Finished Reading April 1, 2016

I still say the titles for these books don't do them justice. Filled with mystery, suspense and tons of action. It is a well written Adult Romance. But it is so much more than that. It s a great 'Cloak and Dagger'.
This one takes place in London, England. The McKay-Taggart agency, the CIA and MI6 are all involved. The bad guys are involved in arms trafficking. They are mean and dirty.
Liam and Avery, the lead H/H in this story, are fantastic to read about. Their chemistry and interactions are spot on! All the supporting characters are also well written. The interactions all through the story keeps you on your toes.
I thoroughly enjoyed book #3 The Dom is Forever. It was much better than book #2.

#3 of the Omnibus 1-3

Prch Amz January 22, 2016 ( )

Read it, loved it. Great chapter in a fun series. ( )

There are two reasons I enjoyed this story. The first reason is really just a matter of taste. My interest in dangerous heroes tends to generate a ton of Romantic BDSM title recommendations on my Goodreads profile but I seem to have a love/hate relationship with that genre. I love the hot, sexy heroes and the smokin' hot sex but that love comes with a few things I hate. One of my biggest hates with the Dom/sub stories is when the Dom does not allow the sub to speak, and will many times punish his sub for speaking without permission. Grrrr.... But Lexi Blake does not do this with this D/s pair and that is my first reason for enjoying this book. Liam and Avery seem to enjoy a bit of verbal play while sweating up the sheets. This is a brilliant move on Blake's part because it so beautifully shows how the cynical, hardened Liam is learning to embrace joy and tenderness with Avery. During their dirty, silly talk in bed (and in the shower) Liam's internal reflections show a man somewhat surprised to find he actually has a playful side to him. And by allowing Avery to make her silly, snarky, "bratty" comments readers see Avery's confidence grow.

The second reason I enjoyed this story is a bit more, hmm, educational, I guess you could say. It is the difference between a lazy writer only 'telling' a story vs a creative writer 'showing' the story as it evolves. This difference in writing talent is apparent when Blake succeeds in FINALLY helping me through one of those hates I mentioned about this genre, specifically, my inability to really grasp the motivation behind a sub's desire/need to submit so much of herself to her Dom. Many authors will TELL their readers very routine reasons why their characters choose a D/s lifestyle. Needs to control, needs to please, etc... But Lexi Blake actually SHOWS us her characters' motivations. We are with Liam on his voyage from the half-assed Dom to the fully realized Dom. We are with Avery as her confidence grows. This is the first BDSM book I've read that the author succeeds in showing me just how much the Dom cherishes his sub's gift of herself to him and how a cherished sub will find herself feeling just as powerful as her devoted Dom.

Many authors do an okay job explaining what the Doms/subs each get out of the arrangement but this is the first book I have read that makes it crystal clear to me: With Avery's submission Liam gets the control his Dom needs. Finally, after years of meaningless D/s hook-ups, Liam understands what motivates the softer side of a Dom, the side of the Dom that makes him want to protect his sub, the side that makes him need to cherish his sub. Liam's feelings for Avery are powerful and the author does not mess around with having her hero fight his feelings. Love 'em and leave 'em Liam embraces his feelings for Avery and acknowledges to himself that while he may be the Dom, Avery is the one in complete control of him and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Liam:
"Oh, they were both in trouble because he was pretty sure he was about to become one of those pussy Doms who let his sub lead him around by his dick, and there wasn't a damn thing he wanted to do about it."

The flip side of this is how the author shows us what Avery gets out of this arrangement. While most authors tell us the subs get endless orgasms and Doms who take care of them, Lexi Blake goes one step further. She shows us the moment when plain, plump, self-conscious Avery realizes her hot, sexy boyfriend has his own insecurities. It's not just SUBMISSION her man craves; it is also acceptance, not just acceptance of his kink, but acceptance of him as a man worthy of her love. Her cautious but enthusiastic acceptance of the Dom/sub aspect of Liam is exactly what he needs. She understands the power she has over him but she does not take advantage of that power, just as Liam does not take advantage of his power over Avery as her Dom. This couple exemplifies the Dom/sub idea of exchange of power. This isn't a story of the autocratic Dom finding a natural-born submissive just waiting to submit to her Sir. This is a story about a man who thought he was too hard to ever be tender and a soft, caring woman who refused to allow tragedy to harden her. Exchange of power or exchange of love? As Alex would say, "tomato, tomahto." ( )

I started reading this and realized I was reading the third book in the series not the first. But I kept going because I was already loving it that I couldn't put down. It was actually a good impression for the series.

I think I'm going to love these characters, the guys in the background of Liam's and Avery's journey to their HEA seems very likable, interesting and people I will want to root for. Love the authors weaving of the story and how funny and tongue in cheek her writing was.

Off to start book one, can't wait to catch up with myself. ( )

Originally published at Ruby's Books.

*Disclaimer: I received an e-copy of this book from InkSlinger PR in exchange for an honest review. This does not influence my opinion or my rating of the book in any way.

The third installment in the Masters and Mercenaries series is probably my favorite so far. I love how it seems that this book and the first book in the series sort of help complete a puzzle, a puzzle that isn't entirely focused on Liam and Avery.

I enjoyed reading about Liam falling in love, especially since he was the most likely to make fun of his male friends for doing that exact thing. But I also liked reading about his back story, and figure out why he got to be the one used for this mission. He was an interesting choice of hero, so discovering why he was the guy for this particular job was really intriguing.

I loved Avery. I really respected her, because even though she went through what she did, she's trying to keep living and to live a normal life, which is honestly my favorite thing about her. She has a bad relationship with her in-laws, and when I learned why, I wanted to punch a wall, because she does not deserve the hate, man. She just doesn't.

One of the interesting aspects of this book was the villain. I have to hand it to Lexi Blake, she knows just how to write a good villain. They're not just bad, or scary evil, but they're also really deranged. The thing I love most about her villains though is that you can slowly see how their minds are deteriorating, if it makes sense. Like, the more they give in to their evilness, the more they lose sanity, and I love that. Mr. Black makes an appearance, and I keep wondering what his endgame is, when will he lose his mind, but he seems just as cold and calculating and sane as he was in the beginning.

Another really cool aspect of this book is that we get to learn more about Ian. Ian is Sean's older brother, and the boss of everyone, basically. We learn more about Ian, but I still have so many questions. I saw that he got his story told, so I'm super excited to read it, because I need to find out exactly how he got started with all of this, how he put the team together.

The ending of the book revealed that the next in line to get their HEA are Alex and Eve, and I couldn't be happier for them. I will definitely check it out, as well as the other books in the series. If you guys haven't checked this series out yet, you definitely should. ( )