Crossing Borders by Marie James

Narrated by Teddy Hamilton & Jacob Morgan

Crossing Borders is the tenth and final (and only m/m) book in Marie James’ Blackbridge Security series; no prizes for guessing why I’d skip over the first nine to pick this one up. It’s perfectly possible to listen to it, as I did, as a complete newbie to the series because while characters from the other books make cameos and references are made to past/concurrent events, there’s only one event that has a real impact on this story (and is dealt with in this story), so provided you don’t mind hearing from characters you haven’t met before, it’s all fine. The other good news is that – of course – the narration is excellent – the bad is that these two fabulous performers have yet to find new material that is the best use of their considerable talent.

That said, Crossing Borders is at least a step up from the last book they narrated that I tried to listen to (I gave up at 25% because I was so BORED) and on the last book they narrated that I reviewed; in fact it started really well, so that for the first half I thought I’d be looking at a solid B grade for the story. But, alas, the second half rehashes the same misunderstandings over and over again, includes a totally ridiculous plot point, and generally loses its way, ignoring some of the interesting things I thought were being set up to show character insight and growth.

Okay, so… it seems that Blackbridge Security offers two types of personal protection detail. One is your common-or-garden bodyguard, who stands around looking intimidating, acts as driver and whatever else is required. The other is where the bodyguard acts as the protectee’s significant other to provide a less obvious presence – and it’s those jobs that are Brooks Morgan’s speciality. As per the book blurb, he gets paid to make it “look like I’m the newest love interest of insanely gorgeous women” – and all his clients so far have been women – and then often indulges in a little off-the-clock action when the contract ends (because of course, it would be unprofessional to sleep with a client.)

Archer Bremen is a bad-boy rock star whose public image imploded after photos were leaked of him in “intimate moments” (i.e, giving him a blow job)with his long-time best friend and band-mate, Fletcher Corbin. As if being outed in that way wasn’t bad enough though, he made things worse, going along with what he was told to say by his manager, which was that he was high on drugs and booze and all but accusing Fletcher of taking advantage of him. Archer has since sacked that manager, and the plan now is to rehabilitate his image by showing him in an actual relationship with a guy – which is where Brooks comes in. He can protect Archer from rabid fans and intrusive paparazzi while pretending to be his boyfriend, and being seen together will show that Archer is no longer denying that he’s gay.

Brooks doesn’t turn a hair when he agrees to the job – why should he? Being a fake-boyfriend is what he does, while Archer – as is standard for so many bodyguard/client romances – decides to make things as awkward as possible. On the very first day – their very first meeting – when Brooks has arrived to collect him, Archer swans downstairs in his birthday suit and gives Brooks a show, jerking off in front of him. Okay, so he’s hurt, he doesn’t know where to turn or where he goes from here and he’s acting out – but still.

The first part of the story (after the jerking off) is actually nicely done, showing a growing friendship between the pair, an understanding on Brooks’ part as to why Archer behaved that way and an acknowledgement that Archer wants and is trying to do better. The author refers several times to the realities of Archer’s life, that he learned early on that the way to stay safe was to be a people pleaser, that he never knows whether someone is genuinely into him or just after what he can do for them, about his being lonely while surrounded by people, and I was hopeful that we’d get a deeper exploration of this as the story went on. But that never happens.

I don’t think it’s too spoilery to say that by the mid-point, all the longing looks and glancing touches and near-but-not-quite kisses and sexual tension finally come to a head and Brooks and Archer fall into bed together – and a good time is had by all. I like that Brooks doesn’t freak out too much about being attracted to another man – he recalls fooling around with a guy in college; what he does freak about though is about what Archer will expect now, and how he – Brooks – doesn’t do relationships and doesn’t want anyone to know he’s hooking up with a man (which… he’s not freaked that it’s a man, but doesn’t want anyone to know… okay.) These comprise pretty much the entire conflict in the second half of the book – Brooks decides he needs to keep things professional; Archer is hurt by his coolness; Brooks can’t stay away so it’s shag-city again, then decides he needs to distance himself; Archer is hurt (again) and doesn’t know what’s going on etc. etc. Then there’s the silly plot-point I mentioned above, and I will put that as a spoiler.

The misunderstandings and miscommunications dominate the second half of the book, and it draaaaaags. And honestly, while I started out thinking Archer was a bit of a dickhead – he does some daft and immature things – I ended up liking him, disliking Brooks … and don’t get me started on Kit and Jules.

Oh – and here’s another spoiler.

Jacob Morgan and Teddy Hamilton are excellent, as one would expect, and the English accent Jacob Morgan employs for Archer is exceptionally good, with only one or two teeny-tiny mispronunciations that give him away. He captures the character really well, skilfully revealing the vulnerability and insecurity that lies beneath the petulance and bravado, and although his delivery is a little bit low-key at times, it does fit the sense of jaded exhaustion Archer sometimes exudes. Teddy Hamilton is great as Brooks – all deep and gruff and sexy – but his English accent (for Archer) isn’t quite as good; it’s okay, but there’s an unmistakeable Dick van Dyke twang around certain vowel sounds! Still, he’s so good at everything else, I can forgive him (!). Both narrators really know how to hit the emotional beats of a story and they don’t disappoint, creating a believable connection between Archer and Brooks, and expertly communicating that connection and all the emotional highs and lows experienced by the characters to the listener. It’s a terrific performance of a lacklustre story (I settled on a C, mostly for the first half and the way the author builds the friendship between the leads), so unless you’re on a mission to listen to every book Jacob Morgan and Teddy Hamilton have ever narrated together, I’d give it a miss.

Caz