Status Updates From Trapped in Your Storm (The ...

3.5 stars

Surprised by how much I liked this one. Nolan didn’t really impress me much in the earlier books, but he came into his own more here. I also wasn’t sure how the friends to lovers trope would work here (there was no hint of it earlier in the series) but it worked surprisingly well, maintaining my investment pretty much throughout.

Honestly did not think this one would end with a wedding scene, but sure.

“I want to go through life knowing Elliot Nicholson is one hundred percent mine. So will you marry me, Elliot?”
Elliot laughed. “You’re serious?”
“Don’t make me get down on one knee. This suit is really fucking tight.”
“Shit.” Elliot smiled. “I will. Fuck yes. I’ll marry you.”
“Good.” Nolan grabbed his face with gloved hands and kissed him.

“You better. You promised, remember? You’re gonna buy me a house on the mountain and I’ll let you romance me and I don’t care if we fight every fucking day. Just come back. You promised.”
“I want a promise from you now.”
“Anything. What is it?”
“If I pull this off and make it back in one piece, you have to marry me.”
Elliot blinked, his mouth falling open.

“I’ll do it, Nolan. If you don’t come back I’ll smash all your coffee cups and dump shit out all over the kitchen floor. And I’ll cook and eat your cat. With messy onions in all the wrong sizes.”
“I will come back.”
“You better. You promised, remember? You’re gonna buy me a house on the mountain and I’ll let you romance me and I don’t care if we fight every fucking day. Just come back.

“If you don’t I’m gonna break into your house and mess up all your perfectly aligned toiletries.” Elliot shivered, his breath hitching. He tried to smile but his eyes were tight with anguish, and Nolan could see the emotion behind his struggle to be strong. “I’ll do it, Nolan. If you don’t come back I’ll smash all your coffee cups and dump shit out all over the kitchen floor.

“Come here!” he shouted. “Right now.”
“Don’t make me cry,” Elliot said as he took Nolan’s hand, stepping in close. “I have a reputation to uphold. JT and Christian can’t know I’m not really the cool one.”
Nolan tugged him closer and spoke in his ear.
“I’ll make it back. Okay?”
“If you don’t I’m gonna break into your house and mess up all your perfectly aligned toiletries.”

Nolan hadn’t just filled the dark places with light. Elliot wasn’t simply whole now, he was overflowing. The love he felt pulsed through him and spilled over him and sprayed out in blissful rays that lit up his entire world.

If Elliot were to lose Nolan now? There would be nothing left.

Crossing the friendship line with Nolan had filled in all the blanks in Elliot’s life. Provided the missing pieces he’d always known were there, the emptiness that creeped up on him even as he denied its existence. Nolan hadn’t just filled the dark places with light. Elliot wasn’t simply whole now, he was overflowing. The love he felt pulsed through him and spilled over him and sprayed out in blissful rays...

“Any time. Fond of you. Ellytot.”
“Thank you. That means a lot.”
“Not like Chrischris, fond.” Baz straightened and took a small step back. “Not like that. No to worry.”
“I get the difference, believe me.” Baz smiled. “Okay. No you to think Baz just want to kiss all humans.”

😂😂😂

“Some questions rude in all races, Ellytot.” Elliot laughed again. “Fair enough. You know something, Baz? Talking to you calms me down.”
“Not calm?”
“I’m scared.”
Baz touched Elliot’s shoulder. “Frighten?”
“Yeah. Real bad.”
“You to speak to me any time frighten.” Baz leaned over and looked into Elliot’s eyes. “Any time. Fond of you. Ellytot.”

“You ever had a fling with another hybrid?” Baz’s large eyes blinked. “Fling?”
“Romantic relationship. Love affair. You know. Sexy times.”
“Ellytot. Baz is old. Many fling.”
Elliot laughed hard. “You don’t look old.”
“Not for hybrid. To you, old. Longtime live so far.”
“How long?”
“Some questions rude in all races, Ellytot.”

“Someone break your heart?”
“I have love for someone should not in the now.”
“Do you mean Christian?”
Baz nearly dropped the tablet. He stared at Elliot. “How you do this? Inside my thought?”
“Again. Just a good guess.”
“Chrischris love Myles. Chrischris human. Is stupid.”
“Love is stupid.”
Baz smiled. “This what I think also.”

“I do not wish to speak about love.”
“I notice you say ‘I’ more now. You used to always refer to yourself as Baz.”
Baz poked at the tablet, avoiding Elliot’s eyes. “I practice and learn when I am not with you. Getting better at language and human talk.” “And getting better at human avoiding the question.”
“I do not avoid. Baz…I say don’t wish to speak of love on personal.”

JT cleared his throat. “Okay.‘I address this to you because you most advance mind to understand maybe this diagrams.’”
JT smiled appreciatively, and focused back on the tablet. His grin slid away. “He says, ‘But since you are still very simple…’” JT frowned.

Honestly, Baz is the highlight of this series 😂

“Do you know that hybrid? Shorter hair, gray gown?”
Baz’s white eyebrows lowered. “Yes. Bag of dirt.”
“Bag of dirt?” Nolan said.
Baz looked up at Nolan. “Words wrong? What Rudy say when he does not like person.”
“Oh, dirt-bag.” Elliot chuckled.

Baz basically picking up nothing but curses and insults from Rudy and Christian is A+++ content 😂

In his resting state he softened, and Nolan was suddenly keenly aware he was getting to see a side of Elliot he never had after all these years, and it had less to do with the sudden onset of sexual relations and more to do with this simple relaxation—Elliot with his guard down, resting his head on Nolan, vulnerable and trusting.

Elliot was such a force of nature most of the time, armed with a machine gun full of barbs and biting comments for everyone, it was easy to overlook that even at age thirty-five, he was just damn cute. In his resting state he softened, and Nolan was suddenly keenly aware he was getting to see a side of Elliot he never had after all these years...

Nolan’s eyes closed. “Please say it, Elliot.”
Elliot pressed his forehead against Nolan’s. “I’ve loved you for years, Nolan. And now I’m falling in love with you. And savoring every minute of it.”
Nolan grinned, a breathy laugh leaving his lips. “I’m falling in love with you too.” His eyes opened and he laughed again. “How the fuck did we get here?”

“Get the fuck off my onions, Nolan.”
“I just want to show you an easier way!”
Elliot slid the cutting board away when Nolan tried to grab it. “I like cutting onions the hard way. Back off!”
“Are you pointing a knife at me?”
Elliot lowered the knife. “Sorry.”

😂 Elliot ❤️

I know Tyler and Tim are the focus of the sequel, but I gotta say... not really looking forward to reading about either of them at the moment

Baz 😭

Enjoying this one so much more than book 2, now that there’s actual chemistry between the characters (sorry Christian)