocalypse.

McKay is an English teacher who has been writing for one reason or another most of her life. She also enjoys knitting, reading, cooking, and playing video games. She has been known to knit in public. Given she has the survival skills of a gnat, she’s relying on Arionrhod to help her survive the zombie apocalypse.

Reviews

[Penumbra · Rating 4 out of 5]

Herc’s Mercs: The Collection Volume 1 is a set of three stories. They are in order: The Bigger They Come, Line in the Sand, Bloody But Unbowed. Each story involves one of Herc’s Mercs and a civilian. The blurb does a good job of telling what the series is about so I won’t repeat it. The stories are told in duo pov, third person.

3.5 Stars



I normally don’t read book sets because it doesn’t allow me to give a long review of each story. I have to base the review on all books in the set, which turns out to be an averaging of stars. I’ll mention what all the books had in common, and then give a short review of each and my rating of that story.

The stories are all in third person as I mentioned. I prefer third person, but I wish there wasn’t so much monologue. Another issue I had was, Herc’s Mercs was supposed to be the most elite security company, but their men did some stupid things, which had me doubting they were any good. Lastly, a common issue I’ve had reading this writing duo’s books is there are many grammar mistakes that are easily spotted. I think more proofers are needed to help find the errors.

1) The Bigger They Come is about Cade aka ‘Herc’ Thornton who is the founder and boss of Herc’s Mercs. Because of an injury, he works the desk, but is offered an astronomical sum of money to protect a brilliant scientist, Jude Morgan. Jude doesn’t want the protection, and Cade and he don’t get off to a good start. Once they come to an agreement, things get more interesting especially adding in the mystery of the creepy ex of Jude’s. I’m not normally a big fan of ex-military/security stories, but Cade is a kind, thoughtful, protective man. He’s not the caveman type of Alpha, which I don’t like. Cade is the type of character who is trustworthy to the core and I really liked him as a character. I liked Jude more as the story went on.

The one issue I had with this story is the security team slip up. At one point, the little old lady neighbor tells Cade that a guy was watching the house from across the street. What I find astounding is that the security team is supposed to have cameras everywhere around the house and someone watching the screens at all times. Yet they didn’t bother to have a camera trained across the street and had to have the neighbor tell them about the watcher? To me that is sloppy work and speaks to me that the company is not as skilled as they say. I’m just a reader and I can tell that training a camera across the street is a logical step. For me this is a weak spot in the story and throws a monkey wrench into the authors’ emphasis that Herc’s Mercs is an elite security company.

Overall, I liked this story the best of the three. Cade was amazing and he and Luke made a good pair after they worked out their differences. The security issue annoyed me and dampened my belief that Herc’s Mercs were as good as they were made out to be. I’m going to give this story 4.5 stars despite the security issue, that still drives me nuts.


2) Line in the Sand is about Merc Alec “Red” Davis and actor Jon Baldwin. Red enraptures Jon as soon as they meet, but Red wants to remain professional and Jon respects that but really wishes that wasn’t the case. I really liked Jon. He was a bit of a Marty Stu type character, always cheerful, nice, and loved his fans. Normally I don’t like Marty Stu’s, but Jon was an exception. The character seemed realistic despite his bubbliness. Red is more practical and stoic. They’re actually a good fit.

Their story is how Red has to remind Jon of the dangers of dealing with the public. It’s difficult to keep Jon from the fans. The big danger comes when Red and Jon take a vacation and are swept up in a flash flood caused by an earthquake. Their survival depends on Red and his skills, and their tale of escaping the jungle is well done. Red is unable to keep his cool as he attempts to save Jon, because Jon is dying and Red has finally admitted to himself he loves Jon. Luckily, help is on the way.

Red losing his cool is another flaw with a Merc team member. The men are supposed to be cool as cucumbers no matter what the circumstances, but Red is not. This is another example of Herc’s Mercs not being an elite team and which reinforced my belief from book one. The other issue I had with this story was there was a lot more monologue in this book than in the first one.

One last thing, how can Red slash his way through the jungle for days with a knife? How huge is this knife and how does he keep it constantly sharp? Does he carry a whetstone with him too? Red keeps thinking he wished he had a machete so it's clear it's a thick jungle. I can't believe he's making any real progress with a knife that needs sharpening a lot.

I enjoyed the characters in this story especially Jon. I also liked the events that happened in the jungle. However, the extra amount of monologue has me dropping a full star to give this book, 4 Stars.


3) Bloody But Unbowed is about Daryl ‘D-Day’ Geer and Dr. Emerson Winfield III. Terrorists have kidnapped Emerson, and it’s D-Day’s job to drop in on a one-man mission and rescue him. This was my least favorite of the books. These guys bickered constantly. Always competing to get the last word in and top the other with their snarky remarks. Personal taste, but I don’t find arguing pleasant reading. It doesn’t stop the two men from getting off in the middle of the jungle while they’re fleeing and Emerson screams at the top of his lungs during orgasm. I rolled my eyes. D-Day is stealthily leading them to the rendezvous spot yet they’re taking time to have sex and screaming in the jungle? This is another example of unprofessional behavior on the part of a member of a supposedly elite security team. No way would I consider Herc’s Mercs the best of the best. Every story had security breaches or misconduct the team knew they shouldn’t engage in.

An incident occurs after D-Day goes out on a mission after the rescue and he returns to Emerson, only to have Emerson yell at him because D-Day didn’t tell him how badly he was hurt. Instead of worrying about D-Day, Emerson made it all about him and how insulted he was because D-Day didn’t trust him. Emerson was completely wrong. D-Day was exhausted, and wanted to see Emerson, go home to where it was safe. Instead, he was greeted by accusations, a lack of understanding, and made to feel guilty. Someone D-Day trusted didn’t have his back. Emerson never apologized and expected D-Day to apologize. I’m sorry, but I totally disagree with the way this happened in the story. This scene feels like a betrayal to D-Day and I don’t understand why the authors set it up for only him to be the bad guy. Emerson was wrong. If he wanted to discuss the situation, he should have waited until D-Day had a rest.

This is my least favorite of the three stories. The two characters bickered constantly, and the sex scene with screaming in the middle of the jungle, as they’re trying to escape, was unbelievable. I didn’t like that Emerson always seemed to have to be right. The way he treated D-Day on his return was atrocious. Emerson was an unpleasant character, but D-Day wasn’t too bad even though he was a bit rough edged. I give this book, 2.5 Stars.


In the end, Book 1 is my favorite and Book 3 is my least favorite. I’ll average the stories together and unfortunately, the last book’s rating pulls down the other two by quite a lot. That averages to about 3.5 stars. But since GR doesn’t allow half stars and I enjoyed The Bigger They Come quite a bit and I liked Red and Jon in the second story, I’ll raise my rating to 4 Stars despite disliking Book Three.



I received this bookset from the authors for an honest and unbiased opinion.

[Patricia Nelson · Rating 5 out of 5]

What can I say? These are fantastic, grab-you-by-the-feels, intriguing, intense, five alarm flaming hot, sometimes funny, sometimes sad, completely unexpected,and totally awesome twists on the same old stale, staid, and boring bodyguard/client storylines. I would DEFINITELY recommend getting the entire series ASAP!

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Bigger They Come ~ I can't tell a lie. The title of this book really jumped out at me and, thus, I had to read it. I mean, come on, 'The Bigger They Come'? There's absolutely no pun there, at all. Can you hear my sarcasm? *snort* This is the second book by Ari McKay that I've read and the description, along with the title, is really what drew me. I really like big, tough men and Cade just appealed to me. The thought of him paired up with a man who isn't intimidated by him, well, that was the cherry on top. So to speak.

I absolutely adored Kate Morgan from the moment she stepped on the page. She has a will of iron and a no-nonsense attitude that almost, but not quite, intimidated Cade. She is adamant that she wants the best. And, in her mind, the best is Cade, and she'll accept nothing less to guard her grandson, Jude.

Please find my full review at Rainbow Book Reviews

Line in the Sand ~ 'Line in the Sand' is the second book in Ari McKay's series, 'Herc's Mercs'. I need to apologize to the author because, frankly, I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed this world of strong security experts, dedicated to protecting their clients. If you know me at all, then you know I have an immense amount of respect for law enforcement, first responders, and military personnel. Plus, well, let's face it. The men in those professions are usually hotter than hot, and everyone needs that kind of brain candy.

Alec has been behind a desk for far too long, so it's a relief when his boss, Cade, asks him to take over bodyguard duties for an up-and-coming young actor. Jon knows that he owes everything to his fans, so he doesn't think twice about mixing and mingling with them, signing autographs, taking pictures, etc. Basically, a bodyguard’s worst nightmare.

