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A review by eesh25
Ground Zero by Aimee Nicole Walker
4.0
In January, I'd planned to start a bunch of new series, and five of them were romances. Out of those five, this is somehow the only one that worked out. Two books I hated, one series only had a single book out, and one I'm not sure I want to continue despite liking it quite a bit.
This book follows Royce Locke and Sawyer Key. Sawyer has recently joined the police department, and he's Locke's new partner. The two have a rough start because Locke's still dealing with the loss of his old partner. He's a bit douchy at first. Nothing too bad, though, and it gives us fun banter. He's also straightforward about why he's behaving the way he is and how he didn't want a new partner, and I really appreciated that.
The story is half about the cases Locke and Sawyer work on and half about their relationship, whether it's as work partners or romantic ones.
And you know, of the two I books hated in January, this was what I'd wanted one of them, Orientation, to be. It was interesting and fun. We got to investigate murders, it had good banter, and there was the beginning of a romance that will develop in the next two books. I really liked reading it.
Speaking of the cases, because yes, there were multiple (two of them, to be exact), neither of them was a big mystery. They were normal cases without any criminal masterminds involved. The murderer was often the one Locke and Sawyer thought it was. And I mention this because I buddy read the book, and the lack of mystery bothered the person I read it with. For me personally, I liked the mundanity of the cases. They were interesting still, and we got to see Sawyer and Locke work together.
I did feel that the first case the protagonists worked on went too fast. But the pace stabilized after that, and I really didn't have any issues with the book after. I thought the writing was good, the cases were coherently presented, and the characters were likable.
I also liked the subplot with Sawyer still dealing with the loss of his husband and only just starting to get back into dating. The author was careful with how she presented his grief so that it was part of his story, but not overwhelmingly so. It gave him and Locke something in common, too, because they've both lost someone important to them.
Overall, this was a great read, and definitely one I'd recommend checking out. I'm starting the second book in a few days and excited to see how it'll go.
This book follows Royce Locke and Sawyer Key. Sawyer has recently joined the police department, and he's Locke's new partner. The two have a rough start because Locke's still dealing with the loss of his old partner. He's a bit douchy at first. Nothing too bad, though, and it gives us fun banter. He's also straightforward about why he's behaving the way he is and how he didn't want a new partner, and I really appreciated that.
The story is half about the cases Locke and Sawyer work on and half about their relationship, whether it's as work partners or romantic ones.
And you know, of the two I books hated in January, this was what I'd wanted one of them, Orientation, to be. It was interesting and fun. We got to investigate murders, it had good banter, and there was the beginning of a romance that will develop in the next two books. I really liked reading it.
Speaking of the cases, because yes, there were multiple (two of them, to be exact), neither of them was a big mystery. They were normal cases without any criminal masterminds involved. The murderer was often the one Locke and Sawyer thought it was. And I mention this because I buddy read the book, and the lack of mystery bothered the person I read it with. For me personally, I liked the mundanity of the cases. They were interesting still, and we got to see Sawyer and Locke work together.
I did feel that the first case the protagonists worked on went too fast. But the pace stabilized after that, and I really didn't have any issues with the book after. I thought the writing was good, the cases were coherently presented, and the characters were likable.
I also liked the subplot with Sawyer still dealing with the loss of his husband and only just starting to get back into dating. The author was careful with how she presented his grief so that it was part of his story, but not overwhelmingly so. It gave him and Locke something in common, too, because they've both lost someone important to them.
Overall, this was a great read, and definitely one I'd recommend checking out. I'm starting the second book in a few days and excited to see how it'll go.