tried and trueStory Rating: 4 stars
Audio Rating: 4.5 stars

Narrator: Mark Westfield 
Length: 10 hours, 40 minutes

Audiobook Buy Links: Amazon/Audible | iBooks
Book Buy Links: Amazon | iBooks


Dex and Sloane are getting ready to say “I do” while also preparing to be officially sworn in as TIN operatives. But they also have plenty of time to spend with each other and their THIRDS family. Everyone is looking forward to the wedding, in true Destructive Delta style.

But when an old enemy shows up, the team is derailed as they work to bring down the Makhai once and for all. The team is called on for one last mission together, and it’s going to take all their cunning, as well as some outside help, to save one of their own. But Dex, Sloane, and the rest are determined to not only put down the bad guys, but save the day and have the wedding to beat all weddings as well. Dex and Sloane won’t stop until they have their happily ever after.

This last book in the THIRDS series needed to be epic, as it has been a long time coming. Though there will be other books in the world, and Dex and Sloane are going on to other things, this tenth book wraps up the main series. While a lot of it hit the mark for me, I have to say that it wasn’t everything I needed it to be, and it had a few problems as well.

What really works here is the core team. After all this time together, I feel like I know them well. I’ve been reading—and listening—since the beginning, and I’ve truly enjoyed the world Cochet has built. The characters, Dex and Sloane especially, drive the story. And while there are a lot of outside forces working to bring them down, they stay true to one another and their mission. These guys won’t stop, and their determination makes so much work. I love these characters, and I was thrilled that after everything, they were finally getting their happily ever after. Dex and Sloane have been through so much, and in this book, it felt like one last huge obstacle before they could get it.

On the one hand, this worked for the book. So much has happened through out the series and there are a lot of ends that need tying up. Cochet handles that fairly well. Questions are answered, and we finally see some resolution to some of the biggest problems. For Dex and Sloane, they’ve finally gotten over all their personal hurdles and they are getting their HEA that they so deserve. I liked, too, that it seemed to harken back to the early days of the series where suspense and mystery drive the plot more. That was something I was missing in the last few books, so it was good to see it here again.

But on the other hand, I also found it to be a bit of a detriment. There is so much going on, one thing after another, that I was sort of over it. There came a point near the end, when yet another crisis happens right before the wedding, that I actually thought “enough already.” For me, it was one thing too many and I wanted it to be handled differently. While I was glad we got a final resolution, it seemed like one more big thing that was then resolved too quickly and not entirely satisfactorily. I don’t want to give anything away here, so I’m being purposefully vague. But it didn’t work as well for me and brought down my enjoyment of the book.

I’ve listened to every book in this series, and by now you probably know that I’m a fan of Mark Westfield’s narration. He does an outstanding job with the characters, and it seems he knows them as well as we do. The intonations and characterizations are spot on, and he really embodies the characters, Dex especially. Now I will say here that there were quite a few noticeable inhalations that detracted from the overall narration, as well as a very occasional weird tone that threw me. However, the narration on the whole was exceedingly well done, as always.

I really enjoyed this series, particularly in audiobook format. There have been a few I’ve listened to more than once. If you like law enforcement, incredible world building, and shifters done a tad differently, then the THIRDS series is one you want to pick up. I highly recommend it in audio. If you’ve been listening all along, then you’re definitely going to want to add this final book to your collection.

A review copy of this book was provided by Dreamspinner Press.

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