Please find my full review at Rainbow Book Reviews

Bloody but Unbowed ~ ‘Bloody but Unbowed’ is the third installment in Ari McKay’s ‘Herc’s Mercs’ series. I was particularly excited about this book, because Daryl had caught my attention the instant he appeared on the pages, and I thought he’d give me a really good story. It’s nice to know my ability to judge hasn’t failed me. *grins*

Daryl is a redneck with a traumatic childhood. However, he’s also Cade’s very best extraction guy at Hercules Securities. Daryl plays up his southern drawl, slow speech, and enjoys having people think he’s not very smart. On the contrary, Daryl is very smart, although his older brother seems to feel Daryl is a waste of existence.

Please find my full review at Rainbow Book Reviews

[Coco.V]

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[Kendra Patterson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book 1: The Bigger They Come 5 Stars

Cade "Herc" Thornton is the owner of Hercules Security. He's approached by Kate Morgan to be a bodyguard to her grandson Jude. Herc doesn't do field work anymore and tries to get another on the case but Kate is formidable and wants only the best; which is Herc.

Dr Jude Morgan recently broke up with his abusive ex, who won't let Jude go. He doesn't want a bodyguard and makes that very clear at their first meeting.

In the beginning you see why Jude needs a bodyguard. After the emotional breakup he just wants to be left alone. When he meets Herc he's feeling confined and controlled and lashes out. Herc's normally professional behavior is thrown out the window and he lashes back. This is the beginning of the sparks. Jude and Herc slowly come to terms on how they can progress and work together. Jude's stalker starts out with obnoxious letters and calls begging for another chance and when that doesn't work he progresses to scary means of scaring Jude into taking him back. Herc is just as determined that he's going to protect Jude and keep him safe. Herc deciding to teach Jude some self defense has Jude feeling more self assured and secure; and just might save the day.

From the first chapter I was hooked. There's drama, conflict, excitement and love all balled up in one short story. It was a well written book with only a few grammar and punctuation errors and with one Jude becoming Jade. Only one complaint: I wished it was longer. Loved it and thoroughly recommend it to anyone who reads M/M romance.

Book 2: Line In The Sand 4 Stars

Jon Baldwin is an actor finishing a run on stage and getting ready to start his press junket for his new movie. He's a happy go lucky guy who likes to live life to the fullest. He doesn't seem to have much safety in his vocabulary.

Alec "Red" Davis is the Hercules Security Chief of Operations that is taking his first field assignment in a long while. He's basically protecting Jon from himself because Jon doesn't see that anyone would try to hurt him.

Jon and Alec are both attracted to each other but only Jon is open to exploring it. Alec is serious and kinda uptight for most of the book, which makes it hard to get comfortable with his character. Jon is very open and happy and I felt like he was very comfortable in himself. Jon's constant flirting with Alec is fun to read. You get to see him slowly wear Alec down and their falling in love. When a vacation to Costa Cordoba turns deadly they have to work together to get out alive. This is where the book really picks up and gets gripping. Alec shows his relaxed, loving side and his survival skills. The chemistry between the two is slow at first but by the end of the book it's definitely felt and believable.

Good continuing series. I liked this a lot and I'm looking forward to book 3. I recommend any M/M fans give this series a try.

Book 3: Bloody But Unbowed 5 Stars

Daryl "D-Day" Greer is the odd job specialist for Hercules Security. He's asked to infiltrate a foreign country and extract an American scientist that's been kidnapped by an extremist group. He doesn't like authority and likes working alone. He has a prickly relationship with his older brother Matthew due to Matthew bossing him around and making him feel less than.

Dr Emerson Winfield is in a foreign country working on an experiment that's time sensitive. His kidnapping has put a stop to his experiment and he's not happy about it at all. He's also snarky as hell.

Sparks are flying from the moment Daryl and Emerson meet. Both are alpha men and don't take any crap from anyone. Running from terrorists through the forest, snarking at each other and neither can deny the attraction. Emerson doesn't care that Daryl is an "uneducated redneck" and Daryl can't believe that Emerson would really be attracted to him. It doesn't take long at all for them to stop snarking long enough to get off together and decide that they want more. Slowly going from friends with benefits to lovers is smooth sailing until Daryl gets back from a top secret mission and Emerson realizes Daryl hasn't been completely honest. Then the sparks are flying in a completely bad way. Getting help to forgive and make up comes from a surprising person.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The chemistry between Daryl and Emerson is off the charts and the sex is hot. These two are complete opposites and couldn't be more perfect for each other. Only complaint: the rescue could've been more thoroughly played out. Otherwise excellent book. Definitely recommend this book.

ARC received for an honest review.