Ashes and Metal by Naomi Lucas [Review]

Ashes and Metal (Cyborg Shifters #5) by Naomi Lucas
Format: ebook
Source: purchased
Disclaimer: As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.
Date read: May 8, 2018

Cyborg Shifters
0.5. Cyborg Pool Boy
1. Wild Blood
2. Storm Surge
3. Shark Bite
4. Mutt
5. Ashes and Metal - Paperback | Kindle
6. Chaos Croc
7. Ursa Major
8. Dark Hysteria
9. Wings and Teeth

Naomi Lucas
| Website | Amazon |

Synopsis (Goodreads):

No one messed with Gunner. No one.

He was the Jackal, living chaos, the infamous Cyborg banned from civilized society. He was also the only Monster Hunter for the EPED who took the hard jobs, the under-the-table work. Jobs that often left a trail of blood and bones in their wake. When a pirate commandeers his ship, Gunner takes it upon himself to exact a revenge that will ignite a wildfire of rage, death, and torment upon those who made the mistake of taking what was rightfully his.

Elodie has spent most of her life pretending to be a boy to remain alongside her father in space. He’s the only family she has left. When the ship they worked on is attacked, she’s taken prisoner. Every day, she feared that her secret would be discovered—that she’s a woman alone amongst men. When a strange man is dragged into the cell next to hers, she realizes she was living on borrowed time.

He stared at her as if he knew her secret…

Thoughts on Ashes and Metal: I...didn't expect to like Gunner as much as I did. I mean, he's brutal, dangerous and he's walking the edge of...something with the way he has to fight to rein in his beast's desires.

Okay, wait. Actually, now it kind of makes sense. I like all those things in my literary characters and Gunner's immediate obsession with Elodie--even when he wasn't sure if she was male or female--kinda, sorta worked for me. And by "kinda, sorta," I mean TOTALLY.

Elodie/Ely has been pretending to be something she's not for so long it takes a while for her to be able to drop her shields around Gunner. Considering the situation they're in with the pirates, it makes sense that she's cautious. Throw in the whole female thing and it adds another level of uh-oh. Eventually, she does trust him and that's when things really heat up.

Because when a cyborg with a healthy dose of jackal DNA locks onto something, he sees it through. And he's TOTALLY locked onto Elodie.

Random aside: Even though I like these cyborgs, they're kind of jerks to one another when they get together. I don't know why that amuses me, but it does. Growly, surly cyborgs are my thing, apparently.