Review: 4.5 stars
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 02 6, 2014
ARC received for an honest review - 4.5 starsIf you haven't read Bullet yet, you should probably do that before reading Fully Automatic, but not completely necessary,I have seen it around traps that Fully Automatic is just Bullet from Brad's POV. And that people aren't reading it for that reason.This couldn't be further from the truth. While the stories run parallel for a lot of the story, Fully Automatic is much much more.Fully Automatic is the 4th book in the Bullet series. I really liked Bullet, but damn it drained me emotionally. But even then, I liked Ethan (though he was on my shit list for long time!!)At the time, Brad, sexy and big hearted as he was, annoyed me the way he was sniffing around Val, knowing she wanted Ethan.In Fully Automatic, we get into Brad's head, from before he and Ethan met Val, to past the point where Rock Bottom ended.Oh how my feelings have changed towards Brad. While before his constant hanging around Val, now we get his emotions into it. Raw. Gritty, Painful. He has kept that torch for her alight for so many years. How he could do that at still be her friend, would have broken (worse than he was) a lesser man.And reading as Ethan is going into that downward spiral, knowing there was nothing he could do - ugh, heartwrenchingThrough Bullet we knew what was in Val's heart - even though 99% of the time I wanted to slap some sense into her, get her to see past Ethan's flaws and see what was right in front of her.I became a big cheerleader for Brad while reading Fully Automatic. We see him for the big part he is in all of the band's lives. He is the motivator, pushing his band mates to be better musicians, songwriters, people. He is their fiercest defender, their harshest critic. He was like the elder statesman of FA. We see how he works his arse of for the band, who are more than friends, they are family. We see the lover hiding behind that tattooed exterior. And the broken heart he is hiding.We see what he would do, and what he would give up for those he loves.I love Ms Jamison's writing. She draws me right into the story, right into the lives of the characters she is giving us. There is great character development throughtout their stories, the light and the dark of their lives.Now, all I need is Zane and Nick's stories, and I will be a happy camper.