Excellent!

Great continuation of the Gravediggers series! Another home run. Elias and Miller's romance is one for the history books. Looking forward to the next in the series! ( )

Gone to Dust is book 2 in the gravediggers series and focuses on Elias, the former Navy SEAL and Miller, the romance novelist. I really liked Miller in book 1 because she is quirky and spunky. She is also sarcastic and intelligent. Her and Elias had some sparks, but Elias leaves her high and dry after a makeout session that leaves her 1/2 undressed on her front porch. So, to say Miller loathes Elias is an understatement. Her hurt her pride and her libido so she is extra snarky when he is around.

Miller's parents were treasure hunters. They spent their lives looking for relics from King Solomon until they died in a plane crash. Justin, Miller's older brother, joined the Navy, but has now left the military and is continuing his parents research. Then Miller gets a package from Justin and her world changes. She has to save him, and to do that, she needs John Cena (seriously, that is who she keeps asking for!). Cena isn't available but the Gravediggers are.

Gone to Dust reminded me a bit of Indiana Jones meets James Bond meets Get Smart. You have the history and treasure hunting aspect of Indiana Jones, which I always find fascinating. You have the spy stuff that is reminiscent of Bond, and the bumbling antics of Miller and Tess that remind me of Get Smart! Its an odd sort of blend, but it works. The Darkest Corner, book 1, was not what I expected. The suspense and danger were less heavily featured and the story was more like a Stephanie Plum book until the end. Its not a bad thing, but it was unexpected. So, going into Gone to Dust, I had a better idea of what to expect. I love the friendship and camaraderie between Tess and Miller. Books that include positive female friendships are always welcome!

The relationship between Miller and Elias is really kind of a hate to love story. They are both attracted to each other on a physical level, but push the other away for various reasons. This leads to some great banter and some even more amazing monologues from Miller!

While you could read this as a stand alone, you might be a little confused about the Gravediggers. Gone to Dust gives a little background, but not a lot so you might be a little confused.

If you love an enemies to lovers trope with a dash of danger and a bit of treasure hunting, Gone to Dust will keep you entertained for a weekend read!



 

• POV: 3rd


• Tears: no


• Trope: treasure hunting, secret identity


• Triggers: none


• Series/Standalone: stand alone within a series


• Cliffhanger: no


• HEA: yes

East of Redemption by Molly E Lee, books by Susan Stoker, Laura Griffin, Cynthia Eden...then you will probably like Gone to Dust!

 


Gone to Dust






 See full review on The Book Disciple ( )

2nd book in the series.
Miller and Elias. She doesn't believe in love even though she is a romance writer. He has no future he can make plans for. Yet they are drawn to each other.
Enter the drug cartel and adventure, daring and heroics ensues.

Her cranky persona in the mornings was funny and I liked that he found it humorous. ( )

If you were dead, could you deal with it?

Okay, these super-trained men are not really dead, however they died in the eyes of the world, and there cross-over was brutal, that is, the leaving and returning to the living. They are now employees at Last Stop Mortuary, a cover for what their purpose really is. They are men who are top, or were, in their chosen careers, now using some really super technology to oust the men bent on destroying the world. The gravediggers operate as an elite team, working to fight terrorism.

So how does Miller Darling, a romance novelist, always on deadline (sound familiar, you writers?) hook up with these characters? The whole town is ogling the men who have been hired at the Last Stop Mortuary. Even the name of the town, coupled with the word, mortuary, gets me laughing and I managed to laugh all the way through except when I was on pins and needles--plenty of action and suspense!

There are scenes full of deep mirth and some very outrageous dialogue. One particular one has UPS ring Miller’s doorbell. She’s got a sign on her front door ‘Do Not Disturb’. Unfortunately, the deliverer needs a signature. Miller has been writing non-stop for three days, looks and probably smells like hell. She is right in the middle of writing an exquisite love scene, in tune with the total experience. Her novel’s characters are King Solomon and Queen Sheba. Here’s a small excerpt that just cracked me up!

Excerpt:

She took his hand and kissed it softly, and then she joined him on the bed, sliding the sheet from his body and moving over him, so she was poised to take him into her. Their hands clasped and their gazes met, and he knew this would be a spiritual experience, that they would truly meld—mind, body, and soul—with their union.

His jaw clenched and sweat beaded on his skin as her heat enveloped him. And then her head fell back with a moan as she sank down on him. The world spun away as pleasure unlike he’d ever known surrounded him.

His vision dimmed and the incessant chime of a doorbell rang in his ears.

“A doorbell?” Miller Darling said, shaking herself out of the scene she’d been writing. “What the hell?”

She snarled and her head snapped up at the interruption. She was going to kill someone. No jury would convict her. The sign on the front door clearly said, “Do Not Disturb.”

Her ensuing temper lashed at the poor UPS man. Hysterical reading—a bit more excerpt:

“I don’t care if you’re delivering gold bullion or the electric pencil sharpener I ordered three months ago and never received. The sign says ‘Do Not Disturb.’ Do you know how long it’s going to take me to get back in the mood?”

His eyebrows raised and his mouth opened and closed a couple of times. “No?” he said, phrasing it like a question. He was starting to look scared. Good.

“That’s right. You don’t know, she said. “Lovemaking like that can’t just be performed on a whim. It takes preparation and the right frame of mind. I had the candles lit and the music playing, and she was about to ride him like a stallion. You’ve set me back hours at least. How would you lie it is someone kept ringing the doorbell right before you were about to have an orgasm?”

Hysterical, right? This type of book can either be offensive or just a riot to read, depending on the sensibilities of the reader. The whole town is a little bit off kilter, but charming and endearing.

Elias Cole, one of the men working for the mortuary is not only ogled by the town women, but he’s ogling Miller. As outrageous as she is, she’s just the sort of woman he needs. Elias has denied himself any permanent relationship, since his life is nothing he can offer a woman. The chemistry between the two of them is explosive. Elias has the control of just walking away, driving the hot-tempered, spit-fire writer crazy! She's tempted to write him into a story and knock him off!

Justin, Miller’s brother, considerably older than she is has been out of her life for a long time. She receives a couple of letters a year from him. But things heat up when she receives his finger and ring in the package delivered by that UPS man. Who better to talk this over with, is her friend Tess, who she tells everything. In book one, Tess married one of the ‘dead’ men, so she has connections to aid Miller to find her brother, but Miller doesn't know about Tess's secret new life.

One thing Miller believes in, is family. She's ready to go find her brother, with or without help.
You’ll want to indulge in this series, the whole thing, because the plot is unique, the humor is snarky, Tess and Miller, friends since childhood, will entertain and warm your heart. The men are brave with brawn and do what's right, not necessarily what they're told to do!

Book three, here I come! ( )