#and then almost got mauled by a Great Dane and then almost got mauled by a BMC then almost got mauled by a staffie

[oscargender]

Idk unpopular opinion but. Buying a puppy from a responsible breeder who doesn’t allow any dog they’ve bred to end up in a shelter is a morally neutral act

[sleepyconfusedpotato]

Task Force 141 Mostly Random and Domestic Head Cannons

Here are few questionable head cannons of the boys that nobody asked for that I came up with on a whim cuz I can't sleep.

💰 Captain Price 💰

Price can play saxophone and trumpet. More towards the saxophone. He has a collection of Kenny G album vinnyl disks that he'd play in his house.

He has a calico cat named Greg.

Collects watches as a hobby, from the antiques to the modern ones.

Supports Liverpool and sometimes would catch their matches on TV. Not a crazy fan like Ghost and Gaz though.

King of Poker. Nobody in the task force can beat him.

🇬🇧 Kyle "Gaz" Garrick 🇬🇧

That one British dude who likes coffee more than tea.

Fan of Arsenal. Actual Gooner who has posters and mugs with Arsenal logo printed on them.

Earlier of his teenage days, Gaz randomly wanted to learn beatbox. He got good at it and would often show it off to his friends. Over time, he lost interest in it and forgot about it. If you ask him to do some beatboxing he can still do it, but you gotta wait for it for the muscle memory to come back.

Arguably the most fashionable man in 141. When off-duty he'd show up with drip. His effortless swag goes along with any clothes.

🧼 Soap 🧼

Learned music theory and actually was a member of his high school vocal group and church choir, Soap has a beautiful barritone voice that can belt out "Why Do The Nations So Furiously Rage" by Handel and "My Love is Like a Red, Red Rose."

INVESTED in Eurovision. Would watch every country's song and critiques each one. Could go MAD about it.

Definitely the dude who sings in showers.

Fan of Take That. He dreamed of singing Million Love Songs to his one true love.

Idk why but I feel like Soap is that guy who can solve rubik's cube.

💀 Ghost 💀

Actual fan of Machester City. Would fight other clubs' fans if they're losing on TV and would 100% stomp on them.

Proficient bass guitar player. Can definitely slap.

Ghost can sew. In fact, he costumizes all his skeleton attributes himself. From numbers of masks to gloves, he made it all himself.

Watches Anime. He watches the classic shounen animes like Naruto, One Piece, and Dragon Ball. He likes the actions and the thrill of it.

CLEAN FREAK. Contrary to his rugged look and personality he always keep his belongings clean and neat.

🦵 Alex Echo 3-1 🦿

Another one of idk why but I feel like Alex's real name is Alexander Hamilton. His parents were either a historian or a musical enthusiast, no in between.

Watches NFL. Idolizes Tom Brady as the god-quarterback. In fact he ALMOST got drafted into NFL but got into the millitary instead.

Plays Tekken on a daily basis and unexpectedly mains Yoshimitsu for his eccentric design and moves.

Alex got a full-sleeve tattoo on both arms to cover the cigarette stick burns he got during his millitary days.

Skilled in playing the guitar. His fingerstyles are GODLY.

Alex sometimes sketch a few doodles on his journal.

🦗 Roach 🦗

Owns a grey Great Dane named Ms. Bella Donna, who's apparently oblivious of her size and a total lap dog. She'd leap at Roach when he gets home after deployment.

A fan of the Star Wars franchise. Major fan of Darth Vader and would quote him every chance he got. Collects figurines of Vader and Maul and even plays Star Wars : Battlefront.

True to his name, Roach isn't afraid of cockroaches, or any animal, really. Gary is the Task Force 141's #1 animal control man.

Roach can play the drum. He had a drum kit given to him by his parents as a kid and started doing them as a hobby.

-----

There it goes! This is the result of my domestic-HC-cravings which I decided to indulge myself. Feel free to add more LOL ◉‿◉

[chasingafterinfinity]

Chapter Six.

"Yeah, Harry, it's so unimportant that you stay fucked up all the time and you go on these rampages where you break shit. Sounds super unimportant."

"It's just Morgan."

"She's, umm, was... my wife. She was on the news and I got a little pissed. Been divorced for over a year now, but she still manages to get under my skin." 

