Love in Spades

Four Kings Security Series, Book One

By: Charlie Cochet

Narrated by: Greg Boudreaux

Length: 7 hrs and 53 mins

Publisher's Summary

When the cards are stacked against you, the Kings will even the odds. 

Ex-special forces soldier Anston “Ace” Sharpe is fighting a different battle these days - one involving the world of private security across the state of Florida. As part owner of Four Kings Security, Ace and his fellow Kings tackle everything from armed transport and investigations to cyber intelligence and executive protection. Cocky, fearless, and brash, Ace isn’t afraid to take risks.  

After years of working alongside his father, Colton Connolly is ready to take the helm at Connolly Maritime, but his father’s retirement is put on hold when Colton begins receiving death threats. If that isn’t bad enough, his father signs a contract with Four Kings Security to provide Colton with round-the-clock protection, despite his adamant refusal. Colton’s life has been turned upside down, the last thing he needs is a shadow, especially in the form of infuriating, sexy-as-sin Ace Sharpe, who seems to be on a mission to drive Colton mad.  

Sparks fly the moment Colton and Ace meet on a sultry night club dance floor. But getting involved with a client, even one as fiery and beautiful as Colton Connolly, is a line Ace is unwilling to cross. Colton might be attracted to Ace, but he's been burned before. He might be willing to put his life in Ace’s hands, but not his heart.  

As the Florida nights heat up, so does their passion, and Ace and Colton are faced with a difficult choice - take the plunge and risk it all, or play it safe and walk away? 

If Ace can keep a deadly threat from robbing Colton of a future....

©2018 Charlie Cochet (P)2018 Charlie Cochet

Terrific Narration!

Four Kings Security specializes everything from armed transport and investigations, to cyber intelligence, and executive protection. The business is owned by four friends and family, who served together in Special Forces until they lost half their unit. The "Four Kings" are Ward "King" Kingston, Eduardo "Lucky" Morales, Russell "Red" McKinley, and Anston "Ace" Sharpe. When they are approached by Paxton Connolly to protect his son, Colton, Ace is assigned on twenty-four hour bodyguard duty, which is tricky because Colton is against needing any protection. This type of work would normally be a piece of cake, but Ace is taken with Colton from the moment they meet. Falling for Colton means compromising not only his security, but it could put Ace's entire business, and the Four Kings reputation, at risk. Love in Spades has a ton of great banter between the guys, plenty of tension, action, and steam. Throw Greg Tremblay, under his sexier Boudreaux brand, into the mix and you have a combination that will delight your ears. I loved how Greg brings out the sweeter hurt/comfort elements to the story, his character voices were easy to follow, and he keeps the pace flowing effortlessly. Simply put this is just a treat to listen to! Told in a dual POV, Love in Spades is low angst, sexy, full of action, has a happy ending with an obvious series setup, and terrific narration.

Love in Spades, Four Kings Security book 1

Update to my book review after listening to the audio…. I would highly recommend this book in both formats, and I am giving both the book and Narration 5 Solid Stars. Audio - I thought this book was great when I read it, so automatically purchased the audio format when I saw it was available and I am so glad I did. I really didn’t think it was possible but the Audio narration performed by Greg Boudreaux gives this book so much more dimension than the book already had. It was absolutely fantastic. Greg did a great job with all of the characters, not just the main two Ace and Colton, but all of the other kings, and their family and friends included in this story as well. I found myself laughing out loud along with the characters and their funny antics in this book. And even though I’ve read this book previously I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next with the emotion and tones for the story that the narrator set us up with. OMG, and when Greg switches between English and Spanish *Swoon* He had me melting in my seat, I loved every second of it. This was such a good introduction to a new series by Charlie. After reading this one, you will just know that the following books in this series will be as good, if not better. Great Characters, and the storyline just flows really well throughout the entire book. You get some romance, some laughter, some action, and a twist at the end you will not see coming. And you get to meet some of the other men who will be showing up in the next few books in this series. I cannot wait to see how this whole series plays out. Ace, is one part of The Four Kings Security Company. Ace and his friends, who are basically family and brother-in-arms, started the company after their time in the military together. They all have some demons to deal with which I am sure we will learn more about as the series progresses. But they all have great personalities as well, and Ace’s really stands out in this book, he is fun to read and hear about. And his snarky interactions with Colton are hilarious at times. Colton is about to become the new CEO of his father’s company when the threats start arriving. His father decides to have The Four Kings set up as Colton’s security detail which puts him in direct contact with Ace. He hates that he needs security and decides to make his "bodyguard" as annoyed as possible. And of course being thrown together 24-7 has its own set of challenges especially after they decide they might just like each other more than they want to admit. There's some funny banter between the two during their time together, and some steamy nights they have to keep hidden until the danger passes. And a nice Action scene and twist at the end, that I'm assuming will help lead the way into book two. Overall, this book was nicely done and I look forward to the next one.

Amazing start to a new series!

OMG I loved this so much & can't wait for the next book in the series. Ace & Colton were so hot together & I want more. I loved the secondary characters & can't wait for everyone to find their significant others. Greg Boudreaux made this story so much better. I love how he brings the characters to life. Even knowing who the "players" are, nothing jumped out at me during this second reading that says "hey look at me I'm the bad guy".

I'll look elsewhere first.

