On the Double (The Renegades Book 3) by Cara Dee - Review & Excerpt

Really enjoying this serial of action novellas from Cara Dee. Reese and River are committed to rescuing Shay, doing everything and anything it takes to find their kidnapped husband. The larger group of former military men are gathering and gearing up for the culmination of their desperate operation. On the Double is the 3rd part of this serial.

From the blurb:

The Renegades #3 • Romantic Suspense • Action • MMM

“It’s a fine line between not revealing your arsenal and creating disorder by showing your strength.”

Funny how calm you could feel when someone had ripped the heart out of your chest.

River and Reese Tenley had grown up on the fringes of society, spending most of their adult years as private military contractors in places nobody else wanted to go. It’d been the two of them against the world, and they’d never believed their missing puzzle piece had existed—until they’d met Shay. The young man who’d quickly become their everything.

So the moment he was kidnapped… The moment those sick bastards took Shay, the twin brothers had nothing left to lose.

The streets were going to run red with blood until they had their boy back.

SNik's Review:

Third in a four part series (The Renegades), must be read in order. Action suspense. Established poly (characters from the author’s book Breathless). Age gap. Quick read. Multiple POV. 

Reese and River are deep into their mission to bring Shay home, cutting a deadly swath through Carillo’s associates, murdering and torturing in order to find Shay. There are a few flashbacks to give some background to the relationship, showing pieces of when Shay met Reese and River, sharing their kink and showing the three of them declaring their love. 

I appreciated that Shay was no fragile flower. He is a fighter and survivor, hoping his husbands find him. It’s very apparent how much of a connection the three men have. A furtherance of the rescue as more of the group gather to help with the operation to kill off the heads of the cartel and bring their kidnapped family members home. 

Cliffhanger continuation leading to the finale.

Rating: 4 Stars

Lesetiger's Review:

On the Double is the third part of the four-part series The Renegades. You have to read the books in order, because the books build on each other.

The writing style is wonderful and easy-going, and I was in the story very quickly. 

In this volume, the reader learns more about the relationship of Reese, River and Shay. Through flashbacks, you learn how the brothers met Shay, how Shay messed up the brothers' lives, and how they declared their love for each other. Shay is a fighter, and literally so. He is being held captive and the brothers are merciless when it comes to Carillo and his men. They want to rescue Shay at all costs, which I can super relate to. The rescue operation is in full swing and more and more of Reese and River's work colleagues and friends are on board and doing everything they can to find Shay. They get closer and closer to the kidnappers. 

There is quite a bit of investigative work going on, there is a lot of action and suspense. However, I would have liked to read more about the development of Crew and Adrien's relationship from volume two.

The story was entertaining, a quick read, and ended with a cliffhanger. Now I'm really looking forward to the fourth volume and I hope for a happy ending.

Rating: 4 Stars

Tatted_book_freak's Review:

Ughhhhh!!!! Cara is literally annihilating my insides with these never-ending cliffhangers!!  There was so much happening in this installment, though, moving at a quick pace and a lot of ground covered. 

𝗔𝗹𝗹 𝘁𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲, 𝗦𝗵𝗮𝘆 𝗵𝗮𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗺𝗶𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗽𝗶𝗲𝗰𝗲 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗥𝗲𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗺𝗲. 𝗜𝘁 𝘄𝗮𝘀 𝗮𝘀 𝗶𝗳 𝘄𝗲’𝗱 𝗺𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗯𝗲𝗲𝗻 𝘄𝗮𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗵𝗶𝗺 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴.

We were finally given an insight into the throuple of the Tenleys, and it was evenly mixed with lust, passion, and filth! Their dynamic exists as one, and one for the ages at that! The few flashbacks, along with that intense ending, these three are the epitome of swoon-worthy and instantaneous juices flowing! 

“𝙔𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙨𝙬𝙚𝙚𝙩 𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙠 𝙞𝙨 𝙬𝙚𝙞𝙧𝙙𝙡𝙮 𝙚𝙭𝙝𝙞𝙡𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜,” 𝙄 𝙨𝙖𝙞𝙙. 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙙 𝙩𝙤. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝙄 𝙛𝙚𝙡𝙩. “𝙄 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙬𝙖𝙣𝙣𝙖 𝙠𝙞𝙨𝙨 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙨𝙞𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙝𝙪𝙢𝙥 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙡𝙚𝙜.”