"Why did her being on the news piss you off?" 

"Don't want to talk about it,"

Skylar's keys jingled as she carefully slid her flat key into the hole, turning it with a definite click. She sighed in relief, clutching the bags of Chinese takeaway closer to her as she turned the knob and nudged the door open. It had been a long day at the clinic. One of her longest since she started there the previous year.

Her wrist hurt from the Great Dane that was brought into the clinic in a panic and she was covered in claw marks from a stray cat a good Samaritan brought in after watching it get clipped a few blocks west, a clinic regular bit her, and her feet and ankles were sore from all the running she did.

She was utterly exhausted and covered in various bodily fluids from different species. With another heavy sigh, she toed off her shoes and quickly made her way to the counter and deposited the bags as her gaze tore across the house in search of her lanky companion. It didn't surprise her in the least when she didn't find him in any of the common areas. He was withdrawn and broody and Skylar had come home more than once in the past two weeks to find him passed out (or nearly so) in his bedroom.

It broke her heart to see him suffering, but she always danced around what was wrong because when she asked, his usual response was a grunt or a gruff "I'm fine". She wandered further into her home, pausing as she reached her door before spinning on her heel and stepping across the hall. She sucked in a deep breath, knuckles hesitating before she finally rapped them against the solid wooden door.

She awaited his usual grunt in response, but heard nothing as she cautiously cracked the door open. He wasn't in his room. Other than a few articles of clothing and the rumpled sheets, it was almost like he hadn't been in his room at all. Her eyebrows tugged low over her forehead as she scanned the room once more.

It wasn't until she paused, taking a moment to listen carefully. Then she heard it, the distinct sound of someone sniffling. Her heart dropped as she promptly spun on her heel and exited the room, striding carefully and purposefully to the bathroom down the hall. Her knuckles rapped the solid door three times and she placed the left side of her face to it.

"Harry? Are you okay?" She called, voice soft and laced with concern for the man on the other side of the door.

"'M fine, just go away!" His muffled voice called from the other side.

A frown settled on her features, brows tugging low at his hoarse voice as a shaky sigh came from him. With a deep sigh of her own, she stepped back and eyed the door critically before pressing herself back against it and taking the knob in her small hand.

"Are you decent?" She called as she began to slowly twist the knob, a muffled yes coming from Harry before she pulled it open.

Her eyes widened in shock at the scene that lay before her. Harry sat in a crumpled mess in the middle of the bathroom, the glass from what was once the mirror hanging over the sink now shattered around him. He looked up at her, eyes swollen and rimmed red from crying with a blotchy face. Her heart constricted painfully in her chest as she stepped forward, carefully dodging the shards of glass to get to him.

She bent down in front of him, eyes skimming his features to assess any damage. Small droplets of blood were scattered over his gaunt face and she was unable to tell if it was in relation to any cuts of from another injury elsewhere. He had his right arm curled up and protectively cradled to his chest with his left one when she noticed the thick trail of blood leading down from it onto his white t shirt.

She frowned deeply, tsking as she turned toward the cabinet to retrieve the first aid kit from beneath the sink, eyes skimming the glass between Harry and the cabinet taking note of the splatter of crimson liquid on the floor and shards of glass. Harry sniffled behind her again, bringing her back to her task as she quickly grabbed it and turned her attention back to Harry.

A few minutes of soft cooing and murmured encouragement and Skylar's soft touch, Harry was off the floor and stumbling out the bathroom with her. Quickly leading him down the hall and into the kitchen, she watched him carefully perch himself out the counter top next to the sink as she turned on the tap, waiting for the water to warm up. She sighed again, opening up her first aid kit before shifting her attention back to Harry.

Her brown eyes flickered up to meet his own green ones as she stepped towards him, carefully taking his right wrist in her hand and pulling it away from his chest out of it's cradled position to look at the damage done. A deep frown settled across her lips, eyebrows puckering low on her forehead. His fist was mauled and bloody. She glanced back up at him, his head turned to the left and his gaze fixed on the counter.

Slowly, she began to dab away at the blood covering his mangled hand as Harry sucked in a sharp breath, wincing in pain as she continued to clean. His palm was rough and warm against her own as she focused on the task at hand.

"What happened?" She finally asked, all the blood wiped away as she grabbed the tweezers to pick out any glass that might have gotten stuck.

"I don't want to talk about it." He snapped weakly, thick eyebrows tugging low over his eyes a scowl settling across plump lips.

Skylar huffed in frustration, digging a shard of glass out his middle knuckle, cringing at the sight of exposed bone. It looked painful and Harry confirmed it as he hissed in pain, attempting to jerk his hand away from her. Skylar's grip remained firm, though as she continued to poke and prod at the open wound until she was sure all the glass was removed.

"Of course. You never want to talk about it." She muttered, grabbing the disinfectant and a few pieces of loose gauze.

After thoroughly disinfecting his hand, Skylar applied an antibiotic ointment and wrapped it in dry, clean gauze and wrapping. She patted his knee and stepped back, watching as he carefully lowered himself to the floor. His chest brushed hers as he stood to his full height.

Skylar craned her head up, catching his guarded gaze as he studied her features. He did that a lot, she noticed; studied her. She met his gaze steadily, peering into his green eyes. All she wanted was to know what was going on in that broody mind of his, but his walls were always up and never faltering.

"I never want to talk about it because it's nothing important." He muttered lowly, chest vibrating from the depth of his voice as he fixed her with a narrowed gaze.

"Yeah, Harry, it's so unimportant that you stay fucked up all the time and you go on these rampages where you break shit. Sounds super unimportant." She snapped back with a scowl.

Harry sighed deeply, gaze fixed somewhere off to his left as he mulled over his thoughts. She was right. It wasn't unimportant to him and maybe it wasn't fair of him to keep her so in the dark, especially since she'd always gone out of her way to help him. He licked his dry lips, feeling the chapped skin on the underside of his tongue before swallowing the lump that managed to lodge itself in his throat.

"It's just Morgan." He finally muttered so low she thought she was imagining it until his green eyes settled on her own gaze.

She thought for a moment. Who was Morgan? It sounded familiar as she tried to rack her brain on why it sounded so familiar, lost in her own thoughts with her eyebrows tugged low over her wide eyes. Harry cleared his throat in front of her, looking uncomfortable with the topic of conversation.

"She's, umm, was... my wife. She was on the news and I got a little pissed. Been divorced for over a year now, but she still manages to get under my skin." He said, casting his gaze to the floor as his cheeks turned a light shade of pink.

"Why did her being on the news piss you off?" Skylar asked, placing on hand on one of his muscular arms to grab his attention.

Harry's gaze darted down to where her small hand rested, the warmth of it searing him as goosebumps prickled his pale skin. He stepped away from her.

"Don't want to talk about it," He muttered lowly again, sliding away from her before pausing with his back to her, "Don't worry about the bathroom. I'll clean it up."

She sighed heavily, moving swiftly around her kitchen to locate the camomile tea. She rummaged in one of the lower cabinet until she procured her tea pot, filling it up and setting it on the burner to boil. She pulled a cup out of another cabinet, setting it on the counter as she opened the tea bag and set it in the empty cup.

"No, I'll get it. You sit and I'll be back in a minute." She said, fingers brushing his arm again as she scurried past him and around the bar.

Harry heaved a sigh, grumbling under his breath as he plopped down on a stool, flexing his injured hand carefully. He didn't feel it anymore. He'd had a few (he can't even remember exactly how many) Vicodens an thirty minutes or so ago but the numbness they brought still wasn't enough to quell his anger when he saw her on the celebrity news looking happy and content with a newborn and a man by her side, a shiny ring placed on her left ring finger.

It made his blood boil. She'd taken everything from him. His home, his money, his career, his possibility of a family. He was bitter and resentful of her, more so than he probably should have been. He growled lowly at just the thought. She was happy and here he was, living with someone he barely knew without a thing to his name.

Skylar sighed as she slipped into the bathroom, broom and dust pan in one hand and the rubbish bin in the other. She sat the rubbish bin down before quickly getting to work, picking up the largest pieces and tossing them in before sweeping up the remainder. Blood was left smeared across the floor and it made her stomach churn. The bright red harsh across the stark white tiles. It wasn't something uncommon for Skylar to see but everytime she looked at the blood streaked across her bathroom floor, he mind flitted to the image of Harry amidst the wreckage.

