Was surprised at how much I enjoyed the story surrounding these two guys! It turned out the mix of hacking, international agriculture business, and the doomsday vault worked really well! (Who'd have thought?!) Just enough suspense, some fun action sequences, a bit of fun sex. Maybe the emotions felt a *tad* rushed at times but in the grand scheme of things, this worked.

This is a new series with characters from the "Tough Love" series which I loved. Unfortunately I was unable to connect with this book, but I feel like it's a case of "me, not the book" so please take my comment with less than a grain of salt.

***3.5 Stars***

I am a sucker for every cloak and dagger stuff I can get my grabby hands on. Mysteries, spies, organized crime, you name it...

Dirty Deeds seemed to meet my desire to a T. I was rubbing my hands in glee, when I found out that it also deals with industrial espionage in the food sector, since this is a bit different from all the other books I normally read and I love it when authors take a chance at something new. The story examines some dark deeds around the world in more detail from a different angle and I thought it would be refreshing to get to know more about it.

*Drummond supplies food and food hybrids across the world. We're involved in alternate fuel sources and some other side projects that Seth and his people care about." "All of that food, those seeds, that information and intel, moves across the world," Tony explained. "There are people who would prefer if their opponents --rebel factions, demonstrators, groups they don't like-- didn't have food." "The concept of starving people out." Now that sounded like power to Gaige. Scary fucking power.*

However, espionage can be a bit tricky and confusing for me, and I have to admit this was also the case here sometimes. I had to read a few passages twice to understand what was going on and I'm still not sure I really understood everything in the end.

Alec Drummond is the CEO of Drummond Enterprises, a family business in the food sector, the FBI has taken aim at in being the initiator of some shade business dealings concerning some dubious, off-the-books deliveries to a Global Seed Vault in Svalbard, Norway, which actually exists, by the way. By infiltrating Gaige Owens, a tech nerd and wizard when it comes to hacking into computers, into the company, FBI-Agent Seth Lang tries to find out who is responsible for said manipulations. Gaige has been coerced by Seth into accepting this job in order to redeem himself of any suspicion in taking part in some deceptive practices by his former lover.

When Gaige's cover is blown immediately during a break-in, Seth makes Alec and Gaige work together by force on figuring out what is really happening, but it is obvious neither of them wants to lay his cards on the table.

Needless to say, Alec as a uncompromising businessman with a somewhat mysterious aura and a once-burnt-twice-shy past, is not overly thrilled with the idea of having someone snooping around in his business and decides to keep a very close eye on Gaige twenty-four-seven. Well, that does not really help to keep the mutual attraction both men instantly feel at bay and soon enough they find each other head over heels not only in a relationship that threatens their resolve of keeping it no strings attached, but also fearing for each other's lives when things are heating up...

This book can be read as a standalone, although it is a spin-off from the Tough Love Series which I haven't read so far, and overall this was quite an enjoyable -albeit sometimes a bit confusing- read. I loved the setting, even if I was anxious at the beginning when I found out that it primarily takes place in Germany. For me as a German, these kind of stories mostly end up being a bit disappointing because of wrong translations etc., but kudos, Ms. Dimon, except for one term of address I can't see anything wrong with it. The setting itself was described with such a passion for detail without getting too overstated, that I had a feeling I would be right there in Munich with the characters.

I had a bit of a hard time to warm up to Alec in the beginning, but once I got to know him better and his more "human" side, I really liked him. Gaige, on the other hand, I loved from the start. I loved his humor...

"Do you want a hug?" Alec joked. Gaige's eyebrow lifted. "It is tempting to say yes just to see you panic."

... which he often used to cover up his vulnerability and him being such a nerd but radiating some quite bad-ass vibes in defending himself was exactly the type of guy I like to see in my books. Their sex scenes were steamy and hot and to be honest they made me add a half star to my rating.

The reason why I did not give it more stars was once again the whole insta-love stuff. Believe me, I'm really tired myself to say it again and again in my reviews, but most of the story takes place over a span of one week and sorry, but no... just... no. It is so not believable, especially since Alec is described as a man who does not trust easily and who really jumps to some weird conclusions why he can trust Gaige.

"Do you need anything before we go?" Gaige stopped. "I don't even understand the question. Like what?" "There's a shopping area beneath us." Gaige looked down at his feet. "Really"? The reaction eased the disquieting sense Alec had of being played. Gaige didn't pretend to know things he didn't.

