Against the Grain

THIRDS Book 5

De: Charlie Cochet

Narrado por: Mark Westfield

As the fiercest defense agent at the THIRDS, Destructive Delta's Ash Keeler is foul mouthed and foul tempered. But his hard-lined approach always yields results, evident by his recent infiltration of the Coalition. Thanks to Ash's skills and the help of his team, they finally put an end to the murdering extremist group for good, though not before Ash takes a bullet to save teammate Cael Maddock. As a result, Ash's secrets start to surface, and he can no longer ignore what's in his heart.

Cael Maddock is no stranger to heartache. As a recon agent for Destructive Delta, he has successfully maneuvered through the urban jungle that is New York City, picking up his own scars along the way. Yet nothing he's ever faced has been more of a challenge than the heart of Ash Keeler, his supposedly straight teammate. Being in love isn't the only danger he and Ash face as wounds reopen and new secrets emerge, forcing them to question old loyalties.

©2015 Charlie Cochet (P)2015 Dreamspinner Press

Can't get enough

unbelievable Charlie has yet again outdone herself with another incredible romance about destructive Delta I enjoyed being an ashs head, I cannot get enough and cannot wait to read every other book she's published fantastic miss please keep it up!

Awesome fun to watch Ash and Gabe

What made the experience of listening to Against the Grain the most enjoyable?

The deepening of the characters

What does Mark Westfield bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

the different voices are amazing and only get better

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

The holidays were hilarious

B+ rating...

My Review:
Overall...4.0
Performance...3.25
Story...4.25

Okay, I need to get this part out here first. I've adored Mark Westfield's narration of the rest of this series, including how he inflected Cael and Ash, and his voices haven't changed for them in this book. BUT that was when they were they were side characters in the other stories. There are a LOT of male voices to this series and Mark Westfield does an AMAZING job making them all sound completely different. My issue with this book is personal. Both Cael and Ash have softer, more...not really feminine...but ultra sweet, maybe even a little more swishy voices. And before this book, they totally fit the sweet moments between these guys. Having them as the leads in their own book though, that over the top sweet pitch to their voices just got to be too much, especially since these are hard-core soldiers. There were even times that the tone of the narration made the dialogue seem WAY too sappy and I don't think I would have felt that way if I'd been reading the book myself rather than listening to it.

But this book is so much more than just its audio (and again...if you like audio, give this one a chance. The narrator is GREAT. My personal taste just didn't like his voices for these characters...but that is probably just me).

I'm so happy that Charlie Cochet chose to write Ash and Cael's story and it's an action-packed story filled with SO MANY twists and turns. I was honestly shocked at how it all worked out in the end as I did not see so much of that coming...but YIPPEE...I love what she did there at the end. This book is also fantastic for this time of the year because Ash is thrown into the whole family dynamic during the holidays. Something that kept me laughing through so much of the story because Dex and Ash in the same space, there are going to be fireworks!

It was a fun book with a great addition to the story. I love getting to see the whole team and am really hoping that someday Charlie Cochet will write a Calvin and Hobbes story. I want to know so much more about these two. The entire series is filled with an amazing cast of characters and honestly, I'd be good with reading about all of them forever. Love the Thirds and am so happy for Cael and Ash!!

Keep writting!

This is the fourth book in this series, but the MCS are ash and cael. So if u havent read the first three books u will be very confused and be missing out too. I liked this book and liked that i got to hear their story too, but i kind of missed the MCs from the first books allthough they are in this book as well. But it is a must read if u liked the other ones. Narrator does a good job. There is a lot of characters in these books so if u have trouble with a lot of different people, u might want to read them instead so that u will be able to use the list of characters in the beginning - does not make a lot of sense in an audiobook.

A winner.

Charlie Cochet and Mark Westfield are a superb combination! You can't go wrong with this book.

Nothing Against This Book

I've got nothing to say against this book. Cochet has created a unique and dangerously sexy world with men who protect and serve, and love with ferocity. This book moves some story lines forward that I'd hoped to see evolve. These books are like a TV show you want to binge! Believe me, once you start the series, you won't want to stop. But definitely start with book one

I can't believe I stumbled upon this series

Omg can't wait for the next one great job Charlie. Awesome work Mike
I'm completely hooked

The plot thickens!

There’s so much more to this series and it keeps getting better! Truly a great one to binge listen to!

Nail-biting Suspense with a twist

If you could sum up Against the Grain in three words, what would they be?

Didn't expect that!

Who was your favorite character and why?

This time I choose Ash. Not only because it was in his view for the most part, but we saw another side of him. the gentler side of the Lion.

What about Mark Westfield’s performance did you like?

I think his performance grows with each new story. I still especially like the sound effects when they are using phones, coms, bullhorns or talking in echoey buildings. It's really cool!

Any additional comments?

Against the Grain is book five in the Thirds series. You might be able to read/listen as standalone, but I think it's best you go in order.

Against the Grain is Ash and Kales story, mostly Ash. We still get a lot of Sloane and Dex and the other guys as well, but it's more about Ash, his past, his relationship with Kale and how he deals with it.

I found myself falling a bit for Ash in the story. Once we see why he is like he is and understand him it's hard not to.

There is a mystery and suspense, as usual, this time with quite a twist. I was totally n shock by it all.

If you like mystery/suspense, unusual shifters, cat shifters, a touch of science fiction, special ops, romance, and some hot man-sex, this is for you!

Hmmmmm

The 5th opus is on the verge of cheesy, the romance part becoming a bit too important in comparison to the plot. Still nice and gripping enough to make you want to know what's next 😉 The narration is very good, as usual, even if Ash's voice does not fit the character very well in my opinion, too smooth and kind. Anyway, I'll certainly buy the next audiobook 😊