She quickly collected everything once again and slipped out to fix Harry some tea and grab her mop to finish cleaning up. Harry was sat at the counter, shoulders hunched forward as his head hung low and the kettle whistled loudly. With one last glance, Skylar returned the rubbish bin to its proper place before pulling the kettle off the stove and filling up the oversized mug she'd sat aside before setting it in front of him.

Harry heaved a sigh, his large hands carefully wrapping around the steaming mug before he glanced up to meet her bright eyes. He thumbed the hot mug slowly before bringing it up to his lips and blowing on it.

"What is this?" He murmured as its scent wafted up into his face.

"Chamomile. It'll help you relax." She replied, offering him a half smile before slipping away again with the mop.

Harry stood from the bar stool and took his tea to the living room, getting comfortable on the couch as he took long, slow sips of his tea. It was sweet and smelled flowery as he folded his long legs beneath him as stared ahead at the black television screen. The house was silent with the exception of the water running down the hall in the bathroom. He assumed that Skylar was showering now that his mess had been cleaned up.

Guilt clawed at his belly as he shifted in place. He was an awful roommate. Always fucked up, never talking to her. It made him feel like shit. He sighed again, so caught up within his own thoughts he didn't hear her padding into the living room until the couch sunk down beside him.

He glanced over at her, his breath catching in his throat as he took her in. Golden hair a few shades darker than normal and still damp from her shower, face clear and free of any makeup and clad in an oversized jumper with a pair of pajama bottoms. He must not have noticed her getting out the bathroom at all as she held her own mug of tea, her big brown eyes catching his green ones from over the top as she took a sip.

"M sorry." He muttered guiltily, thumbs rubbing against the warm, smooth mug in his hands.

She let out out a loud, heavy sigh as she shifted forward and placed her mug on the coffee table in front of them before shifting her position to angle towards him with raised brows.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, Harry. If anyone should be sorry, it should should be me. I shouldn't pry into your personal life like that. I'm sorry." She said softly, reaching reaching out to touch his knee gently.

He sighed, the guilt weighing heavily on his shoulders still. He wanted to open up, wanted to tell her everything but he couldn't. Not yet. Not while his life was such a jumbled mess and he was so fucked up. He studied her features carefully. She reminded him of the sun, warm and welcoming. They sat in silence until their tea was finished. Harry remained seated as she squeezed his knee and stood, collecting their now empty cups and depositing them into the sink before shuffling to her bedroom.

"Goodnight, Harry. I hope you sleep well." She called softly before shutting her door behind her.

She always knew how to warm his heart, even though he knew there wasn't the slightest chance of a peaceful night's rest for himself. He heaved another heavy sigh before standing up and shuffling to his room and to the inevitable. The nightmares. They haunted him all the time. Had for the past three years. He raked a large hand through his disheveled hair, eyeing his bed warily as he shut the door behind himself.

He stripped down quickly and settled into bed, tucking his duvet beneath his chin as his eyes lulled shut. The Vicoden he'd taken making him sleepy along with the tea that settled warm in his belly as he got comfortable and dozed off.

--

It was blood curdling and had Skylar sitting up in bed so fast in made her dizzy. She looked around frantically, searching for the source of it in disorientation before a yell pierced the silence of her flat. Her heart stopped in her chest as she snatched her phone up to glance at the time, squinting at the bright light it emitted. 2:17 am. She flung her duvets back and scrambled out of bed as Harry let out another terrified scream.

She darted across the hall, pushing his door open as she took large strides across the room to him. He was flailing helpessly, tangled in his sheets with pale, clammy skin. It tore her heart in pieces as she grabbed on bicep, the muscle bulging beneath her frail grip. She shook him as he wriggled around, panic clear on his sleeping features.

"Harry!" She called, voice sharp as she tried to wake him.

She jerked back as he startled awake, upper half shooting up as his wide, disoriented eyes darted around the room frantically. His chest heaved before his panicked gaze finally landed on her, taking in her wide eyes as he tried to convince himself it was just a dream before she spoke.

"It was just a dream, Harry. You're alright." She murmured, reaching out to touch his arm reassuringly.