Oh, how I love Crew!! Adrien and his’ banter is hilariously amusing. The constant reference to their age difference just adds more fuel to their fire, and keeps their fire ablaze!!  

I can not wait to FINALLY have these characters' happy endings! Would have inclined towards the same book, but it is what it is. Still sucked me in for the long haul. 

Rating: 5 Stars

On the Double is available to buy in ebook and paperback formats.

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Excerpt

“I need a moment alone with Reese,” River continued. “We’ll be back online in a minute.”

I frowned, confused, but switched off my comms for the moment.

River jogged back down the hill until he stopped in front of me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

He scrubbed a hand over his jaw, hesitating.

I dimmed the glow of my headlight so I didn’t blind him.

“Remember our talk in Moscow?”

Fuck. Of course I did.

I swallowed hard.

Jesus Christ, he couldn’t throw those memories in my face. We’d moved on. We were different men today—we didn’t exist on the brink of death. And in Moscow…we’d never been closer to losing our lives. But River was the one who’d had a red dot on his forehead.

 

“There’s no me without you. If you die…”

 

“Don’t be stupid, Reese.”

River took a step closer and stared at me. “I don’t wanna have that conversation with our roles reversed, but it still applies. If you don’t come back… If I lose both of you—”

I clenched my jaw as a surge of anger rushed through me. “We’re getting out of here, and we’re bringing Shay home. You got that?”

Our minds were usually so synched that it was rare he caught me off guard, but I’d clearly missed something here. I saw it now too. His eyes burned, and I sensed what he was leaving unsaid. It wasn’t just about me. He didn’t know if he could go on if we lost Shay for good.

“Promise me,” he murmured hoarsely.

I closed the distance between us and cupped the back of his neck, and our helmets touched. “Nothing’s gonna happen to me, Riv. I swear to you.”

We had our weak moments. Lord knew he’d picked me up off the floor more than a few times these past two weeks.

He nodded once and cleared his throat. “We have to find him. He’s gotta be okay.”

I nodded too.

He broke our gaze and looked down, his exterior cracking. “I miss him so fucking much.”

Goddammit. “Listen—” Fuck me. He made me crack too. We didn’t have time for this. I swallowed my emotions and gnashed my teeth. “I need my backup down there, all right? I can’t do this without you.”

He sniffled and nodded once more, and he composed himself. “Yeah—sorry, I just—”

“I know. I get it.” I squeezed his neck. “We can fall apart when we have Shay sandwiched between us, okay?”

“Yeah.” He cleared his throat again and reached up to adjust my face covering. “I’ll get my rifle.”

Good. We were back on track. I couldn’t handle him breaking, ’cause that’d be the end of me. His strength was mine.

I took over and removed my helmet to put on the balaclava properly. Then only my eyes were visible.

I pressed the button on my earpiece for the last time—until tonight was over. “RT1 and 2 back online. Initiate blackout in sixty seconds.”

“Blackout in sixty seconds, confirmed,” Ramirez replied. “Remember, you’re on your own when you get inside. The cameras will die too.”

“Roger,” I said.

About Cara

I’m often awkwardly silent or, if the topic interests me, a chronic rambler. In other words, I can discuss writing forever and ever. Fiction, in particular. The love story—while a huge draw and constantly present—is secondary for me, because there’s so much more to writing romance fiction than just making two (or more) people fall in love and have hot sex. 

There’s a world to build, characters to develop, interests to create, and a topic or two to research thoroughly. 

Every book is a challenge for me, an opportunity to learn something new, and a puzzle to piece together. I want my characters to come to life, and the only way I know to do that is to give them substance—passions, history, goals, quirks, and strong opinions—and to let them evolve.

I want my men and women to be relatable. That means allowing room for everyday problems and, for lack of a better word, flaws. My characters will never be perfect.

Wait…this was supposed to be about me, not my writing.

I'm a writey person who loves to write. Always wanderlusting, twitterpating, kinking, cooking, baking, and geeking. There’s time for hockey and family, too. But mostly, I just love to write. 

Find Cara on social media here:https://www.caradeewrites.com/cdwlandingpage