Soft Launch

Hazardverse: Sidetracks

By: Gregory Ashe

Narrated by: Greg Tremblay

It’s soft until it’s hard.

Sam Yarmark is going to be a detective. He’s done everything right—the trainings, the homework, the performance evaluations. He’s even got a mentor. So, when the chief of police tells him his lack of community involvement might cost him the promotion, there’s only one thing to do: get involved. Fast.

Gray Dulac is putting his life back together. After a self-destructive spiral, he’s finally found solid ground in the nonprofit he founded to help victims of intimate-partner violence. The only problem? Funding. And when a consultant tells Gray that his bad boy reputation is keeping donors away, there’s only one thing to do: fix his image. Fast.

When Sam shows up at Gray’s nonprofit, looking for an opportunity to pad his resume, Gray sees a way they can help each other: Gray will make sure Sam gets the community endorsements he needs if Sam pretends to be Gray’s loving—and stable—boyfriend.

What could possibly go wrong?

©2025 Gregory Ashe (P)2025 Gregory Ashe

Great Greg pairing

Dulac needed a HEA. To be honest I wasn't sure how these two would match up, but as all things Gregory Ashe, this was a wonderful story. It has the perfect melding of these two characters and was super excited to see Grey get an ending he deserved. Greg Tremblay also lent his wonderful voice to this one and made it just that much more!

Slow burn, BIG decisions......

Soft Launch by Gregory Ashe is another emotionally layered, character-driven triumph that reminds me exactly why I keep coming back to his work.

This story leans into vulnerability in a way that feels raw and earned. The tension — both romantic and emotional — builds with exquisite restraint. Ashe has such a gift for writing characters who are guarded but aching, flawed but deeply compelling. Every interaction feels loaded with meaning, and the slow unraveling of defenses is incredibly satisfying to witness.

The dialogue is, as always, sharp and natural, with those flashes of dry humor that keep the heaviness from overwhelming the heart of the story. And when the softer moments land, they really land. I love the changes shown in Gray and Sam and not so happy with John-Henry. Emery-he makes me happy being as unapologetic as usual.....LOL.

Greg Tremblay, as usual, portrays the characters-Love Nana- with absolute perfection.

If you love emotionally complex romance with depth, angst, and hard-won tenderness, Soft Launch absolutely delivers.

Performance not quite as good as the story

I loved this book from beginning to end, and I was delighted to revisit it in audio. I found some of the narrator's choices less than satisfying, mostly with the secondary characters (Emery and John-Henry sound wildly off to me). That said, I'll definitely be listening to this multiple times. Gray is still very much a work in progress, of course (as all Greg's characters are), and then there's Sam, finally becoming the hero of his own story. I don't know how well this book would work on its own—it gains much of its depth from knowing where these characters came from. But with that background, it's marvelous.

My thanks to the author for a complimentary copy of this audiobook.

Lovely

"Oh no," I thought to myself. "I love these two dummies." It can be really scary when offered a guileless, earnest character written by this author since he's basically a sadist (respectfully) who wants his readers to hurt - but - this was so so sweet! It was like a soothing balm after the last book where we had to watch the other man self-destruct and as collateral nearly ruin the lives of people who loved him in the process. And then we get this - and it's basically a rom-com! Until, you know, it's stops being lovely and instead I want to vomit and I think "ah, right. Here it is. The reason I was so nervous"

The love story

I really loke this book i want them to solve murders together , and the Narrator top notch !