Red Haze is the long awaited HEA for our favorite moody drummer Arlo and the bodyguard who became the center of his world. Can two men who broke each other's hearts find their way back to one another?
From the blurb:
Everyone knows it’s a bad idea to crush on a straight guy. But when that man is also your bodyguard?
It’s just asking for trouble.
Arlo
Our rise to stardom might’ve helped me escape from the chaos that was my childhood, but that didn’t mean it was easy for me. Now, with fame and an almost unlimited bank account, you’d think I’d be happy. But I’m not. There’s no escaping the depression that dogs me or my past that refuses to leave me alone, no matter what I try. There’s no-one to stop the self-destructive spiral I’m caught in.
No-one, that is, until Jack.
As soon as the stoic man who looks like he could crush me under his thumb is assigned to me, I know I’m in trouble. Not only is he every one of my wet dreams brought to life, but he’s straight. Oh, and tasked with keeping me out of mischief.
What I wasn’t expecting was the friendship that followed. The way we would come to depend on one another.
When it’s all ripped away, can I find a way to exist without Jack at my side? Or am I destined to love someone I can never have?
Jack
After leaving the SAS, going into personal security seemed like the next logical step. Having been briefed on my client, the drummer for the rock band Caffeine Daydreams, I believed I’d be guarding some spoiled kid with more money than sense.
But as I get to know Arlo, I realise nothing could be further from the truth.
With the line between professional and personal blurring, Arlo quickly becomes the most important person in my life. When I have to decide between keeping him in my life or protecting him, I choose the latter.
I will always protect Arlo.
What I didn’t know was that the price I’d pay would cut me far deeper than I’d thought possible. Can I persuade Arlo to give me another chance? Or will I have to resign myself to just seeing him on my screen?
Red Haze is a demi-awakening, bodyguard x rockstar MM romance. The final book in the Caffeine Daydreams series, each book follows a different couple as they find their HEA. Although better read in order, these books can standalone.
Angel's review:
I've been curious about Arlo and Jack's story since the first book in this series. There has been a lot of curiosity surrounding these two characters, and I'm so happy we finally got their story.
I'll start by saying that Lark knows how to write, she always creates beautiful characters with a fantastic story, and wonderful dialogue. This book was no different, it was just as great as her other books. I, for one, am really glad that we got to know what finally happened between Arlo and Jack. And what happened was so heartbreaking and the angst that occured during this story was so painful! I just wanted these two men to have their happy ending together, and they did eventually get there... But only after they went through pain and hardship.
Which, if you have ever read anything by Lark Taylor before, you would know she always has some level of angst in her stories. She pulls at your heartstrings and makes you feel for her characters. I thought the writing of this was great, I loved getting the full backstory of what actually happened between Arlo and Jack. I liked how we got their history, and then were able to get an insight on what was going on with them in real time.
I loved how all the members of the band all gathered around Arlo and had his back no matter what. The action scenes were written really well, I thought the twist of Arlo having a stalker was written exceptionally well, and was believable. The way it was written put you on the edge of your seat, because you were left wondering who was after Arlo, and when they were going to appear.
My favorite part was the fact that River, Mori, Sebastian, and Matty made an appearance! That was such a lovely surprise, it was amazing seeing those characters in this book!! Overall this was a terrific way to bring this series to a close.
Jacqueleen the Reading Queen's review:
"𝘐'𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘔𝘺 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥. 𝘔𝘺 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘯𝘵. 𝘔𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘏𝘦'𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘮𝘺 𝘱𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘭𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘥𝘦. 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘪𝘮? 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦?"
I totally loved reading Arlo and Jack get their HEA, even when I wanted to smack them both upside the head so many times! So much hurt and loss could have been avoided if they had just communicated. If they could have let down their final barrier and truly trusted one another. It was so frustrating and heartbreaking at the same time. Because even though I wanted to hate Jack for a lot of the choices he made, I couldn't. I couldn't because he made them for the right reasons. Or at least what he thought were the right reasons.
"𝘐'𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐'𝘥 𝘣𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵, 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥."
Poor Arlo. Watching all his bandmates fall in love, especially Kai whom he felt a kindred spirit. It killed me how hurt he was. I couldn't believe it when we finally got the background on these two all that was going on under everyone's noses. The depth of their connection must have been extremely difficult to hide.
"𝘜𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘢𝘭𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘺 𝘭𝘪𝘧𝘦, 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦. 𝘐 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵'𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘐'𝘷𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘥 𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘰 𝘵𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘭𝘺. 𝘠𝘰𝘶'𝘳𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘦, 𝘑𝘢𝘤𝘬. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦 𝘪𝘵."
On a lighter note, I absolutely loved all the cameos from a certain demon series. *wink wink*. They brought some needed levity into a bad situation. A situation that had such a satisfying ending. Take that as you will. And since I was teased an intriguing possible future couple I think I have to mention it in my review. Please tell me Corey is getting his own book!! 🙏🏻
Heather's Review:
Sometimes you just need to read a book where you spend 70% of it wanting to smack the characters up side of their heads and pull their brains out their... well, if you need that in your life, than Red Haze is definitely the book you want. It's angsty, with seemingly unrequited love, demi-sexual rep, bisexual awakening and of course, a ton of outside interference.
I'm so glad that Arlo finally gets what he wants, and that Jack gets his hard won HEA too... It was lovely to see all of the Caffeine Daydreams characters happy and secure and the cameos were fun too!
Red Haze is currently available as an e-book and can be read as part of your Kindle Unlimited Subscription
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