He felt like he was on the verge of a mental breakdown. His dream, it seemed so real. His chest ached from it as he caught his breath. Skylar watched him with a careful gaze, her hand not moving until he seemed like he'd calmed down enough to act rationally. He nodded his head, wide eyes never leaving her soft features as she continued to speak quietly to him.

"Why don't you go take a shower while I change your sheets?" She suggested softly as he slipped from his bed.

Two long strides carried him to his dresser as he pulled out clean clothes. She could see the damp spot on his back from the cold sweat his nightmare caused. A few seconds later he was slipping out of his room and down the hall, the bathroom door shutting followed by the sound of running water.

She began stripping down his bed, removing the damp sheets and pillowcases and gathering them up into a pile on the floor before she opened his closet to retrieve the extra sheets for his room. She worked quickly and methodically to replace them, finishing just as he was stepping back into his room with and mop of wet curls.

She gave him a small, reassuring smile. He looked like he felt better than he had when she sent him to shower. He still seemed slightly on edge as he ran a hand through the wet strands, shoving them back out of his face. His gaze darted to his feet, nervousness radiating off of him in waves. Whatever he'd dreamt about still had him shaken.

"Will you stay with me until I fall asleep?" He mumbled, scratching the back of his head as he continued to avoid Skylar's gaze.

She licked her lips and nodded her head as he brushed past her to crawl into. She followed him, sitting with her back against his headboard as he wriggled closer to her, his eyes drooping sleepily. He let out a content sigh, his body sinking further into the mattress as her fingers hesitantly combed through his thick curls, pushing the strands back from his face.

"Is this okay?" She asked softly, carding his fingers through the silky strands a second time.

Harry hummed in agreement, face nuzzling into the side of her thigh. It was moments later that she heard his soft snores falling past his pink lips, one arm snaking around her legs as she continued to play with his hair until she drifted off eventually.

[assbaka]

scottbaiowulf replied to your post “Even after explaining the process of cropping, that it’s not painful...”

is it beneficial to the dog? honestly have no idea what it really entails tbh

More than anything it’s neutral in terms of health benefits. Dogs with floppy ears tend to get recurring yeast infections of the ear canal much more often than prick-eared dogs, but the breeds prone to this aren’t ever cropped (bassets, labradors, golden retrievers), so I can’t claim that it’s ever done as a preventive measure. Ear cropping is 100% cosmetic most of the time. There are cases in working dogs like hunting dogs that grapple their prey, like hog dogs or Anatolian shepherds, where most of the ear is amputated to keep their quarry from grabbing onto them. From watching dogs play at work, this is absolutely the place that an animal is going to go for in a fight. Grabbing onto the ear keeps the mouth away from you long enough for your packmates to come rip in, gives you leverage to flip them onto the ground so you can either savage them or try to run away. So for dogs in traditional lines of work where veterinary attention isn’t available, avoiding horrible mauling is beneficial. That said, most cropped dogs that are cropped under the following process aren’t going to be charging through the undergrowth toward an angry feral hog, or roaming the family land looking for wolves.

What it entails is, under anesthesia and usually at the same time as spaying/neutering, although some dogs will not be neutered: The ear flaps (pinnae), which consist of cartilage and skin, are cleaned and prepped for surgery as any other body part. The line that the doctor will follow is drawn and a scalpel (i’m /pretty/ sure. there are surgical scissors for cutting harder tissues, but those seem overkill for soft ear cartilage) is used to remove a section of the outer part of the pinna. A hemostat is used to stop the bleeding, although for the ear it shouldn’t be a remarkable amount of blood. 

To encourage the ears to stand up, the ears are taped or ‘posted’. It makes them look silly, but it doesn’t hurt them and besides the occasional ‘whats this thing on my head’ the puppies don’t seem to notice it at all. The actual surgical incision is healed long before the posts are done with their job.

At the practice I was at, our ear posts were made by holding two long wooden q-tips, wrapping them in a good amount of paper towels or gauze, then wrapping that in bandage tape. This goes inside the outer ear, then the two posts are taped together over the head, and taped around the outside. This setup is changed often. Twice weekly? Once a week? Something like that. When taken care of-- like any freakin’ post-surgical care an owner needs to take care of-- there’s no problems. If you’re a dunkass with more money than sense and just got a status dog to make your backyard pretty, and you let the dog splash around and get its ears wet and roll in dirt, then yeah, there’s gonna be skin irritation. 