Why are so many MM stories written by women? I'm sorry, that flowery overly adjective-ized writing just won't work for sex scenes between men. Stick to what you know from your own experience, you simply cannot imagine what men do together. Gay culture had to grow in the shadows. Gay folk are not perverted but the learned habits and behaviors of the sub-culture that developed. as a result most likely are. Gay men had to cruise in parks and t-rooms to find each other, to find and share self expression and love that was both illegal and dangerous. Where their lives and careers could be ruined by a prejudiced establishment and overly-zealots police raids. our sexual patterns and lovemaking might be fairly vanilla or might be like swine rutting in the trough with abandon from all of society's rules. To subvert a common joke, "Men are pigs, but we love bacon!" The narration lacked nuance and the varied cadence of different characters, ever while the voice sometimes changed. And sometimes it was just bad acting. I hate when I have to re-recite a line in my head for it to make sence. It pulls me out of imagination. Not a waste of time but for those two reasons, I'll look for other writers before I return to this series. Too bad, the plot was well developed and captivating. The narrative was otherwise well-written and compelling. AUDIBLE NOTE: this is a huge opportunity missed. There's a vast repertoire of LGBTQ writing just waiting to be tapped into. Everything from the Donald Strakey mysteries, where the detective's being gay is just a character work, to Felice Picano's story about a cop finding, and using, his hidden self to dangerously find a murderer. And then there's Dustin Lance Black who charmingly reads his own autobiography for Audible but not an adaptation of his celebrated screenplay for the movie "Milk".

Love it!

I'm in love with this book I can't wait for the next installment. I highly recommend it.

COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

I like the voice actor , Greg Boudreaux who is as good as always. I’m a bit disappointed with the series however. There’s no suspense and the plot of protecting the main character from an enemy trying to kill him is not mentioned as much as too much sex scenes.The two main characters are so engrossed with lust for each other that it over whelms the whole story. I tried this book twice and I just cannot continue the series. I have the THIRDS series by Charlie Cochet in my library and I have hoped that this series to be good too but unfortunately it did not meet my expectations.

Dangerous and scintillating.

I loved Charlie's weaving of suspense and romance. A very good read. I love listening in the car, but I took extra trips just to listen to more. I'm looking forward to more of Cochet's novels.

Charlie does it again!

Fantastic! I loved Ace and Colton and all the Kings. I can't wait for more

Charlie Cochet does it again!!! Love In Spades!!

Charlie Cochet does it again, Love In Spades is the first book in her new series Kings Security. From the beginning to the end of Love In Spades I laughed all the way through. The hot attraction between Ace and Colten made my speakers sizzle. The great part of the story was the humor and compatibility between the two men. It made for a great story and the plot twist of who was the actual bad guy made me gasp. The love and comradeship of the men who run Four Kings Security added to the story line and set it up for the next book in the series Be Still My Heart. I look forward to listening to the next book. Charlie Cochet brings all her stories together with humor and adventure and of course the romance between her main characters in this case Ace and Colton. The new series will be just as much of a hit as her Thirds series. Review by Sandra from Night Owl Reviews.

I couldn’t stop listening!

This book was fantastic! It had sexy times, suspense, action, emotion... and Greg did an amazing job! Just when I thought it was over, Charlie hit us with another action packed moment.. I LOVED everything about this book and listening to it. Greg brought it to life!!! Thank you both!

Cherry popped!

Sweet, hot and laugh out loud funny! A great introduction of a new to me author.

A new FAB author discovered

I love discovering an ‘auto buy’ new author! Charlie Cochet is definitely now one of them! Really well written! a story full of laughter, fun, depth and sexy play..Greg’s narration was spot on ! Off to down load the next in this excellent series 😃

WOW amazing

Loved Ace and Colton banter. In true Charlie Cochet style we have action and a whole lot of fun. Greg Boudreaux once again bought out all the characters brilliantly highly recommended

Ace of Spades

Read this when it first came out and loved it, but listening to it raises it to another level. The slow burn of Ace and Colton is a beautiful dance and Charlie Crochet's story draws you into the relationship. The plot twists are brilliant and surprising. Greg Boudreaux's narration is simply brilliant.

Charlie Cochet at her best!

Story: We meet an endearing group of brothers in arms who promise a LOT of awesomeness to come! Ace is first to find his happily ever after and both him and his partner were brilliant! There's laughter (and lots of it!), there are tears, there is heartbreak and hapiness. Charlie Cochet did it again! Narration: Perfect.

Love in spades

A great start to a new series featuring ex servicemen and best friends who start their own security business

great listen

great narration of a really GOOD book. Boudreaux nails it! will get the other books in audio when I can.

The perfect couple

Charlie Cochet and Greg Boudreaux are the perfect couple when it comes to entertainment via audiobook. Charlie has written a great story and Greg made it even better. Can't wait for the next King to be released on audio.

Sweet, funny, sexy

I loved this audiobook! The beginning, especially, was absolutely hilarious with the back and forth between Ace and Colton. Four hours of shoe shopping? That would drive anyone insane, especially not to buy anything The story was sweet, funny , and very sexy. The hot scenes were delicious. There was plenty of drama, suspense, questions, protective parents, discreet meet-ups, and some pretty big surprises about who could and couldn't be trusted. Great story! The narration was pretty good, but sometimes when Ace and Colton were talking I didn't know who was whom. I received a copy of this audiobook from the author at my request and have voluntarily left this honest review.

Awesome

After reading her THIRDS series, Charlie became a must read author for me. This series has just solidified the fact that if she is writing it, I want to read it. Colton and Ace are awesome characters -well developed, so well written and so very entertaining. I loved watching them grow throughout the book, as well as getting introduced to the restof the Kings. The Four Kings are all so different individually, and getting to know them briefly in this book made me so eager to read their stories. This is an awesome new series, and I cannot wait to read what comes next.