Rating: 4.5 stars
Buy Links: Amazon
Length: Novel
Clint “Tomcat” Sommers never believed that he would have a life outside of the CIA, nor did he want one. He immerses himself fully into every job he is given. His latest assignment is infiltrating the motorcycle club the “Killers” to become a trusted enforcer, a job that has taken years. Finally, the CIA is ready to move in on the Killers but the newest member of the gang is getting in the way of Clint’s hard work. Jace caught Tomcat’s eye months ago, but letting people know he is gay in a motorcycle club will likely blow his cover or get him killed.
Jace Reynolds is an active Navy SEAL that was recruited to the Killers because of his cousin, Kenny. Jace has always looked out for Kenny and blamed himself for not being around when Kenny joined the motorcycle club. Jace approached the FBI to make a deal when he found out that the Killers were dealing drugs and gun-running. Since the FBI had been unable to infiltrate the gang with any of their agents, they made a deal with Jace to trade intel of illegal activity within the motorcycle club in exchange for placing Kenny in Witness Protection and keeping him safe. As Kenny is his only remaining family, Jace would do anything to keep him protected.
Jace figured out Tomcat was undercover when he met the man, but didn’t tell Tomcat he’s working with the FBI. He refused to blow Tomcat’s cover, but he also didn’t want to do anything to jeopardize Kenny with the Killers before he could get him out safely. So even though he couldn’t stop thinking about Tomcat, Jace never made a move to show interest in him. But when Jace has a near death experience on a dangerous mission, he makes a vow to pursue his attraction to Tomcat.
While he does want Jace, Tomcat has never let his personal life interfere with his professional life. That is to say, he’s never let himself have a personal life. But when circumstances put the men in close quarters for the weekend, they both discover a connection that was worth holding on to and learning more about. They decide to see where things can go for two career men constantly traveling to undisclosed locations on a moment’s notice.
While trying to have a relationship with demanding careers is hard enough for these two men, what may be harder is actually being honest with each other and themselves. Getting to know one another is next to impossible because their careers keep them away from each other months at a time. The past, secrets, and lies threaten to tear them apart before they even begin.
Bound by Danger is the fourth book in the Men of Honor series by S.E. Jakes and I have read all of the previous books. I was excited to read this one because I was drawn to Tomcat’s story when he was introduced in book two, Bound by Law. There was something about him that made me want to know more. Whether it was his “lost boy” status or the mystery man he was, I couldn’t wait to see his story come to life.
When reading a book, I like most of all to be able to actually picture what’s happening in my head. In Bound by Danger that was easy for me. I could see these things happening in real life, kind of. I’m not sure what goes on in the CIA or in the Navy SEALs, but my imagination was able to run wild with this book to a point where I imagine cloak-and-dagger and enter-and-extract is the norm for some people. It was exciting and the author did a great job incorporating real life with military/spy life.
I fell in love with these two guys from the beginning. The characterization of Tomcat and Jace was almost perfect for me. They are very masculine men with special ops training, devoted fully to their careers, and have little to no life outside of their teams and supervisors. They are imperfect in a way that’s loveable. Yet, they’re frustrating to a point of throwing the book across the room. But if I did that, I would have never finished.
All of the obstacles Tomcat and Jace face were daunting and, at times, it felt like there was no way they would make it with everything holding them back. Tomcat surprised me the most because I did not expect him to be the one who was so open with his life, at least at the beginning. He seemed to have more to hide – from his family to his career. He seemed to be the one likely to keep his personal life close to the vest. Jace took a little more time to break down the wall – from his concern for his naïve cousin and his deal with the Feds, to his family life. At the beginning, I thought he would be the first to spill all of his secrets, but maybe I only thought that because he was so open with his teammate in the first scene.
The flow of this story worked well. It was exciting at times, sweet at times, and completely maddening at other times. There was a lot of information given and several things happening at once, but the author managed to keep the confusion minimal if there was any at all. There was also a story within a story which included Jace’s friend and fellow teammate, Sawyer, and their Navy SEAL CO, Rex. I believe it’s foreshadowing for a future book for the two. It didn’t distract from the main story line too much and I enjoyed the reprieve their story brought at times. But there were other times it began to seem like the book consisted of four main characters instead of just Tomcat and Jace. The storyline with Rex and Sawyer never really concluded so I believe the author was just gearing up for another novel with the two.
My only real problem was the military lingo. I enjoyed reading about the ops Jace ran when he was away from home but the military acronyms kind of threw me for a loop because I didn’t know what they meant and there was no explanation or glossary. It would be nice to know what FOB, PTB, OUTCONUS, or BUD/s training means, especially since some of them are used several times throughout the book.
All in all, I really enjoyed Bound by Danger. I liked that things weren’t easy between Jace and Tomcat. I enjoyed that it was a romance but not all hearts and flowers. These are two men’s men who spend blood, sweat, and tears trying to make a relationship work. And truthfully no relationship is supposed to be easy. It’s not easy but if you work hard for it, it means more. And I believe the author showed that in the end.
Cover: Angela Waters did an excellent job on this cover bringing out the motorcycle theme that ultimately brings the two characters together, as well as using models that you can easily place in the military or CIA.
These are all the books in the series in order:
