‘Crash & Burn’ by @abigailroux #VirtualBlogTour #Giveaway #Review

Bethany reviews Crash & Burn’ Cut & Run series #9, by Abi Roux.  Published by Riptide on March 30th, 2015.  413 pgs

Hello and thank you for joining me as I bid a fond farewell to Ty and Zane on the Crash & Burn virtual tour! For the next five days, join me on my virtual stops to help me say goodbye to the Cut & Run series with cut scenes, playlists, behind the scenes looks at the process of writing this last book, and a peek at the original plan for the series and the twists and turns it took on its journey to the end.

Did I mention the prizes? I have incredible prizes for two winners; a go-bag put together by one B. Tyler Grady. Each bag has over $370 worth of goodies in it. For more detail on the contents, you can click the link at the end of this post! Every comment on this blog tour enters you in a drawing to win one of these bags. Entries close at midnight, Eastern Time, on April 4, and winners will be announced on April 6th. Contest is valid worldwide.

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Why I read this book:  I think that is a silly question but I will go with it.  I have loved this series since May 14th, 2012 so there was no question that I would be reading this one.

Blurb:

It’s been five years since Special Agents Ty Grady and Zane Garrett first worked together to solve the Tri-State murders, and time has been both harsh and kind. Engaged now, they face the challenge of planning a deeply uncertain future together. Zane is at the pinnacle of his career with one last mystery to solve, while Ty is at sea in a world where he’s no longer the tip of a spear.

There’s just one more hurdle in the way of their happy ever after: a traitor from their inner circle who threatens to burn their world to the ground.

Squeezed between the Vega cartel, an unknown mole, and too many alphabet agencies to count, Ty and Zane must gather all their strength and resources to beat the longest odds they’ve ever faced. To make it out alive, they’ll need help from every friend they’ve got. Even the friends who might betray their trust.

 

Sale Links: Riptide

Conversation with hubby earlier this week went like this.

Me: I should have Ty & Zane’s last book Saturday.

Hubby: That’s nice.

Me: Its the LAST book in the series.

Hubby: (looking unfazed)  That sucks.

Me: YOU HAVE NO SOUL.

Then Friday when I got the book and started it and I was sobbing like a baby.

Hubby: It will be ok.

Me: YOU JUST DON’T UNDERSTAND

I am not sure how to review this book.  Because it is pure perfection and I am not sure I will be able to do it justice.  But I will try, because this is the end of something that has been a comfort to me for so many years.  This series holds a special place in my heart, it is a big reason I sit here today as a co-owner of RGR, and am able to write this review.  This series showed me that a book can be more than a novella with mostly smexy times.  Nothing wrong with those, heck I still loves those.  But it showed me its pretty cool to have a kick ass plot and characters that have depth, so much so that you are still unpeeling those layers 9 books later.

I have watched these people grow.  Not just Ty & Zane but every single character that Abi writes in these book.  I have seen them change, sometimes for the good and sometimes for the worse.  I have walked this journey with them from the very beginning. I have felt their pain and their happiness.  I have rooted for them and been angry with them when they screw up.  I have laughed and cried.  I have been happy and felt pure hatred.  I have thought I had it all figured out only to be knocked on my ass then the truth was revealed.  There have been twists and turns, death and destruction.  Yet as far as I am concerned the good has far outweighed the bad.  Cause when all is said and done, in the end its Ty & Zane, the unlikely couple that you can’t help but love.

I am not a writer, so sometimes the words don’t come easy for me.  But I will try my best to convey the pure wonderfulness that is this book.  We see everyone, and when I say everyone I mean EVERYONE.  Co-workers, Sidewinder members, family, enemies are all brought back for this book.  And I can’t tell you how much I loved that, it was like we got to say goodbye to all the people who helped Ty & Zane get to where they are today, and that was wonderful to have that chance to thank them for being a part of Ty & Zane’s lives.

From the very beginning till the very last word in this book I was hooked.  Rights were wronged, and new betrayals come to light.  There were twists and turns that take place like it does in all nine books of the series, but this time it felt different.  It felt final, and man does that hurt to write.  The story felt like Ty & Zane: passionate, determined, faithful, loyal and amazing wrapped in 413 pages of pure wonderful.  I went into this one with a sense of dread yet a calmness of sorts.  I knew that I would be seeing them in upcoming sidewinder books, but this was their goodbye, their farewell, their finale.  It was my chance to mourn the final book, yet it was my chance to say goodbye and wish them well.

I would have loved to have reviewed this book from a non-emotional standpoint.  That just couldn’t happen, I love these books, and the characters that fill them.  They have been a part of my life for almost three years and they hold a place in my heart that they will always hold.  Look here is the thing, if you are reading this review you probably fall into one of two categories. One: you are already a Cut & Run fan and you are following this tour because you ARE a fan and you are showing support for Abi and these books.  So you have probably already read, are currently reading, or will be reading Crash & Burn very soon, so really this review would be unnecessary for you anyway.  (But thanks for reading anyway)  And if you fall into the second category: you have yet to read these books.

All I want to say if you fall into the second one is, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE pick this series up.  Try them, fall in love with them like I have.  Each one gets better and better, and you will fall harder and harder for these characters.  You will recommend them to readers who have not yet read them.  You will find people like you who love them just as much, and you will spent hours chatting about them.  You will read them and re-read them over and over because you just can’t get enough of them.  When someone ask you your favorite book and/or series this will be what you tell them.  How do I know, cause everything I just said applies to me.

Thank you Abi for the perfect final book for these boys.  Thank you for letting me love them.  Thank you  for sharing their journey to happy ever after with me and the rest of your minions.  Thank you.

Abigail Roux was born and raised in North Carolina. A past volleyball star who specializes in sarcasm and painful historical accuracy, she currently spends her time coaching high school volleyball and investigating the mysteries of single motherhood. Any spare time is spent living and dying with every Atlanta Braves and Carolina Panthers game of the year.

Abigail has a daughter, Little Roux, who is the light of her life, a boxer, four rescued cats who play an ongoing live-action variation of Call of Duty throughout the house, a certifiable extended family down the road, and a cast of thousands in her head.

If you care to follow me more closely, you can find me on Twitter, Facebook, and Tumblr.

 Follow this link to find detailed info on the go-bag prizes, but make sure you comment here to enter!

Abi Roux Tumblr

Thanks for stopping by! You can follow the entire tour by going to Riptide Publishing.

I would like to give a BIG THANK YOU to Abi Roux and Riptide for letting us take place in this Virtual Blog Tour.