I think the moral objection stems from ignorance of what the process actually is/an assumption the ears are just hacked off with scissors in a basement, an association with dogfighting and probably contempt for perceived vanity or machismo of the owners. There’s nothing to substantiate the odd claim from anti-croppers that cropped ears are chronically painful.

Tail docking I’m more ambivalent about. It’s done within days of birth while the tail vertebrae aren’t quite calcified, and because the puppies are just potatoes it’s incredibly risky to even sedate them, much less anesthetize them. There probably isn’t an IV catheter made that would get into a 3 day old jack russel vein. So the tail is amputated (a very quick process, also done with hemostats and a scalpel and sutured up) without painkillers. There’s basically no bleeding. This heals really quickly because at this point the puppies are growing like crazy, but having held those puppy potatos for this procedure and listening to the crying, I really wish there was puppy analgesia we could use. 

Unlike ear cropping when the ear is left long enough to emote, tail docking impedes a dog’s ability to communicate with other dogs significantly. With a tail only one or two vertebrae long, a dog can’t easily tell another dog ‘i mean no harm’, ‘let’s play,’ ‘i’m friendly,’ ‘keep your distance,’ ‘i’m afraid of you,’ ‘back off NOW,’ ... things that would be clear from a distance, but the other dog has no way of telling without the first dog’s tail. That can make the second dog tense and react poorly to the first dog’s actions. And THAT can negatively impact the docked dog’s reaction toward other dogs for the rest of its life.

Like ear cropping, tail docking has a historic function. A guard dog’s tail is a good handle for an adversary. Even today some dogs with long, whippy tails without much fur padding-- pit bull types, boxers, great danes-- can badly injure their tails from wagging and have chronic problems from that, and even need to get their tails amputated after the fact. This is is something I’ve pretty much never seen or heard of first hand, though. It’s almost hypothetical.

My ambivalence toward tail docking comes from the fact that it HAS to be done within a few days of birth. Beyond that, when the bones are more solid and the nerve pathways are complete, the amputation is much more painful and can result in long-term neuropathy. But /because/ of the young age required, it’s impossible to anesthetize them. People are going to dock tails. I’m resigned to that fact. It’s impossible to pick out a puppy at 3 days and have the breeder designate that puppy to keep from being docked, because breeders want to match your dog’s personality to your lifestyle. What if the undocked dog doesn’t have the drive you needed for the sport you want? What if you wanted a couch potato but the dog is bouncing off the walls without a job to do? 

(If anybody reading this has any corrections or updates on something I got wrong, I’d love to hear about it.)

[anew-books-blog]

A Matter of Time - Volume 2 ::: by Mary Calmes

My dear Anewers!

I think it is time for the sequel of A Matter of Time Series. Here we go again in a journey with Jory Harcourt and Samuel Thomas Kage. Let’s hope things get better between these two.

Let’s cut to what matters? Synposis and starting info:

“Books Three and Four Vol. 2

Three years ago, Jory Harcourt changed his name and shut the door on a past full of pain, only to emerge stronger on the other side. He has a new career, a great working partner, and a satisfying life—except for the hole in his chest left behind when police Detective Sam Kage walked out with his heart.

Now Sam's back and he knows what he wants... and what he wants is Jory. Jory, who doesn't know if he can survive another break up or losing Sam to his dangerous job, resists returning to the arms of the only man he has ever truly loved. But when a serial killer with a score to settle targets Jory, he will have to decide if love is worth the danger as he tries to solve the case and keep Sam safe.

Title:  A Matter of Time Volume 2 (Books 3 and 4)

Author: Mary Calmes

Year: 2011

Publisher: Dreamspinner Press

Language: English

Pages: 298

Reading time: 3 days

Format: e-book (Kindle)

Date of Purchase: 28/07/2013 at amazon.com

LINKS: Amazon (US) Dreamspinner Press

Again, this volume has two books in sequence.

I - Cover: (1)

The only thing i will say about the cover is: Who the hell is depicted at the cover? Jory? Nah... Sam? If it is, please don't... Erase this image from my brain please! Sam is like Chris Hemsworth easily for me... So please... Just don't.

