Late in the Day

The Vault, Book 2

By: Mary Calmes

Narrated by: Greg Boudreaux

Terrence Moss. Conrad Harris. Gold Team Leader. Darius Hawthorne. The Vault. Juggling all these names would bother some, but for Darius, it’s business as usual. When he closes a chapter in his life, he leaves a name - and the people associated with it - behind. He’s managed to keep a few colleagues, even fewer friends, and no companionship through his 40-plus years...but that’s now changing.

The newest chapter of his life is bringing serious change: a stable home, a recovered identity, an unlikely family, and now a chance encounter with the one man Darius ever loved: Efrem Lahm. The reasons they parted are still valid, and there’s no way they can trust each other. But Efrem has already decided he won’t let Darius go...and Darius will have to decide if he wants to take a chance with his heart this late in the day.

©2017 Mary Calmes (P)2018 Dreamspinner Press

loved it

These two together for me are ALWAYS a win/win! They both are top ofthe field!

B rating...

My Review:
Overall: 3.5
Performance: 4.0
Story: 3.0

I'll be honest...I had the hardest time figuring out how to approach this review. The problem is....this book is not really a story. It's a series of short stories/anecdotes that all intertwine simply because they all revolve around one person with multiple names...Darius. And in the grand scheme of things, all those short stories combine to explain how Darius got to this point in his life.

But overall, while they were entertaining, there was no point or plot to them. They were just little vignettes of his life. That totally would have worked for me as a support novella to Darius and Efrem's romance if there had been a book where that romance played a major roll. As it is in this book, they didn't even really interact besides surface stuff until the last twenty-five percent of the book.

Overall, that was disappointing. I wanted more meat to my story...more plot and purpose for me to grab onto. That fell flat in this one. It was fine for an afternoon's entertainment listening to quick little anecdotes, but in an overall novel...no, it just didn't quite work for me. I needed more.

True Fan Satisfaction

Lets me start with this being the six degrees of Darius. As our other reviewers cataloged our meetings with Darius and his other identities. I will say I am partial to meeting him as Terrance the childhood friend of Duncan Steil in "Parting Shots" and totally enjoyed his part as Conrad in "Mine", as well as Gold Team Leader in "A Day Makes". This story just satisfies and connects so many dots to other characters in Mary Calmes' novels that you will find your mouth open and your memory reeling. The love story is not our main focus but its such a good one. I must admit one of my favorite connections comes as we really meet the assassin involved in book 1 "All Kinds of Tied Down" of the Marshals series. And yes fans there is a connection that weaves all the way back to "Acrobat". I'm certainly hoping to hear more from The Vault series. I would look for a hint of them in Mary's new book of "Twisted and Tied" which was not available yet on audio at the time I wrote this but is available in print and ebook form. And never let us forget the presentation by Greg Boudreaux truly an artist. Thanks all

4.5 Stars

With his wonderful character voices, timing, and pacing Greg Boudreaux’s (aka Tremblay’s) performance seems almost effortless leaving you hanging on every word.

Late in the Day focuses on the single, first person, POV of Darius Hawthorne [AKA Terrence Moss (Parting Shot), Conrad Harris (Mine), and Gold Team Leader (A Day Makes)], and follows the events leading up to how he’s been chosen as “The Vault”, his team, and the life he’s putting together now.

Like in A Day Makes (The Vault #1), the story focuses more around the background of the main character rather than on the romance. Though there is some romance, it is mostly late in the story and somewhat secondary to the rest of the plot, so while there are sexy times and romance they are not the main focus.

Well conceived, fast paced, low angst, with great characters, some nice heat, and a great HFN. This series is shaping up really well, and I can’t wait for more!

Note: I would not consider Late in the Day a standalone. It is the second installment in The Vault series, and the first book, A Day Makes, should definitely be read first. And though you could read The Vault series alone, I really would recommend you read/listen to Mine, Always, Acrobat, Parting Shot, All Kinds of Tied Down, and Fit to be Tied as well.

Sweet

This story was so sweet and I enjoyed it greatly. I also love how the A Matter of Time series and Marshall Series were tied in so seamlessly. it made me very happy :)

Best Bad/Good Guy Gets His Happy Ending!

READ/LISTEN TO THESE BOOKS for the chronological order AND THEN LISTEN TO "LATE IN THE DAY" if you want to get all the fun tie-ins:
1)"Again"
2)"Mine"
3)"Parting Shot"
4)"Tied Up in Knots"
5)"A Day Makes"

Best and scariest friend gets his happily ever after...for now. Terrence Moss. Conrad Harris. Gold Team Leader. Darius Hawthorne (Remember these name when you listen/read the books I listed)
Finally all Mary Calmes fans get the tie-ins for the villain, friend, and savior that has made an appearance in her Marshall series, "Acrobat", "Mine", "A Day Makes", and "Parting Shot". This is the second book in what I consider the villain series and I can't wait for the next installment. Conrad Harris/Darius Hawthorne has been a character of interest ever since I read "Mine" and I have loved discovering the trail of his appearances in so many of Mary Calmes series. Also Greg Tremblay is Greg Boudreaux and the narration is excellent as always.

