Tried & True

THIRDS, Book 10

By: Charlie Cochet

Narrated by: Mark Westfield

Sequel to Darkest Hour Before Dawn.

When THIRDS Agent Dexter J. Daley met Team Leader Sloane Brodie, he couldn’t have imagined how slamming into his new partner -literally - would shake both their worlds. Now, four years later, they’ve faced dangers, fought battles both personal and professional...and fallen deeply in love. Now, their big moment is finally in sight, and they’re ready to stand up together and make it official. Unfortunately, as the countdown to their big day begins, an enemy declares war on the THIRDS....

With their family in danger, Dex and Sloane are put to the test on how far into darkness they’ll walk to save those they love. As secrets are unearthed, a deadly betrayal is revealed, and Dex and Sloane must call on their Destructive Delta family for one last hurrah to put an end to the secret organization responsible for so much devastation.

Dex and Sloane will have plenty of bullets to dodge on the way to the altar, but with happiness within their grasp, they are determined to get there, come hell or high water....

©2017 Charlie Cochet (P)2018 Dreamspinner Press

Best Ending!

I adored this book series and in particular this book. I laugh and cry with the characters every time. The hotness factor is also way up there! I hope this isn't the last time I ever see these characters but if it is I can let them go and say farewell with a warm heart.

a Thirds story

once again Mark does a great job narrating. Charlie Cochet writes a wonderful story, it just felt a little rough in areas.

4.5 Stars

I love Mark Westfield’s narration for this series! From his character voices, to his audio effects, to the performance as a whole, I loved listening to his narration of the THIRDS series. It’s got great pacing and it's just an entertaining listen from beginning to end.

The action in Tried & True is heavy with plenty of twists. Fans of the series have been waiting a long time to see a lot of the ongoing threads tied off, and the answers are sometimes blindsiding. It's not all action though. Told from both Sloane and Dex's points of view there are some very passionate encounters between Sloan and Dex, as well as some very sweet one-on-one moments between the two affirming just how perfect they are for each other.

I'm really hoping this isn't the last time we'll see everyone together.

Recommended!

Yes I cried..

Tried and True is book 10 in the THIRDS series and you do need to read them in order.
Sloane and Dex are preparing for their wedding when tragedy strikes and they have to come together as a team once again to protect their loved ones and find the more in TIN.

There is so much going on in this book its hard to tell you without a spoiler.
I love Dex and more and more as he grows and his abilities become stronger as a hybrid Therian.He is strong, sexy, and funny. Sloane is his perfect match. They are sort of opposites, Sloane always trying to get Dex to eat healthier when he is happy with donuts and gummy bears.

Every character in this series is amazing. most of them had their own books with the later ones being focused on Dex, Sloane and the new Team.

There is so much action, drama, also some violence, suspense, and man-sex. There is plenty of humor to tap down the drama and violence.

I have to admit I laughed my self to tears a few times and the Wedding was amazing. When they danced to Time of my life the tears flowed...*glares at empty tissue box and words the end.*

I know this is the end of this series but I hope we haven't seen the end of these men.

I absolutely love Mark Westfield. He made each character come alive and I adore the special effects he uses like the mics, phones, walkies etc.It adds such a special touch. I love the accents on the British characters and how each man has a voice of his own. I could see everything that was happening as he acted out this story.

* sniffles *

🤧 I was going to write a review about how endings always make me sad, about how I love this book, the closure and Dex and Sloane’s hard-fought HEA.

But instead, I’m over here wiping moisture from my eyes because Charlie Cochet is brilliant and I want more from Destructive Delta. 🤧

Five stars and standing ovation or in Dex’s case, a leap with Sloane catching him like Dex is Baby.

How do I move on?

This series was amazing and I totally got swept along with each character. Charlie brought the depth and desire we all love so much. Mark Westfield did an amazing job bringing the characters to life.

Thank you for writing.
Thank you for the narration!

Fitting last hurrah for the main series

"Tried and True" was a fitting last hurrah for Destructive Delta as an active policing organization, and is narrated with as much energy as ever by Mark Westfield. If you’re a fan of the audiobooks, Westfield’s voice work for most of the characters has been impressive throughout the course of the series, and even his British accent has improved (some)! And in this book, Westfield definitely has his work cut out for him as Charlie Cochet puts him through his paces with plenty of action-movie fight scenes, sex, emotional bonding moments, sex, bad guy villainy and monologuing and if not full on sex, plenty of “I want me some of that hotness” sex-infused dialogue.

As Dex and Sloan prepare for their big day, they are still actively training for their new duties as TIN operatives, as well as dealing with the continued threat from the Mahkai, who have a mole and operatives within the THIRDS and TIN and are targeting two people close to the team. Amidst the starry-eyed romance between Dex and Sloan, the tearful reminiscing and reassurances that no matter how the team changes, they are still family, DD gets to band together one last time as the Makhai threat strikes close to home days before the wedding. Additionally, Dex gets plenty of moments to showcase his continually growing skills and hybrid-DNA infused badassery.

Throughout the story, Dex and Sloan, as well as fans of the series, get prepared for a change in tone and rules as the characters shift from police work to covert intelligence agents. This takes the form of being schooled about their naïveté when it comes to privacy and the positives of surveillance, the benefits of torture and the overall message consistently running through the last few books that the ends can justify the means (at least for the good guys). No one can say that Charlie Cochet doesn’t try to prepare fans for the ethical/moral gray areas her heroes may face in the future, or how doing whatever it takes for the mission may be hard for them. . . unless family is involved, because this book definitely shows that when it comes to family, everything is fair game.

This idea is why, as much as I enjoyed the book, I have mixed feelings about it. As a fan of the series, I loved the trademark shenanigans, feels, the OTT “you totally should NOT be able to walk after that” action and fun. It was nice that the final book brought back some of the spark and energy missing towards the middle of this 10 ½ book adventure, and toned down some of the increasingly sappy, tween-ager dialogue. Don’t get me wrong, there are plenty of hearts and flowers and “my sexy/hot/beautiful partner/love of my life/man-god talk to go around, but even with a wedding, it wasn’t as jarring or overwhelming as in some of the later books. However, though the sugar may have been limited in the dialogue, it pushed itself into the narrative in ways that seemed forced and more about HEAs for everyone in every situation, and making sure that nothing is off limits when it comes to family.

Yet, at the end of the day, there is much to love about the book, and listening to Mark Westfield’s great performance throughout (with the exception of Cael sounding younger and more annoying), and the way he brings to life the vows, emotions and joy on Dex and Sloan’s big day is well worth a listen.


Reviewed for The Novel Approach Reviews

Another Good One

Mark Westfield owns this series. He understands the characters and story. It's time we'll spent

Love this series

I've listened to this series many times and love it every time. Charlie Cochet creates some very interesting and loveable characters and her stories are hard to put down. They keep me enthralled. The narrator does a great job of giving all the main characters their own voice and personality.

The THIRDS series is inspired.

I am normally not a big fan of m/m romance however, when I stumbled across the first book, I had to keep reading until the last. I laughed when the characters laughed and cried when they cried. Through all the adversity and pain there was also determination to somehow transcend to be better. We should all hope to embody the loyalty, integrity, forgiveness, commitment, friendship, understanding, and love to one another in our personal relationships and as a society overall, as demonstrated by the characters in this series of books. Thank you Charlie and I can't wait for the TIN series to be born!