Seriously? Sorry, but for me this really did upset the applecart regarding his allegedly hardass image. And Gaige gathered some not quite positive experience in the love department, either, so all in all it happened way too fast for my taste. Thank goodness, at least the L-word was not mentioned explicitely. Well, it was, but this was a scene that occured a bit later and was sweet enough to conjure a smile on my face. Someone who rather conjured a constant scowl on my face was Seth. Bloody hell! I hated his guts. What an asshole!!! Like I already said, I don't know the Tough Love Series yet, but said Seth got his own book in there and to be honest, right now I don't really feel compelled to read it. :(

The next book will be about Finn, Alec's brother, and although I had a few niggles about Dirty Deeds, I will definitely read his book, too.

3* Wanted to love this tale, but tbh, it read more like a MF novel with MM characters.

I got this book based on the author's name and my enjoyment of the previous tales in her SAD (don't laugh) series, and I suspected that Alec Drummond, the 'save the day' guy from the last book, might be the lead here. He was, but, I can't say that he came over as he did in his first appearance.

Reading this, I was reminded of 70s Mills and Boon books, where the male lead was bigged up and the female lead always inferior, lusting after the male, who eventually realised that she was his opposite, and complemented him: soft where he was hard, giving where he was a taker and so on. Alec was painted as the bigger character, the alpha, the one who invented those cliché expressions (yes, he actually says something about coining some expression or other in one scene) and Gaige as the lesser, despite Gaige being a hacker extraordinaire. I didn't like Gaige's reaction when Alec offered to bottom - he was quick to agree, but somehow had to express his incredulity. How about making the leads equally strong?

The reason for the tale was rather lost, but it was about checking into what was actually lodged in a seed vault in Svalbard. Yes and yes. I couldn't bring myself to get excited about the ins and outs, but, Gaige's hacking and tech skills did sound quite impressive, though why he wasn't employed by governments, I didn't quite get.

I also didn't get the ending, where Alec tells Gaige that he'll be in love with him in three weeks. No, not that he's falling in love with him, but that he'll be in love with him in three weeks. Didn't get that - not why Alec said it, not why the author wrote it and not why the editor didn't find that a little strange.

Still, it's an OK read as a one-off. I'm pretty sure there will be a couple more in this spin-off to the SAD series, as we get introduced to Alec's bisexual brother and told about their older one, who was made to sound a little mysterious by not appearing in this tale.

ARC courtesy of Random House Publishing Group, Loveswept, and NetGalley, for my reading pleasure.

Action packed read.
I did struggle,initially,with the story line but once I got into it I really enjoyed it.
The two main characters had great chemistry and once they got together the sex scenes were smoking hot..This book is a spin off from the Tough Love series but can definitely be read and enjoyed as a standalone.
Recommended.

Alec Drummond is a billionaire tycoon whose companies supply seeds around the world. The seeds are also included in the seedbank in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault in Norway—a Doomsday vault set up to protect seeds for future agriculture needs if/when radioactivity destroys all we have now. As a quick aside—the author includes a note telling readers this information is real.

Alec’s company is global but his operating base is in Munich, which is where he meets Gaige Owens, a computer genius forced on him by Seth Lang, whom we met in Guarding Mr. Fine. Seth is now heading a covert operation under the auspices of the CIA, supposedly, though that is thrown in doubt throughout the story when it appears that Seth is not backed by the organization.

The book started slowly for me, with the author getting all the background information we’d need later laid down in small increments, so at times I was a bit bored. But by 35% in, the story picked up and went on to get more exciting so I just had to keep going. The complexity of what’s involved is much more than I could begin to describe in a review, but suffice it to say it would be highly appealing to those who like brain-twisters, covert ops, and/or complex and complicated plots providing excitement and adventure both in and out of the bedroom.

Gaige and Alec explode together when they decide to give in to their primal urges and pursue a “no strings attached” relationship. But do they trust each other? Certainly not—at least not at first. Alec holds trust very dear to him and only allows a few people into his inner circle. He was betrayed by his father and uncle when he was younger so is suspicious of most others except for his two brothers and two employees who have been with him for years. The author cleverly throws most of them under the bus as she romps through this tale leaving little breadcrumbs of clues—some fake, some not—and then brings the drama to a head in the exciting last chapters, which take place in Norway.

I almost solved the mystery by guessing the top troublemaker, but I missed that person’s partner in crime by a mile. Ah well, figuring out one of the bad guys was enough to make me happy in this mystery/espionage thriller. If you like your MM romance to start out with hot men who come together in lust before they realize they might be heading for love, and if you want to add a heck of a lot of mystery and intrigue, attempted murders, betrayal, and international espionage into the mix, then you should certainly pick this one up.

I just finished Dirty Deeds. I loved Gaige right away. A smartass who knows his way around a computer being put in a bad position being used by the CIA for some dirty deeds. Alec is the ice king. Stone cold. Doesn't trust anyone.

