BACKFIRE
Series: Vigilantes #2
Genre: Dark, Contemporary Romance
Author: Keri Lake
Release Date: June 9, 2016
This book is a standalone set in the same world as Ricochet.
No matter how unbreakable he may seem, every man has a weakness.
A year ago, my home became a bloodstained crime scene. That night marked the beginning of my hell—the same night I was tortured by my enemies and tossed into an underground prison to die.
They failed. I survived.
Now that I’m free, only one motive burns in my soul: revenge.
Lucky for me, they think Jase Hawkins is dead. Maybe I am. I’ve got nothing but a cold, merciless rage, and Black Betty, the sharp steel blade that never leaves my side.
Then she drifts into my life.
Lucia wants answers—so much so, she’s willing to fall into the darkness where my enemies lie in wait, to kill her for what she knows.
Or to take her for the depraved fantasies her body alone can rouse in a man’s mind.
Me? I want her for the fire in her touch that feeds my addiction, forces me to feel what has become numb, but my appetite for bloodshed runs deeper than flesh.
For my own sanity, I’ve vowed to stay away from her. Because she’s my only weakness, an obsession that leaves me craving more—one that could make even the most steadfast plan backfire.
This-book-chopped-me-up-and-had-me-for-dinner!!!
I feel like nothing I can say in this review will be enough. There is so much in this book that I am literally overwhelmed writing this review. The thought I keep coming back to is that it feels like a comic book, which sounds cliché, but this book is not cliché at all! It’s a book of evil, drugs, crime, danger. But it’s also a book of hope, light, love, sex. I felt like I was pulled into this world, and I just got lost. I LOVE getting lost in books.
Below the crime-lords, and all the shit people heard on TV, was a world that existed only in nightmares. A place where rules didn’t exist and the people who thrived there were faceless names who ruled themselves in anarchy. There, the most horrific crimes were bartered for and traded like a Sunday afternoon at Eastern Market.
Jase is on a war path of vengeance. After being tortured for a year, he is given a second chance, and his only assignment is to kill someone, the very person who killed the only people he loved. He is haunted by his past. Nightmares and flashbacks are his friend. But then he meets Lucy. Little does he know that this isn’t the first time they’ve met.
My Jase:
My Lucy:
Lucy loves to take pictures of abandoned buildings in Detroit. This is something that Jace and Lucy share throughout the book, a love of photography.
Some called it ‘ruin porn,’ and for me, the more damaged, the more drawn to a place I seemed to be.
While photographing an abandoned building, she sees something that she should not have seen, and especially should not have filmed on her camera. Evil men are after her, but she is determined to pursue truth and justice, putting her life at risk.
Jace and Lucy’s relationship is volatile, at first. Jace believes Lucy is part of the evil group he is pursuing. Lucy believes the same of him. They do not trust each other at all. I love this beginning of their relationship.
“You don’t let go of me, I’m either going to scream, or twist your balls so fucking hard that you scream.”
Feisty fucking thing. She had me so hard, I didn’t know whether to take her up on it, or knock her back and rip her panties off with my teeth.
Eventually, they learn that they are on the same side and begin working together. I love how their relationship progresses. Once they start working together, Jace becomes very protective of Lucy, but Lucy is a strong heroine (love that!) and she is determined to fight alongside Jace during this pursuit of evil.
I loved how this book is centered around photography. It was a brilliant avenue to paint this book.
Something clicked. Like watching her through the lens, the aperture flicked and the light hit her face differently. She glowed. So goddamn beautiful, it hurt to look at her. Like an eclipse, I knew the longer I stared, the more fucked I’d be. Even so, I cupped her face, the dark ink of my tattoos against peaches and cream skin. Dark and light. Night and day. The moon and the sun. Mia Luce.
That is all of the words that I can write about this book. Lol. Just read it.
If you enjoy dark romance, read this book. If you want to FEEL something, read this book.
More quotes below because I love the dialogue in this book! Jace is a dirty-talker, and Lucy is sassy!
“Not one for compliments, are you?”
“Was hot tits supposed to be a compliment?”
“What I wouldn’t give to nail you against this wall and smile when your morals come crumbling down.”
“I need you to know that I don’t hate you, Lucy, but I’m about to fuck you like I do. Ready for me?”
