Job Hunt
by: Jackie Keswick
Publication Date: May 13, 2015
Buy: Amazon - Kobo - Dreamspinner Press - PRINT
Synopsis:
You don’t greet your new boss dressed like an underage rent boy. But when Jack Horwood—ace hacker and ex-MI6 operative—opens the door to Gareth Flynn, he's too busy to worry over details like that. And anyway, his potential new boss is his former Commanding Officer – the same guy Jack has had a crush on since he was seventeen. So he should understand, right? When he applied for the job in Nancarrow Mining's corporate security division, Jack had hoped for peaceful days repelling cyber attacks. Maybe a bit of corporate espionage on the side. His plans didn't include rescuing abused children, hunting pimps, or dealing with his overly protective and hot-as-hell boss, Gareth Flynn. Walking away is not an option. Jack never takes the easy way out. More than that, meeting Gareth raises old ghosts that Jack needs to put to rest. Rescuing kids. Taking risks. Saving the day. Jack can do all that – but deciding what to do about his attraction to Gareth isn’t the sort of cloak-and-dagger game Jack plays well. Yet Gareth, strong and smart and always on hand when needed, might be Jack’s salvation.
Excerpt
Streetlights
glowed through the thin mist like orange Christmas baubles strung up
early, giving the quiet Richmond cul-de-sac an almost Victorian
feel—if one ignored the cars lining curbs and driveways, that was.
Jack parked his
Gixxer beside Gareth’s Triumph, blew warm breath on his freezing
fingers, and berated himself for forgetting his gloves. He was
relieved to find that Gareth was home, as if, at the very back of his
mind, he’d expected the man to stand him up.
The porch light
was on, and the enticing aromas of spices and roasting meat hung
around the front door. It didn’t smell like anything he could
identify, and as Jack leaned on the bell, he wondered about the
extent of Gareth’s culinary skills.
While they’d
served together, Gareth had mastered the art of one-pot cooking for a
crowd, using whatever ingredients came his way. He’d had a
well-deserved reputation, and their fire had always been good for
tasty, filling stews and the very best curries. Jack also recalled
large pans of softly scrambled eggs and even pancakes on the odd day
when eggs, flour, and milk happened to coincide with time to cook
breakfast.
Whatever Gareth
was cooking tonight smelled homely and inviting, yet at the same time
richer than the food Gareth’s mother had cooked during the week
Jack had been staying with her and the boys. More… decadent,
somehow, and Jack’s stomach growled in happy anticipation.
“I almost
thought you weren’t coming.”
“Yeah, I can
smell that you thought that.” The smile on Gareth’s face started
butterflies in Jack’s gut. He managed a smile of his own, held out
the wine he’d brought, and then bent to take off his motorcycle
boots. “What is this, anyway?”
“Goose.”
“Goose?”
“Goose.”
Jack looked up
into amber eyes and considered. Gareth didn’t seem to be pulling
his leg. And technically goose was very much like duck or chicken, so
why shouldn’t it be edible?
“You said you
didn’t have any preferences, and I felt like it. It’s a grown-up
thing, sort of.” Gareth sounded almost apologetic as he set the
wine on the shoe cupboard and turned to lock the door. “You don’t
have a problem with eating goose, do you?”
“I’ll tell
you after dinner,” Jack said. He set his boots down and shrugged
out of his jacket, hanging it beside Gareth’s. Freed from the
restraints of damp leather, he wrapped his arms around Gareth’s
neck. “It smells damn nice. And I missed you.”
“In that
order?” Gareth wasn’t slow returning the embrace. He nuzzled
Jack’s shirt collar out of the way to trace his lips along the
strip of leather around Jack’s throat.
“Maybe not,”
Jack allowed, tilting his head to give Gareth’s lips more space to
explore. The warmth and soft light, the scents of cooking, Gareth’s
hands and mouth on him, even the shivers running up his spine, all
made Jack feel as if he was coming home—until a sudden alarm sent
his hand flashing for a weapon.
“Dinner’s
ready.” Gareth’s warm breath against Jack’s neck comforted and
soothed, and he was unfazed by Jack’s grab for the knife. “Good
timing.” He dropped a brief kiss on Jack’s forehead and headed
toward the kitchen. “Bring the wine?”
“My timing’s
crap,” Jack groused, shoving the knife back into its sheath and
picking up the bottles. He’d been hungry when he arrived, but now
his body didn’t want goose. It wanted Gareth. And it was anyone’s
guess when he was going to get that.
Review
Rating: ☆☆☆☆☆
This is a complex read,at the beginning of the book Jack is on a job hunt. Jack has shed a lot of weight in the last nine months, which is his usual reaction to stress. Undercover work wasn't all Jack did or was recruited to do. He was at an interview for Nancarrow Mining, when Gareth pops in Jack never thought he would see him again. Gareth wants to know why Jack left the army without a good reason. Jack is the one that Clive always calls when he needs someone to go undercover. Gareth doesn't like the fact that Jack is going undercover without back up and a weapon.
Jack is an ace hacker, ex MI6 operative, He never had a job that didn't involve the government.He has his Doctorate,He is a system security specialist has a tattoo that he regrets.Gareth left the army 18 months ago. Has been looking for Jack for a long time.He is Jack's former commanding officer, he is the head of the security division for Nancarrow Mining. Clive takes advantage of Jack, cop, wants to get perverts off the street. Alexandra Marston is someone who want on your side, she wants to know more about Jack so she went to Rio, Ex-MI6 agent. Rio found Jack squatting in his basement,he took Jack off the streets and taught him about computers.Julian Nancarrow is the CEO of Nancarrow Mining. Lisa Tyrell was brought in to the case, cop, good at cutting through red tape.She is fair and wants Jack on the case. Raf is on the fire arms unit. Adrian Conrad is Nancarrow Mining solicitor and legal council.
This is my first book by Jackie Keswick and it wont be my last. I loved how well this book was written and how well the characters were developed. I loved that I could connect with the characters. I was hooked from the first page and I couldn't put this book down. I highly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.
About Jackie Keswick
Jackie Keswick was born behind the Iron Curtain with itchy feet, a bent for rocks and a recurrent dream of stepping off a bus in the middle of nowhere to go home. She's worked in a hospital and as the only girl with 52 men on an oil rig, spent a winter in Moscow and a summer in Iceland and finally settled in the country of her dreams with her dream team: a husband, a cat, a tandem, a hammer and a laptop. Jackie loves stories about unexpected reunions and second chances, and men who don't follow the rules when those rules are stupid. She has a thing for green eyes and tight cyclist's butts and is a great believer in making up soundtracks for everything, including her characters and the cat. And she still hasn't found the place where the bus stops.
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