The supporting characters are just as well portrayed as the leading men. I wanted to know them better.

There is a mystery to solve. Alec and Gaige are two of the same kind of men. The difference is Alec holds things close to his vest and Gaige is trying to live his life in spite of some obstacles. They have to learn to trust each other and neither gives that away freely.

The love story was wonderful and the added suspense just made it all the better. It had a bit of everything. Humor, action, and love. I would recommend this book to everyone.

Apparently this book is a spin-off of the "Tough love" series, which I have not read. This book can be read as a stand alone, but I do have to say that I was pretty confused the first couple of chapters. It felt like I had missed something important.

Thankfully things cleared up after a while and I really got pulled into the story.

Alec is a billionaire, who runs a company, which is food based. This was one of the parts that was really confusing to me, and I'm still not quite sure what he does exactly. I do know that his company helps with storing important seeds in a "Global Seed Vault", which is meant to help mankind in case of hunger etc.

Someone has been using his company to cover up some shady bussiness involving " The Seed Vault". This is where CIA agent Seth comes in and demands that Alec work with computer genius/hacker Gaige, to find out what exactly has been going on. Since it seems like an inside job, Gaige is supposed to do his thing and find the leak.

Since Alec doesn't trust Gaige one bit, he is determined to be the man's shadow.....Which also means, that Gaige will be staying with him at his home, for the duration of this investigation.

What he didn't take into consideration however, is the extreme attraction that lingers between the two of them. Being this close 24 hours a day won't make things any easier. They succumb to the temptation pretty fast ....

The first half of this book was a bit confusing and it started of a bit slow. I felt like there was too much telling, and not enough showing. The MC's spend a lot of time in their heads, when I would have preffered them interacting a bit more.

This changed a bit during the second half and things got a bit more exciting. eeven though the whole "Vault" thing was a bit confusing at times, I did like the mystery part in this one. The sexy times were also very entertaining ;)

I especially liked Gaige's character. He may have been a computer geek, but he sure had some moves and I loved that he saved Alec's life more than once.

Seth however, I didn't care for one bit. I found out he has his own book in the "Tough Love" series, but I don't think I will be reading that one, since I really despised the guy in this book.

The reasons I can't give this book a full 4 stars, is because the storyline was just a bit too confusing to me. These two also go from hating each other, to moving in really fast. They didn't actually use the word "love", though it is implied in one of their converstations (which was actually a really cute conversation). I also really missed an epilogue. I am a sucker for epilogues and I always feel bereft when there isn't one.

Should there be a next book about Finn, I would definitely read it. He seemed like the more laid back brother, so I am very curious about his story.

I received this arc from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a great read if you like a MM romance mixed with action filled suspense. I really liked this book, it was so exciting, hot sexy encounters, and lots of suspense. I would recommend this book to my friends. I will be looking into other books by HelenKay Dimon.

Gaige and Alec are thrown together against their wills initially, but that doesn't stop the sparks from flying. This book was pretty good. It was filled with mystery and of course a HEA.

Gaige is commanded to do one thing. Break into a business that was once thought as impenetrable. This did not stop Gaige, but then again he never thought he would be caught so quickly. Alec Drummond is less than happy he is forced to allow Gaige into his life and have his top notch security breached. Forced into a situation out of their control trust is a rare commodity when searching for answers that prove Alec's innocence. They work together putting aside their distrust of one another to seek the answers they are in dire need of. The strong alpha characters work well together and their chemistry is off the charts. Ms. Dimon pulls her racers in as they cheer her characters on.

This was good.

The good and bad was balanced which kept it pretty level, enjoyable and not throw my Kindle against the wall frustrating.

I was very happy to see that there was going to be a spin-off of the Tough Love Series. Three brothers = well, I hope three books.

Let’s start with the bad. Seth. If you’ve read the Tough Love Series you know Seth. He was present in all three books and had his own book. He was likeable. He was not likeable in this. He came across as a massive dick. He seemed to not care at all how he was treating other people as long as he got what he wanted. This was not cool. Maybe it would have been cool if we didn’t know him, and his book was going to be all about redemption or something, but his behavior and actions were not cool since we did know him.

Anyway.

I will admit to being slightly confused with the setup, but I just kind of went with it and I really enjoyed where it went. I liked Alec and Gaige. I feel like they complimented each other and I loved watching the walls fall down. That’s one of the best things about all these books in these two series, the walls crumbling down.

Something set me off a little early on and I had a good idea who the baddie was. This was not a big deal nor did it ruin any of the excitement for me. It was hidden well I was just really looking for it.

Overall it was exciting and kinda romantic in the way these books do Alpha romance. I always want the best for these guys and when I’m done I am ready to read the next one.