II - PoV: (4.5)

BOOK 3: Now she nailed it! The third stallment of A Matter of Time was sublime! Fast paced when needed, slowed down right on time. Not much dwelve on repeat scenes that just happened. PERFECT! Jory’s mind each time more and more twisted and interesting.

BOOK 4: Well... I will not repeat myself. Amazing. (lol), but the narrative sometimes gets a bit fuzzy, confusing.

III - Protagonists: (4.875) - HEAVY SPOILER ALERT!

Jory Harcourt: (Book 3 e 4) He was resilient about being back where all things began. Sam was out of his life completely for 3 whole years or so, and of course, who in the name of God would be, in good shape, after loosing the one person that holds your heart in his hand and then (even well justified) trashed it? Not a soul, i bet. So the reaction that Jory had about being around with Sam again was totally justified, i would personally do things a bit differente, but hey! That's Jory, not Alex.

Sam Kage: (Book 3 e 4) That persistent sonofabitch. He's adorable and perfect about the way he crumbles little-by-little the resistance of Jory. Stubborn, but both are. And his family mauling him and Jory after the definitive reunion... awesome... but let's not talk about them, the focus here is SAM. Hot as ever, still the man of anyone's dreams. I just didn't enjoyed him at all at the last chapter of book 4, if i was Jory, i would've let him alone and went home.

IV - Antagonists: (4.5) 

(Book 3): There's no antagonists at this book, i could place Aaron Sutter like it, but it wouldn't be fair to the man.

(Book 4): Caleb Reid: I can't mention him in his full feature now, because the HUGE SPOILER is coming on twists section... all i can say is this. This character is full of surprises, awesome and awful surprises. It would be interesting to read more about him messing with Jory and Sam’s life in the future.

V - Side Characters: (5)

(Book 3): General speaking... All perfect as always. I am madly inlove with Dylan Greer and her husband. The Kage's are something unreal. I miss a lot of Dane and his wife Aja. Aaron Sutter is something! Like a refined Sam Kage, but way out of Jory's league. Having nothing else to add... PERFECT.

(Book 4): Dane is back, like ACID back... He just mauled Sam's ass to submission for being back at Jory's life again. It was really awesome!

VI - Hot Scenes: (4.75)

(Book 3): There's only two hot scenes about Jory and Sam. And... WOW! The first one, the getting back sex was ASTONISHING-BREATHTAKING-AROUSING-EXCITING-SUBLIME-HOT.AS.HELL-PERFECT! Being mauled against a door, it got me right at the spot!... I can't comment any longer without pausing to take a cold shower...

(Book 4): Not so many scenes like that, and the ones that happened were as great as always, but getting too fast, should be a little bit more detailed.

VII - Story: (4.5)

(Book 3): The story is shortened as the Sam pushing real hard to get Jory's back... Or as his father said: "Hey, dipshit, when do you get your boy back?" Plain and simple, with some sidetracks: the marriage of Dane at the beginning, the pregnancy and birth of the first child of Jory's partner and BFF Dylan, the reencounter of Jory and Aaron, and two or three bad dates of Jory. No crime, no pursuit, no shots fired, or house busted, or kidnapping, torture... so on... just the plans of Sam to get Jory back. Funny and sweet. Unmisseable.

(Book 4): Despite the perfectness of book 3, book 4 starts doing a full back to books 1 and 2... and back and forth memory lane, BUT this time it was right. At least Mary Calmes doesn't lost too many time (or lines) re-explaining things... Thing is, if you never read Books 1, 2 and 3... you will be filled Crash-Course-Style everything in 3 chapters, and i meant it: EVERYTHING.

On this book, we already have the all cops-investigating-thing back again. Turns out that, the Brian Minor's case wasn't the real deal after all... but a serial killer matter, and, as you might think, "Jory is at the center of it" (well, not really), or so they thought. No more spoilers here...

This time Jory left Sam (same situation of Book 2, but in reverse) to investigate himself what's going on. And... well... read and see. It was interesting, and well developed,... BUT there's a huge ass flaw: Why the hell the police or the FBI didn't traced Jory's cellphone position to find where the fuck he was? Only when you take off the battery tracing is impossible. Moving on...

Jory's Batman-Mode is interesting, but... tiresome. Mary Calmes build this up for far too long, that i caught myself skipping some lines and paragraphs, meaning that i had to went back several times to catch up. It transited easily and fastly from interesting to boring.

But in the end, was really good, as a Hitchcock's Psycho gay version.

VIII - Plot Twists: (4) 

(Book 3): No twists in here. The story was way too forthcoming as predicted. And its not bad, actually it is awesome, no room for continuity mistakes.

(Book 4): HUGE SPOILER NEEDED! BE WARNED: The twists here are almost every single one in Jory's mind, and especially at the end when he was doing the Batman-Investigating-thing. Confused twists, first the one to Caleb Reid as the responsible for the murders, after that shifts to his mother Susan with a very poor excuse. Then Jory assumed that Sam thinks about he's being a danger for himself and the society?! Really??? Then Jory, unexplicably, tells he's wrong, Susan Reid is innocent. WHAAAAAT??? How so? The Caleb Reid hid inside the closet, really?! And the police didn't find him there? Really??? Searching 1-0-1: look under beds, furniture, inside armoires, furniture and CLOSETS!!! And Surprise-surprise! Caleb Reid has MPD! Multiple Personality Disorder. REEEEALYYYY!!!!!????? How Psycho is this?! Originality was forgotten or forsaken or forbidden? Hahaha, jokes apart: i loved it! However... the dialog between Jory and Caleb in Susan's shoes was AWESOME! Short and direct. I felt the horror Jory felt. This alone saved the entire sequence of unrealistic, unlikely, illogical, unclear and highly implausible events.

IX - Ending: (4.5)

(Book 3): HAPPY ENDING! I JUST LOVE HAPPY ENDINGS!!! So cute! And it gave you the feeling that there's room for more (a lot more). I love it! Simple as that.

(Book 4): So... Considerations on this ending... Interesting thing is, i would rather read about the full Jory/Sam wedding at Canada, some party after and they coming back to US happily ever after. This would be the crown jewel for me. BUT - in the interest of surprising people - Mary Calmes didn't do it. Disappointing? Definately yes. Bad? No.

Sam's brother, Michael's wedding with a blasting-catholic chick was the touch, but then again, i would rather see Jory this time standing his ground and obliterating that bitch over pulling out Sam and kiss the life outta him, than sucking it up and got all jealous in silence. So not Jory, even in Michael's best interest. I wouldn't toletare such thing, but then again it is me, not Jory. To avoid this i would not be at the reception, i would just be at the wedding, at the most far away bench and accept that everyone or suffer the consequences.

I would not consider this a real perfect happy ending, it was a happy ending, but with a catch. I didn't enjoy it that much. Pity.

X - Pace: (4.5)

(Book 3): Since this book has no twists (not that i can recall) tempo was right. Could be a little bit longer, but i'm not complaining at all. Perfect timing as i said at the beginning of this review.

(Book 4): This book has ups and downs. Some scenes i simply skipped, too long or visiting extensively down memory lane. Even so, not tiresome. The book have a good pace. In comparison with book 3, this one could be shorter, like WAY shorter. Too many unnecessary twists.

XI - Re-reading Factor: (5)

(Books 3 and 4): Well, this was the 8th time that i read the entire series, so... You all know what i mean by that, right?

XII - Recommendation: (5)

(Books 3 and 4): Do i really need to answer to that?

XIII - EXTRA POINTS: (+2.5)

- Bonus points:

   . Gorgeous characters, and absolutely my type;

   . Should have a TV or Silver-screen adaptation;

   . Perfect HOT Scene (wow, just wow... did i mentioned that i want Samuel Thomas Kage in my bed right fucking now?!)

- Penalties:

   . None.

Average: 4.34 of 5 (from I to XII)

Final grade (applying bonus points): 6.84 of 10

Well, a little improvement from the previous volume. Although my review on book 4 was a bit harsh, the story is really interesting, just gets confusing and tiresome at a few points.

Anyway, Mary Calmes still delivers great stories about Jory and Sam. I would mention a few things here about this series, but let’s mention only after the review of the last book, ok?

x-o-x-o

AlexM

NEXT REVIEW: “Pale as a Ghost” by Stephen Osborne.