While in Florida visiting Demetrius’s parents, best friends and business partners Cody and Demetrius realize their feelings for each other run deeper than just friendship. As they each struggle with emotions that promise to either detonate or deepen their relationship, Demetrius must also deal with his mother’s health issues. When a missing person’s case hits a little too close to home, the two … two tangle with a creature so frightening it’s scaring alligators out of the Everglades and into the swimming pools!
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Here it is, here it is! The book of this series I was REALLY waiting for! The occasion when long-time friends Demi and Cody move into a loving partnership but this is a Critter Catchers book and writer Hank Edwards is interested in scaring readers first. The boys of Critter Catchers are separated by a family emergency that sends Demi to Florida. A couple of margaritas later and he’s crying over the phone to Cody who drops everything to drive to Florida with Demi’s aunt Amelia to meet him there. But Florida’s full of critters, too. And not all of them are gators! Something’s got the gators leaving the swamp for the safety of backyard pools and many people are being reported missing. At a point in the story, Demi and his aunt are having a talk in the backyard at the parent’s home. Cody is awakened by Aunt Amelia’s scream and he goes out to discover her gone and Demi knocked unconscious. After reviving Demi, both guys go out into the everglades with a major storm brewing and manage to retrieve Aunt Amelia in spite of a major tussle with the Swamp Monster. The swamp monster winds up being attacked and eaten by the gators he’d been running out of the everglades. The bones of dozens of missing human beings are located, leaving readers with a satisfactory resolution of the Critter Catching part of the book.
But now comes more terror in the story in the form of the bridge that’s built towards an intimate relationship between our boys! In earlier books as well as earlier in this particular story, the writer alludes to Cody’s changing feelings towards Demi. He goes from being more than just jealous of the time Demi spends with Oliver in Book 1 to his heart beginning to signal his body to take notice of Demi sexually in Book 2. Writer Hank Edwards gives readers a realistic version of how Cody and Demitri’s intimate interest in each other develops in Book 3. The catalyst? Demi walks in on Cody when he was masturbating. With his eyes closed, Cody is unaware that Demi has seen him. Being unaware of Cody’s past occasional interest in men, Demi is unaware he is the subject of the jerk-off session. Of course, the openly gay Demi is aroused and goes off to have his own jerk-off session with Cody as the subject. What could be more natural than that?! Finally, finally! They are getting somewhere.
The last two hours of the book are well spent with the boys clearly delineating the parameters of an intimate relationship. They are able to do this as they drive back home from Florida together as Aunt Amelia is sent along to fly back on an airplane. Demi’s concerned about lacking female sexual parts and Cody’s ability to affect a heteronormative life with a woman. Cody is concerned about being unaccustomed to what it means to be a gay man and being able to perform sexually to Demi’s standards. Both know they would not want to lose their friendship and would not risk it for the sake of a mere sexual encounter. With major points made and understood, the boys have the first time together! It was super hot, super sweet and so very satisfying for readers who’ve wanted these two together from the very beginning. That the writer takes time to write this for the reader’s enjoyment is AWESOME. He establishes a very credible, extremely plausible foundation for his protagonists moving forward to other books in the series.
Stars 4 ½
I’m glad the author switched up the location for this one. I like seeing these two out of their home environment.
The monster in this installment is, to me, the scariest so far. The ability to hide in plain sight and the quickness with which it strikes is creepy in the extreme. And the worst part, the ominous part, is that people are disappearing and there doesn’t seem to be that much concern among the residents.
These guys have a way of allowing the mundane to overshadow more serious or dangerous situations. But when the time comes to take care of business, finally, they do so with a vengeance.
The monster story is a significant part of this book, but there is also the budding relationship that they have finally decided to address.
Seeing them so vulnerable was lovely and touching. Best friends are tentatively reaching for more and trusting each other with their tender hearts. :::sigh:::
I look forward to Book 4.
Demetrius and Cody are wonderful characters, and I love that this third installment of their series finally focuses more on the possibility of them becoming a couple. The creature they have to fight here, on an emergency trip to Florida, is probably the scariest one so far. However, there is also lots of time spent dealing with family issues, as well as getting inside Cody’s and Demmy’s heads. When you are best friends and business partners, how do you know if it’s right to risk everything in hopes of finding real love?
This series is thoroughly engrossing. Each story has kept me on the edge of my seat. I’m so glad there are more stories for me to dive into, and I can’t wait to see how things go for Cody and Demmy once they get back home.
The story is getting better. I’m not sure what I’m enjoying more, how they confront horrid critters through amazing adventures, or the romantic dance that Demetrius and Cody made around each other deciding how to act about their feelings. Great reading!!!
I received this book as an ARC and this is my honest opinion
Swamped By Fear is the third book in the Critter Catchers series by Hank Edwards. Demmy and Cody are back and this time the action takes place on vacation visiting family down in Florida. We get another suspenseful, stressful, mysterious case to work out and survice… and there is some family drama to be dealt with. But we also get some movement in the area of the slow burn between these characters. We finally have admission of feelings! Enjoyed the humor and suspense, it fit perfectly with rest of series.
I received an advanced reader’s copy of the book and I am voluntarily leaving my honest review and recommendation.
Most. Stressful. Book. Ever.
I devoured this series so quickly that I didn’t even stop between books to write reviews, and instead am writing them all after having just concluded Book Six late last night. But with all of the titles lined up, I think I can point at this one and say it was my favorite. Relationship growth alone was brilliant. Hank Edwards so deeply touched on how important friendship is, and how much history Demmy and Cody have. He made them feel real, as if I’m sitting in the local bar with them, listening to antics from their childhoods, and sharing a round of beers. I’m not sure if I’ve read such an established friendship within the gay romance/fiction genre before.
And with that friendship, Cody is finally realizing, my God—Demmy is who I want and he’s been in front of me my entire life—their connection is so very precious and maybe not worth losing if their romantic feelings fall apart. The palpable fear is real and raw, and just made me ache for them both. Friendship to lovers is a challenge—fiction or real. And Edwards hit the nail on the head from beginning to end.
So despite these highs and lows with our beloved Critter Catchers, Demmy is whisked away to Florida to visit his folks, when he learns his mother is in the hospital. He was a surprise baby much later in their lives, so while her need for surgery is a shock to him, it’s also not entirely out of left field. Cody stays behind to man the business alone, but when he calls Demmy to check in, and his best friend is in tears, Cody’s old high school football rival Jugs agrees to act as stand-in Critter Catcher, while he and Aunt Amelia drive all the way down to Florida to be with Demmy and his parents.
Did I mention there’s a swamp monsters preying on the senior citizens in the retirement community? Because, oh yeah, there’s a swamp monster. And it’s been snatching the unaware, hauling them back to its hideaway, and eating them. And when the monster takes off with Aunt Amelia during a tropical storm, the only two that can rescue her are Demmy and Cody.
Legit, this is the only book in the series I had to physically set down and walk away from. There is a moment, which I won’t spoil—but holy God, Cody. We all need someone like him in our lives. Someone who looks at you with utter love and bravery and sincerity and says exactly what you need to hear at the exact moment it mattered more than any other.
Book Three makes the series.