Sidney Bell’s debut male/male romantic suspense Bad Judgment delivers an emotionally charged and adrenaline-packed story perfect for fans of Josh Lanyon’s Fair Game Embry Ford was a quiet, ordinary guy–until tragedy ripped his life apart. Now he’s living under the radar, desperate to hide his identity and determined to learn the truth behind what happened. Even if that means working for–and … if that means working for–and bedding–a man he loathes.
As a bodyguard to a shadowy arms dealer, Brogan Smith knows distractions can kill as easily as a bullet. But when he sets his eyes on his client’s sexy assistant, he can’t get him out of his mind. Even more unnerving: the closer he gets to Embry, the more Brogan starts to suspect he might be protecting the wrong man.
Embry was sure nothing but vengeance would satisfy him–until Brogan offers him something far more tempting. Now Embry must choose: punish the people who nearly destroyed him or fight for a future with the man who has become his entire world.
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I could not put this book down. Amazing character development. Deep and twisted plot line. Extremely well written. Definitely a page-turner.
THIS BOOK WAS INCREDIBLE!!
After several years in the army Brogan Smith is out and now works as a bodyguard. His newest client is a shady arms dealer and while he might have mixed feelings about this type of client it is a job like any other. All that changes the minute he sees his client’s assistant Embry Ford. Brogan doesn’t usually let his feelings get involved with men because he knows how easy it is for him to care too much but something about Embry pulls him in instantly. It is partially snark Embry can’t keep in check whenever Brogan is around, but he knows that there is something about this guy he can’t let go of.
Embry Ford an average guy until a terrible tragedy stripped away everything, he held dear. Now, years later he has been living under the radar gathering as much information as he could about the men responsible for ripping his life apart. He has made sacrifices including bedding the one man he loathes most in the world, but Embry has made peace with his choices until Brogan Smith turns up in his life. Brogan is everything dangerous and scary because he could be the reason that Embry risks losing everything, he has worked years to achieve.
Embry & Brogan are both fighting a battle they know they can’t win but that is thing about caring for someone, you will stop at nothing to protect them even if it means risking your own life.
This was my first Sidney Bell book, and I am impressed! This had the delicious hurt/comfort them that always hits my soft heart but neither one of these men were soft. The plotline was engaging and intriguing from the very first page and putting this book down was next to impossible. If I could complain about something it would be a more detailed explanation on what happened after everything unfolded. I was happy with the information we did get but a bit more information would have been nice.
Murder, mystery, intrigue and two seriously intense men with their own issues come together in Bad Judgement giving all the feels and sass!!
This book is a gem. It was so much more than I expected and an emotional ride for sure.
I knew going in that it would have a strong hurt-comfort theme and also contain some triggers such as domestic abuse and sexual assault. But that still didn’t prepare me for the ups and downs of this story.
Let’s just say I felt so much during this read. Which is pretty much the highest praise you could ever give a book.
There are so many different facets to this story, it’s hard to know where to begin. I did struggle a bit in the beginning, though. I put down the book several times, yet I kept coming back. And I’m so glad I didn’t give up, because this is really an amazing story. But at first, Brogan’s pursuit of Embry made me uncomfortable. He came on too strong and kept baiting Embry despite being shut down over and over. So initially I thought Brogan was acting quite juvenile and crude, as well as being completely tone-deaf. But I stuck it out, and when Embry started coming around I couldn’t put the book down.
The first third of the book was told exclusively from Brogan’s point of view. And that made the back-and-forth with Embry so brilliant. As a reader, I could just follow along on Brogan’s emotional roller-coaster while he tried to understand, and get closer to, Embry. It was a constant guessing-game and emotionally draining, feeling for Embry one moment then resenting him the next. It wasn’t until the story switched to his POV that I could say for sure that I even liked him.
So I was really impressed by this read. It’s such solid writing and such a well thought out plot, with all these individual threads coming together beautifully. It’s the story of a broken man getting put back together. It’s of all-consuming rage. Of grief. Of love. And it’s all wrapped up in a plot involving a dirty arms-dealer and people who will stop at nothing to keep from getting caught.
To me, the portrayal of Embry’s emotional state, and the way he reacted to (or rather, repressed) past and present traumas, felt very real. I think that’s my main takeaway from this book. That powerful depiction of Embry, floundering to find his footing when Brogan comes along and awakens parts of him he thought were lost forever. It’s beautiful and painful. Heart-wrenching.
This is simply a brilliant story and I can’t recommend this book enough. And I couldn’t be happier that I’ve found a new-to-me, potential favourite author.
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