Darkest Hour Before Dawn

THIRDS

By: Charlie Cochet

Narrated by: Mark Westfield

Length: 10 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's summary

THIRDS Team Leader Sebastian Hobbs and Chief Medical Examiner Hudson Colbourn are as much in love now as they were nearly seven years ago when a tragic event on the job destroyed their relationship. The two drift together only to be pulled apart time and time again. When Hudson draws the interest of dangerous enemies, both within and outside the organization, Seb wants nothing more than to protect the man who still means everything to him.

As life-and-death events, an uncertain future, and startling truths draw Hudson and Seb to each other yet again, they must make a choice: trust their love and take strength from what they share, or lose what matters most...for good this time.

©2017 Charlie Cochet (P)2017 Dreamspinner Press

Was ok

Her four kings series is better... the twist is pretty predictable. Still enjoyed listening and will finish the series

Love Overcomes All

This was a little harder for me to get into compared to the other THIRDS books. Hudson was just a bundle of silly angst and put Sebastian Hobbs through hell. But the other characters and the humor of the series helped keep me entertained and I just exercised my suspension of disbelief. I ended up enjoying the book.

I did not see that coming!

This is book 9 in a series and they are best read in order. I have been waiting for Hudson's story ever since he was introduced and I was not disappointed. This series is so full of tough Alpha men that Hudson being a mild-mannered nerd, yet not too wimpy is refreshing plus I love a man with an accent. I've been waiting for Seb and Hudson's story and wasn't disappointed. And the cover? Whew!

Charlie Cochet has created so many awesome characters in this series, each with their own inner turmoils but tough with big hearts. In Darkest Hour Before Dawn, we veer off Dex and Sloane's team and have Sebastian. This story is a beautiful love story since these two were mated and torn apart 7 years back by a terrible work-related accident. There is also lots of action and several surprising twits. I did not see the end coming and can't wait for the next book.
The only issue I had is I would have liked more Sloane and Dex, but they are in the book and what we get is awesome!

These books are well-written and great to read but if you get a chance to hear them in narration do so. Mark Westfield lends voice to each character and I love is British accent for Hudson. I also love the sound effects he uses like the voices over the coms and phones.

If you like shifters, special ops, covert operations, a sweet love story, twists and some hot man-sex you will definitely like this book!
I highly recommend this series.

Loveable Hudson

I just love Hudson so much, he is one of my favorite characters in the series. And with my afore mentioned sentence if you haven't guessed, this book focus is on Hudson and Seb (YaY). Their love story is bitter sweet, so have tissues nearby, there are some rollercoaster moments.
And I got to say I'm loving the bad guy Wolf too, I don't know what it is but since he was first introduced he was such a gentleman, and yeah he did terrible things to our lovable Dex, I'll just blame it on Charlie Cochet she made such a lovable bad guy... Plus the narrator gives him such a sweet alluring accent.
And you find out a little secret about Wolf too..... Psssst... Tony Montana's Bad Guy speech comes to mind when I think about Wolf.....

still good

I was distracted by the change in Seb's voice. But the plot was awesome. and the ending worth it.

I’m not crying, you’re crying!

Seb’s and Hudson’s love story was a cautionary tale that circulated throughout THIRDS HQ and I’m glad to finally dive deep into their story.

We have glimpses of their story from the previous books in the series.. but this time, it’s from both their POVs.

Hudson’s self flagellation was hard to read. He was punishing himself and punishing Seb. On one point, it’s understandable as to how it became that way, but it’s heartbreaking whenever he gives himself and Seb hope, only to snatch it away again.

These two fought for their HEAs that when they finally, FINALLY, got their HEA, I got severely misty eyed. 🥺

Thrown in some plot twists and one plot line that I knew was gonna happen, this story makes for another great one in this series.

Five stars and more for Seb and Hudson.

Wonderful! Just simply wonderful

I have been wanting to read/listen to Seb and Hudson's story since the first time they were mentioned as being together and this story did not disappoint. You can literally feel the love between the two of them that has withstood so much hurt and pain. There is still the humor that you expect when dealing with the THIRDS but to finally have Hudson and Seb happy and together was an amazing journey. Mark Westfield continues to do a wonderful job with giving each character their own identity and brings the story to life in a wonderful way.

Best one Yet!

So happy this finally came out one of the best, great pair in this book and sooooo hot.

Mixed feelings, but overall really good

First the negatives:

The secondary title for this book could’ve been “___ Swallowed Hard.” I’d bet that sentence appeared every fifteen minutes of this ten-hour book. It got to be a running joke in my head.

The sticky-sweet romantic dialog and declarations were a little over the top.

This narrator has grown on me with all the previous books and I’ve gotten used to his characteristic phrasing and tone. I really like his voice. But, the English accents were truly terrible. That wouldn’t ordinarily be a big deal for me, but one of the two main characters in this book is English and has a LOT of dialog. What’s even worse is that Hudson’s voice sounded more like a woman than either Nina or Sparks did. It was really off-putting. Not one of Westfield’s beat efforts.

Now the positives:

The story is excellent. I’m really impressed with the world-building and the complexity of the plot and the characters. Also, the author seems to finally feel more comfortable writing the sex scenes. I really love this series and I’m sorry to know it’s almost over, this being the ninth in a ten-volume series. I’ve binge-listened to the whole series to the point where II’ve dreamt about Destructive Delta a couple of times. I love all these guys, especially Dex and Ash.

The heat scale for this one is 3.75 of 5 chili peppers. Fairly explicit, but still feels like the author is a tad uncomfortable with too much detail. I like it dirty. And, no man I know, straight or gay, reaches for wet-wipes right after they come. :)

Love the series

In order to fully understand this sequel then you will need to start from the beginning. All the stories are connected and each book tied into the other, now with this book I have patiently waiting to hear it but I will say I was thrown off by Sebs voice in this book reminds me of his mute brother Hobbs.However still a great story and loving the series