More character driven than romance, but I loved it

I received a free copy of this audiobook to listen to and review for Wicked Reads.

Having loved A Day Makes, I was excited when I learned that The Vault was being turned into a series and that Late in the Day would give me the chance to learn more about Gold Team Leader, the man who saved the day and Ceaton Mercer’s life at the end of book one, returning the favor that Ceaton did for him and his team while in the military. I also hoped that I’d get a chance to catch up with Ceaton (I did) and Bryn (I did not). But as I’ve come to learn every time I start a new book by Mary Calmes, the story is ripe for cameos and I discovered that Darius had a connection to another series that wasn’t on my radar until now – A Matter of Time. As if my reading and listening list wasn’t long enough, but I digress.

Unlike book one, Late in the Day is more focused on Darius as a character and less on developing the romance between him and Efrem – after all, them falling in love is history. Calmes uses Darius’ move from Detroit to the Boston area as a way to show how he’s transitioned from Black Ops to CIA operative to paid assassin to The Vault. The opening scene in which he and his charge, Trevan Bean, take a meeting with Trevan’s boss was a pretty intense start to the book. As the volatility of the situation became clear, I wanted to worry for their safety, but Darius’ calm demeanor and knowing that Ceaton was in a perfect sniper position made it hard to get too anxious. And that’s why what greeted them when the elevator doors opened in the lobby was so unexpected. But the hits just keep on coming when we find out the connection between Darius and Efrem and what happened to cause them to split. I used to say that I wasn’t a fan of books that go back and forth in time, but the truth is that I’m not a fan of books that do it poorly, but I do love the back and forth when the author knows how to use such shifts to enhance the story. In Late in the Day, Calmes does a fabulous job of using Darius’ memories to show the reader what happened in the past and I found the recollections to be well-timed – moving the story forward by providing the reader or listener with the information they need to understand what’s going on in the present and how the past affects their actions. We not only get to see Darius reconnect with the only man he ever loved, we also get to see how his humanity has grown, especially over the past year, through his interactions with his neighbor (hilarious side story there), with Trevan, with Ceaton, with Marko, with his Bishop (I won’t even attempt to misspell his name), and the other contract killers he’s worked with in the past and maintained connections with. I actually enjoyed seeing Darius off-balance at times, when faced with a growing affection (for lack of a better word) for those people in his life. I also think that insight was necessary to explain why he never tracked down Ephrem, why he was resistant to entering Ephrem’s life again, and why he couldn’t say no when Ephrem made his own intentions known. Getting to see how the two men met, how they were split apart, and the obvious pain in Ephrem’s voice (Well done, Boudreaux!) when he realized that Darius could very easily slip through his fingers again, made their reunion and Mach-speed plans to start up again believable. While I would have loved to have seen more of them starting their life together, that wasn’t the focus of the book – Darius was.

Not only did I love the story, I loved the narration. Now, that’s not the least bit surprising considering that it’s performed by my favorite narrator, Greg Tremblay performing as Greg Boudreaux. While I’m not sure why book one is attributed to Tremblay and book two is attributed to Boudreaux, at the end of the day, it doesn’t matter to me because the man is marvelous. I’ve listened to both books in the series numerous times, often pairing them with Acrobat for the whole organized crime vibe (which was when I finally discovered another Easter egg in this book and put the Matter of Time series on my radar). I really love this series and sincerely hope that Calmes has another book (or five) planned as I need to catch up with the guys again, see how Darius settles into his role as The Vault, and see how his second chance at love with Ephrem panned out – and keeping it with the same narrator, regardless of the name used, would be lovely.

awesome 😘

Love story and the narrator, I am looking forward for the next installment of the series, highly recommended.

Holy hotness Batman!

If you could sum up Late in the Day in three words, what would they be?

Short, Sexy and Steamy... my three favorite colors.

What did you like best about this story?

Darius and the way he is always so cool, calm and collect.

Have you listened to any of Greg Boudreaux’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I've listened to just about everything he's voiced and I've absolutely loved them all. Boudreaux is one of those narrators that could read the phone book and keep you on the edge of your seat he has so many different tones and nuances in his voice.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

Short, Sexy and Steamy.

Any additional comments?

I really liked Darius in the first book in this series, his completely calm regard no matter the situation. It was fun to get to see everything from his POV and get to meet the one person that can make him raise his voice.

The dialogue is long, intense and witty much like most of Calmes stories. The characters completely flushed out to spite the shortness of the story. The chemistry is electric, intense and amazing! Nice to read/listen to a story with a prominent person of color in the storyline.

I loved this story

I have been binging on Mary Calmes' stories (both reading them and listening to them). This one had little nuggets relating to other stories that reared up and smacked me in the head making pieces fall into place in those other stories that I didn't know were missing. I laughed out loud and loved these little nuggets hidden in a great story. I think the biggest surprise was Dante Cerreto. Totally loved it and totally enjoyed Greg Boudreaux's performance of the characters. Don't miss this one.