In The Wreckage by Hailey Turner

In The Wreckage by Hailey Turner

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Blurb

A Marine with honor.

After surviving a horrific chemical attack that turned him into a metahuman, Captain Jamie Callahan got a second lease on life. For three years he’s been working for the Metahuman Defense Force and leading Alpha Team—all against the wishes of his family. The job requires his full dedication, so it’s no surprise Jamie doesn’t have time for a relationship. An enticing one-night stand with a gorgeous stranger is all it takes to show Jamie exactly what he’s been missing. When a mission to take down a terrorist cell brings that same stranger back into his world, Jamie’s life gets complicated.

A soldier with secrets.

Staff Sergeant Kyle Brannigan was only looking to relieve some stress after a long mission. He didn’t know the hot guy he picked up at a bar was the leader of the MDF’s top field team. When Kyle and his partner get seconded to Alpha Team to help fight a terrorist threat, he has to balance his desire for Jamie against his duty to keep his secrets safe. That gets harder and harder to do amidst regulations both are tempted to break.

Two men trying to survive.

Giving into passion could cost both their careers. Abiding by the rules will only result in heartache. An attack on MDF headquarters brings with it a choice Jamie and Kyle can’t escape—duty, or love?


In the Wreckage is a 100k word steamy m/m sci-fi military romance with a HFN ending. There is military violence within the story that may not be suitable for everyone, as well as explicit intimate scenes not suitable for readers under 18.

Buy Link

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Review

This novel – first in a series – is set after the current impending climate catastrophe takes place. A lot of the world is recognizable. Parts are not. Turner does a great job of explaining the changes. In the earlier parts of the book it can seem like a bit of an info dump, but I stopped noticing pretty quickly.

Both of our heroes are military men, and they carry themselves as such. They come from completely different worlds, and watching them interact is fascinating. Their choice to come together isn’t without risks, although it doesn’t seem as though they face repercussions for being gay. This gives me hope for the future, which seems odd given the landscape Turner describes. Maybe it’s the little things.

At any rate, the repercussions they face stem more from a relationship between a superior officer and a subordinate than any other cause. I definitely appreciated seeing this challenge acknowledged and addressed, because it seems to be an afterthought in so many other stories and films. It creates a consent issue whenever it does arise, so seeing it addressed here was pleasant and refreshing.

Both Jamie and Kyle are likeable, although it’s in different ways. I enjoyed seeing them both on the page and didn’t have a favorite, which is unusual for me when it comes to romance.

Turner did an amazing job of weaving the science into the story. I’m reluctant to delve into details because I’m afraid of giving away significant spoilers, but the science is integral to the plot and without the plot Jamie and Kyle would not have met. Without this pair, in this place and this time, the science wouldn’t be quite as interesting. This creates great science fiction as well as great romance.

In cases where I come across great science fiction that just happens to be a romance, I’ll often send a copy to my dad. I can’t do that with this book – not because it’s gay romance, but because there’s just too much sex. Dad and I are close, but we’re not that kind of close. I don’t mind sharing books with some sexual content, but this one was just too explicit for me to share with someone who used to bring me to my Girl Scout meetings. Sorry.

Honestly, while the sexual scenes were well-written and scorching hot, the quantity of them was overwhelming to me. I wound up skipping over a good portion of them by the end. I just couldn’t handle them anymore. So, if you like a super-steamy romance that happens to be science fiction, this book is for you.

If you’d rather skip the bodily fluids, you might want to move along.

This was a great story on a number of levels, and I think it’s got something for just about everyone. Add it to your TBR list today.