“I’ll have you know, I work hard for this ass, and I intend to keep working hard for it.”
“And I’ll keep working hard for a piece of it.”
DON’T MISS THE BOOK THAT STARTED IT ALL
RICOCHET (Vigilantes #1)
READ LANA’S 5 STAR REVIEW HERE
The only sure way to destroy a man is to take what he cannot live without.
Three years ago, I had everything.
A beautiful wife.
A son.
A reason for living.Until a ruthless task force, assembled under Mayor Michael Culling, with a brutal strategy to make the streets of Detroit ‘safe’, ripped away everything I loved in a deadly hunt called The Culling.
They tried to kill me, too. I wish they had. Now I’m cursed by the memories of that night, and the words I whispered to my dying wife.
A promise—to avenge the wrong and set it right.
I’m no longer Nick Ryder. I’m a masked vigilante. Faceless. Loveless. Fearless. A man with nothing left to lose—one who’s seen the dark and violent truth behind the city’s flawless veneer.
Michael Culling doesn’t know who I am. Or what I want. All he knows is that I’ve kidnapped his beautiful wife.
An eye for an eye—isn’t that how the saying goes? And Aubree Culling is the perfect pawn to destroy him.
If she doesn’t destroy me first.
Read Lana’s 5 Star review of Backfire HERE
There were two things I absolutely knew for sure: finding treasure on the bottom or the ocean was every bit as exhilarating as my father had said it was, and Danielle Alvarez was the love of my life.
This was my first book by Elizabeth Grace and I doubt it’ll be the last. Below The Surface marks book one in what will be a series based on treasure hunters and it’s certainly different from anything I’ve ever read.
It’s been five years since Daniella ‘Dani’ and Dylan have seen each other. Their relationship didn’t end on the best of terms and both still hold on to the resentment and anger of the past. But when a mutual friend claims that he has proof of the existence of sunken Spanish ship that many believed to be just a legend and had been a borderline obsession of Dani’s to find, it brings them back together again.
If you’re looking for a perfect beach read to spend an afternoon with, look no further than this book! No Pants Required was full of quirky humor and heavy steam. It’s a light, feel-good sort of romance that will leave you with a smile on your face.. and at times uncomfortably aroused. Because let’s be honest here, people, Camden Walters is one deliciously sinful dirty talker and if you’re not uncomfortably aroused through parts of this book, I’d say there may be something broken with your downstairs regions. Uhem.
Well hot damn! I need more anti-heroines in my life because Rage? Rage was freaking kick-ass! If you’ve read any of my reviews then you already know I’m usually a total heroine hater. If they’re weak, sniveling doormats, it’s a recipe for disaster for me. But not Rage. Nope! This woman was killer. Pun intended.
I was super curious to see how the author would handle Rage falling in love considering she’s describe as essentially a borderline sociopath. As hard as it was for me to shut off my logical brain, I took the character for what she way…a whole lot of gray area. Is she a sociopath that has no feeling of empathy? A cold blooded killer that gets her rocks off on death and destruction? Someone that has barely restrained rage that she can only control by giving in and feeding? Heck if I know. Basically she’s something in the middle, and that’s where I left it.
In typical T.M. fashion, the author crafts a twisted and gritty tale that packs a whole lot of surprises that you never see coming. Nolan is certainly not at all what he seems to be and I loved it when he lets that inner bad boy out. The man can dirty talk the panties off of anyone within a 50 mi radius.
A swoony second chance romance with a hot Aussie Rugby player? Sign me up! What can I say? I’m an easy sell. But after reading and loving Amy’s 
Kate Meader is a magician. A wonderfully, addicting smut producing magician. Every book she writes, I end up loving. It’s like the woman custom writes her books just for me. (Shh! Don’t rain on my parade with reality. I like to pretend she does)
Flynn and Olivia have both been through a lot in their past: rough childhoods, failed relationships. But the story didn’t focus on the past. It was just enough to develop their characters, but the story still stayed in the present for the most part. And the present is steamy! This is my favorite type of writing, when an author can develop the characters through dialogue and behavior rather than having to jump back to the past. NO DRAMA/ANGST is the best!!!
This was my first Kate Meader book, and I will be reading all of her books FOREVER!
Swoon.