I just wish Seth hadn’t been a freaking asshole.

This book is a spin-off from the "Tough Love" series, not the 4th book in the series. I'm not totally sure why it's a different series, because it seemed to fit right in with the Tough Love books. Aside from the cover style. The books was entertaining, but not gripping. I didn't like it as much as other HelenKay Dimon books, but it was still a super fun read. The mystery was a little convoluted and surprising, but the culprit was a pretty easy guess. Good stuff, looking forward to more special ops from Dimon!

4.5 stars. I really enjoyed this book. Damn Seth, I loved him in Guarding Mr. Fine but wanted to beat the crap out of him in this book. He just came off as a manipulative asshole. We have hot Alec, who we meet in Guarding Mr. Fine & I was so happy to read his book. So anyway, Alec runs a food based company which he had taken over control from his father & uncle who were both running the business into the ground. He catches Gaige hacking into his computers, come to find out he was being forced to do this by Seth who wanted a meeting with Alec. From the first time they laid eyes on each other, they are super attracted to each other. Apparently there is a leak and strange going on at one of the seed vaults & the evidence leads back to Alec & his company. Seth wants (sorta blackmails) Alec into finding out what is going on. He also sorta blackmails Gaige into investigating Alec & his company. It doesn't take long for Alec & Gaige to call Seth's bluff & start working together to figure out what is going on. Along the way, they start falling for each other. Trust was hard one on both sides as both of them have been burnt. The mystery was good & I was so off base on who I thought was behind what was going on at the seed vault. The sex was hot but it is hinted at Alec has a kinky side but we never really see it. Just a little in the last sex scene. So 4.5 stars for not getting to see the kinky side. I do recommended this book if you like a couple of hot alphas working through their issues along with a good mystery. I can't wait for the next book in the series.

It's a good thing I read Guarding Mr. Fine a while ago b/c I wanted to beat Seth in this book. I loved him so hard in his story.

Ok onto this one. I never really got into the story line. It all seems rushed and it moved at a fast pace. Not so much the story but the actions within the story. It was hard to connect to both Gaige and Alec. Same goes for the mystery/action of the story. I almost had it pegged from the first mention of the who. I would have loved to see more of the ins and outs of the hacking/spy stuff. Even more of the sex. But it was just an "eh" read for me and took longer than most b/c I just couldn't get into it like I have others. I was hoping for a good male/male read over the Pride Weekend but this fell short.

Review goes live on Butterfly-o-Meter Books on August 4 at 00.00 am gmt+2 and will show up on Goodreads sometime later.

In a Flutter: Hot and exciting
Fluttering Thoughts:
Worldbuilding: The European setting was a nice change, and including the Svalbard seed bank in the story made it all the more fun, if you ask me.
Characters: I really loved Gaige and Alec together. I mean, Gaige is this geeky who’s smoking hot and pretty alpha himself, and Alec is the emotionally distant, hot as hell uber-alpha of our dreams xDD They had delicious chemistry and explosive smex, plus the banter was a delight in itself.
Plot: The romance was a slow burn kind of forced proximity kind of story, and hot as hell. I really loved their resisting the attraction while it lasted, mwahahaha. Evil reader, what can I say? The action was nicely active and things happened at an alert pace.
Writing: Third person, past tense, his/his POV. Really liked their voices and sense of humor.
Curb Appeal: Cool cover, hooking blurb – impulsive buy material for my romantic suspense cravings.

I recommend Dirty Deeds to fans of switches and alpha/alpha pairing with delicious banter and super hotness.

Helenkay Dimon is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. Dirty Deeds has everything...intrigue, suspense, steamy scenes and hot alpha men. The dialouge between Alec and Gaige is quick, clever and full of chemestry. The relationship develops at the perfect pace as each revelas their secrets bit by bit and learns to trust. I never would have thought that seeds could be interesting but Dimon makes it full of suspense. Both MC's can hold their own and I loved watching them try to outwit each other. We get to see Seth Lang again and the secondary characters scream for their own books (Hello Finn). Dimon definitely makes geeks interesting and sexy. Dimon just flat out writes well. Her scenes are always complete, descriptive and well edited. Her writing is mature and flows. The pacing is quick and sucks the reader into the story. It's a must read for me!!

DNF so will not be rating or reviewing. Thank you for the opportunity to read this title.

Loads or twists and turns, great strong characters and hot as hell sex scenes makes this a fabulous book. Alec and Gaige are two men that have troubled pasts dealing with lies, deception, espionage, hostel takeovers and family drama. They are thrown together to help the CIA deal with an international issue and the sparks fly. You will not believe the ending until you read it. This was an awesome book and I highly recommend it.

excellent read