2.5

Gummy Bears & Grenades was pure fun. When Charlie says it’s a THIRDS bonus story, that’s exactly what she means. This novella doesn’t have a major plot, or some deep case Destructive Delta has to solve. It’s just good ole Dexter J Daley shenanigans, and that’s exactly what I was in the mood for.

The basic premise is that it’s Dex’s bachelor party, and Sloane is worried about what trouble Dex will get in but everyone tells him that things will be fine. It was kind of funny actually. I don’t even know why Dex’s family and friends think that they could take him out for a calm party, or that they could keep Dex contained. There was no way it wasn’t going to completely insane, and it was. From the Gummy Bear costume, to Dex’s toying with Austen and Zach, everything was over the top the whole time, in the most fun way.

The very best part in this novella was Sloane’s surprise for Dex. Those two just kill me! I love how Sloane turns to putty for Dex. I can’t wait to read their actual wedding. I might just cry.

At only 100 pages, there wasn’t a lot to review. It really was a novella about a group of friends who are going out to celebrate together. It was all about the good times and the feel good. I wouldn’t recommend someone read this book alone, because there’s too much back story, but I would recommend that anyone who might be interested should read Hell & High Water, book 1. Because, if you love long serial stories, this isn’t one you’d want to pass up. It has an interesting and funny main character, and a group of charismatic friends.

Now, I’m going back to waiting until November for book 10, Tried & True.

Thank you to Dreamspinner Press for providing a free ARC in exchange for an honest review.

For this and other reviews, visit Wendy at Birdie Bookworm.

3-3.5 stars

Super short so couldn’t give it that High of a rating.

Thank god for this novella because the last book almost made me tap out of finishing this series… I swear to god Hudson and Seb I have no words… trying to forget that book ever existed

Now on to the final book of the series!

4.5 ⭐

Han p*tain c'était trop bon !

Cette nouvelle est un vrai bonbon, mais attention, pas un bonbon tout mou et juste sucré, non. Un bonbon qui paraît tout sucré tout doux au départ, et d'un seul coup PAF !! c'est acide, ça pique, et vous changez de tête de et de couleur !!

Blague à part, c'est un récit court (113 pages) je crois. On assiste à la soirée d'enterrement de vie de garçon de Dex et forcément, il ne fait pas les choses à moitié. Mon dieu, mais qu'est-ce que j'ai ri !!! Comme toujours, Dex a l'art de se retrouver dans des situations complètements ubuesques, c'est potache, c'est débile, mais p*tain qu'est-ce que je me suis marrée ! Et attention, pas le petit rire mignon et distingué hein, non, le bon gros rire bien profond avec le grognement qui va bien ...



"Sir, I'm afraid I'm going to have to commandeer your bear."

C'est sensuel et sexy aussi (sauvez un cheval, enfourchez un cowboy, vous comprendrez pourquoi je dis ça quand vous lirez !),



un poil romantique ... Et puis forcément, il y a de l'action ça part dans tous les sens et on recroise le chemin d'un personnage qui est décidément des plus intrigants ...

Je suis quand même bluffée de voir qu'après autant de tomes, Charlie Cochet arrive toujours à éveiller mon intérêt et titiller ma curiosité. Je n'ai qu'une envie : me jeter sur le tome 10 ... mais surtout attaquer le spin-off !!!

4 Stars!

By now, unless something seriously makes Cochet vastly deviate from her surefire formula, this series most likely will not be getting anything less than a 4 from me. This was certainly no different.

As always, what I love most is the group dynamic plus the awesomely possessive claiming proprietary love that has blossomed, and only grown stronger, between Dex and Sloane. When you get all of these shifters and humans together, anything less than absolute fun fuckery is just not gonna happen.

Of course, this made me laugh, it made me swoon, I got ferklempt a few times as well. Cochet really knows how to bring it. I can’t wait for more!!

Remember when this series used to be hella good? Like 7 books ago? I still refuse to rate these books lower than a 3 (even though I’m really, really tempted to) because of some misguided sense of loyalty to how much I used to love these characters. Now they, along with the story, have just become one big joke. Sigh...

Minor spoilers in review.

Gummy Bears and Grenades is a cute little novella to bridge the gap between books 9 and 10. Dex is getting a Bachelor party. I’m not sure why Sloane isn’t also getting a Bachelor party….and it’s a little weird that Dex is getting one and not Sloane since they have all the same friends but….what do I know? Maybe Sloane didn’t want one and figured that since he’d be making a surprise appearance at Dex’s popping out of a cake (not really but sort of really) – then it was all good!

Of course, this is Dex so nothing goes smoothly – not even his Bachelor party. And now that Dex and all his buddies are either TIN operatives or TIN assets – things are even less likely to go smoothly. Dex however is not quite yet thinking like a TIN operative as evidenced by his not realizing that the would be kidnappers/torturers/assassins would have to be collateral damage – luckily Hudson’s long lost, no longer dead brother was lurking in the shadows and took care of business.

In short – not really any significant plot development; sort of a recap of where things stand and a fun check in with favorite characters. Also, the cover – is exactly how I picture Dex. Exactly.

I really have high hopes for the next book from all the foreshadowing that’s been going on