Three the Hard Way by Sydney Croft is book 7 of the ACRO series but can be read as a stand alone novel.  Three very strong men have some serious problems to overcome before they figure out if they can make this unique relationship work. I received a copy of this book at no charge through Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion.  This post contains affiliate links.

Three the Hard Way by Sydney Croft

Title: Three the Hard Way
Series: ACRO Book 7
Author: Sydney Croft
Publisher: Riptide Publishing (November 29, 2014)
ASIN: B00QE8PE4O
Format/Length: 3963 KB/164 pages
Genre:  M/M/M, Contemporary, Paranormal
Heat Rating: 4
Star Rating: 3

Purchase Link:

Amazon / Goodreads / Riptide Publishing

Author Info:

You can learn more about the author by checking out the author website.

Blurb:

Lovers Taggart Brody and Justice McKinney possess special abilities that make them valuable to agencies who employ—or enslave—people with extraordinary talents. When tragedy tears them apart, Justice finds purpose working for the good guys: ACRO, the super-secret Agency for Covert Rare Operatives. But he never forgets Taggart or the past they once shared.

Heartbroken, Taggart runs from who he is . . . right into the arms of Ian Bridges. But Ian, battling his own demons, betrays Tag to the terrorist organization Itor. After months of torture, Tag manages to escape, but kills an ACRO agent in the process.

With nowhere left to turn, Tag disappears into the Alaskan wilderness, but it’s only a matter of time before his enemies track him down. He reaches out to Justice, and somehow Ian finds him too, hoping to right his wrongs. With ACRO and Itor both bearing down, the three men must figure out how to forgive, how to work together, and how to love each other—or the coming battle will destroy them all.

My Review:

This is my first experience with books set in the ACRO world and while things were a tad bit complicated to understand at first, the author did a  good job of filling in the pieces very quickly.  You got a general idea of the world the men were living in and some of their back story right off to help you jump right into the story.

Tag and Justice grep up together with some very special powers.  They were closer than brothers as children and as they got older, the physical part of the relationship developed and they fell hard for each other.  Then, tragedy struck and choices were made that tore the two of them apart.

Tag is leery of giving his heart away again but falls for Ian many years later.  Too bad Ian isn’t quite what he seems and betrays Tag in the worst possible way.  Ian wasn’t really given much of a choice, though, and watches horrified as Tag is ripped away from him.

Tag is about to fall into the hands of the captors that had once held him hostage but he turns to his long lost friend for help.  Justice comes running as soon as he knows that Tag needs him again but so does Ian and the three of them end up in the Alaskan wilderness fighting for their lives.

I loved the characters that this author created.  Justice is so determined to help Tag stay safe that he will go on the run with him if his bosses don’t promise him protection.  Tag seems so hard on the outside but you can see he is emotionally scarred from losing two men he loved over the past decade.  And Ian is so torn between ‘good and evil’…you can just tell he has a good heart, even if he has been working for the wrong side up until now.

The first thing I really didn’t like about the book was that this was an ‘insta sex’ kind of story.  I get that Tag and Justice have a history and they had a physical relationship in the past but they literally see each other, argue, and fall into each others arms.  I like my characters to interact a bit more at the beginning of the story before the physical nature of the relationship kicks in.  Helps build a little sexual tension…

The rushed sex leads into a story that seemed rushed as well.  Although the characters were well written, and the storyline seemed well thought out, I felt like the whole thing was unfolding too quickly.  There is a lot of action, a lot of sex, and alot of information to process.  Slowing down the whole story would have made it more enjoyable.

Overall, Three the Hard Way by Sydney Croft is a good book and if you love the ACRO world, you will probably love seeing how this plays out.  I do think that it would have been a better story will a few more chapters!