Floodgates by Mary Calmes
Romance Suspense M/M
E book, 234 pages
March 3, 2014
Dreamspinner Press
Reviewed by Tori
Tracy Brandt has a wonderful job, fabulous friends, and a family who adores him. It’s his love life that leaves something to be desired. He and his lover broke up four months ago when Tracy found out he cheated. When Tracy is the victim of an assault, his ex-lover shows back up in his life, bringing along some baggage from his past that could get Tracy killed.
Inspector Cord Nolan has loved Tracy for years but his reputation as being a player keeps Cord from telling Tracy how he feels. He wants to show Tracy he has changed and is ready to settle down but sometimes the past is hard to forgive.
Tracy and Cord have danced around their feelings for years, turning their attraction into antagonism to keep each other at arms length. With a huge target painted on Tracy’s back, Cord sees this as the perfect way to break through Tracy’s barriers and be his knight in shining armor. But when the stakes get higher and the killer bolder, Cord will have to make sure Tracy stays alive if he wants a shot at his happily ever after.
Floodgates is a classic Mary Calmes novella. A beautiful bumbling protagonist, a pushy ex-lover, a quiet mega alpha potential lover, a loving overprotective family, and a mystery. Fans of Calmes Matter of Times series will see a strong similarity to Jory and Sam throughout this story. In both the character makeups and storyline.
We open with Tracy in his office where he works as an accountant for an import business. Gunman break in and shoot the place up, catching Tracy in the crossfire. We are led to believe that his boss’s brother, a notorious Russian gangster, has something to do with it. Is he responsible? Unknown as this storyline is only used to bring the ex lover and potential lover into the picture. From there we learn Tracy is in danger because his ex bi sexual love seems to have developed a stalker who wants to make him pay for some choices in his past. As Tracy struggles to discover who wants him dead and why, he is also dealing with his ex who won’t go away and a potential lover who scares him to dead.
While I enjoyed the story, it was more because of the characters than the actual storyline. I adored meeting Tracy and the people he interacts with on a daily basis. His family was utterly delightful and the strong connection of love and respect that exists between them was comforting. The sexual tension and witty banter that existed between Tracy and Cord kept me laughing. Frenemies to lovers is a great trope and always fun to watch the romance develop. I did feel their romance developed fast but it made sense as they had been heading in this direction for five years.
The story itself was a problem. Loose and unstructured with random nonsense plotlines that came and went with impunity. The mystery was vague with a keystone cops investigation mentality and a villain that elicited more sympathy rather than horror. The ex lover’s reasons for leaving his family for so long was never fully explained and I found Tracy was just too forgiving in regards to his actions. I was also confused by some of choices Cord made in regards to the Tracy’s safety and felt he knew more but we weren’t privy to the knowledge. The ending is predictable as was the epilogue. Again, Matter Of Time version 2.0.
While Mary Calmes remains a comfort read for me and I will continue to read her stories, this one definitely needed some tightening up.
Rating: C-
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