SATISFACTION
Series: Lawless #2
Genre: Contemporary Romance
Author: Lexi Blake
Release Date: January 3, 2017
The sizzling second novel in a sexy new contemporary romance series featuring the Lawless siblings—from New York Times bestselling author Lexi Blake.
Brandon Lawless is a man on a mission: obtain the information that will clear his father’s name. He’s willing to do whatever it takes—even seduce his enemy’s personal assistant, the beautiful and innocent Carly Hendricks. But with her beguiling smile and captivating intelligence, Brandon soon realizes he doesn’t want to deceive Carly, he wants to win her over—both in the boardroom and the bedroom.
Then a twisted crime leaves Carly vulnerable and Brandon finds himself reeling. The stakes of his mission are now life or death—Carly’s life. And Brandon realizes he’s lost his heart to an amazing woman and his plan must succeed, because the stakes are no longer just revenge, but a once in a lifetime love.
He got his hands on her, covered her mouth with his. And all the dark voices that seemed to whisper to him all his days quieted. She was his peace.
It’s no secret that I’m obsessed with all things Lexi Blake, and ever since I first met the Lawless siblings in Master No, I’ve been eagerly anticipating their story. Suffice it to say, I was utterly hooked from book one. Ruthless sets off the series with Riley’s story. Mia’s story was a crossover in Dominance Never Dies. If you haven’t yet read the Masters and Mercenaries series by Lexi, you’re seriously missing out. But as always, I digress…
Satisfaction brings the story of the broken Lawless sibling, Brandon. We got a peak into his hidden demons in the first book; Bran has a hero complex a mile long, but you don’t know why. You know it stems from an event in his childhood which left him forever scarred, but you don’t know what. All we know is that if there’s a damsel in distress somewhere, whether stripper or hooker, odds are, Bran is right there trying to help her. He’s also the sibling that seems to hide the most scars from his past. When the Lawless siblings were torn apart and thrown into the system after their parents’ death, Bran took the brunt of the luck and barely aged out of it intact. Now he fights his demons with his fist and a barely repressed anger and a violence that quickly boils sits below the surface.
Watching the pain his brother’s now wife went through in their quest for revenge, he’ll be damned if he does that to another woman. So when the Lawless siblings set their sights on Patricia, the 3rd partner that they suspect was behind their parents murder, Bran breaks the plan and unveils the plan to Patricia’s assistant who they hope will be the person that helps them bring her down.
Carly Hendricks is coming off of a brutal divorce during which her husband took her for everything. A shy little mouse, her barely existing confidence took a real beating and she has a hard time understanding how a sexy man like Bran could hold even the slightest bit of interest in her. What begins then is a game of push and pull. Bran wants her, but he’s not good enough for her. Carly wants him, but doesn’t think he wants mousy little her.
As much as I loved the first book in this series, I’m a little bummed that this one paled in comparison. I think my main issue was the couple. I felt zero connection to either Carly or Bran. While I liked Bran as a character, I just had a hard time disconnecting his hero complex from his true feelings for Carly. She was just too much of the stereotype that he would typically try to rescue, so I suppose I had as hard a time as Carly really buying his love for her.
Carly was just too much of a mouse for me. While she does have a backbone that comes out later in the story and I could certainly sympathize with and understand her lack of self esteem, her constant questioning of her appeal wore me down. She was a heroine that unfortunately I’d forget about as soon as I read her. As a couple, they lacked a certain sizzle for me. Sure the sex was hot, but I just couldn’t click with their connection.
I found the suspense a bit boring at times too. The beginning and middle sort of dragged if I’m being honest. What DID keep my attention, as always, was Drew. And it didn’t hurt that his love interest is introduced here and boy does that set up already crackle with sexual tension. There’s a twist at the end that I never saw coming, which definitely added a great punch to the story. I can’t wait to see how everything concludes with Drew’s book next.
All in all, while it wasn’t my favorite in the series, the book at least helped tide me over until my next Lexi Blake fix.
DON’T MISS THE FIRST BOOK IN THE LAWLESS SERIES!
PRE-ORDER REVEVENGE!
(Releasing June 20, 2017)
ON BROKEN WINGS
Do you know that feeling when you meet a secondary character in a series that steals your attention from the second he appears on the pages? That was Alex “Easy” Rogers for this girl. Now it’s no secret that I have a weak spot for the unrepentant manwhores, but there was also something much more to Easy. He was the goofball of the group, the easy going one always quick with the jokes and a smile, but you knew that beneath that is the heart of a man much more complex that he first appears. I’ve been slowly dying in my wait for his book since first meeting him in 
If you’re expecting your typical manwhore hero, think again. Alex is such a complex character. His jokes and smile a facade to the deep feelings he hides, but his love for his fallen friend and brother in arms is his worst kept secret. Alex has been in love with Dani Peterson since he first laid eyes on her… as the loving wife of his best friend. Dani has been an unreachable and unattainable dream for him, so he drowned himself in easy and forgettable women, but nothing erased his feelings.
On Broken Wings was a poignant and beautiful romance packed with emotion and meaning. It was full of swoons and steam. There was no clutter to take away from what Dani and Alex go through on their way to their HEA and I loved it. I loved every second of it. I loved every page of it. I. Just. Loved. It.
VICIOUS
It’s official. L.J. Shen is a witch. How else could the woman possibly crawl inside my mind and create a story that seriously felt custom written for me?
The Four HotHoles rule All Saints High. All the guys want to hang out with them and all the girls want to sleep with them. It doesn’t matter that women are more disposable to them than a pair of socks, they’ll gladly give up their dignity for a night…or a few hours in their bed. Vicious is the most brutal of the four. He’s a coldblooded asshole that practice bubbles over with barely surprised rage. And the target for the brunt of his anger is Emilia, his classmate and daughter of the hired help living at his father’s mansion.
Now if you’re an angst lover like me, you will gobble up everything about this book and be left begging for more. The sexual tension between Vicious and Emilia crackles with electricity. I loved that added burn of hate lust between them. The woman definitely gave him a run for his money and for all his thinly veiled insults that he throws her way, you can see just how much he craves her underneath it all.
Alphas & Fairytales: A New Year’s Eve Anthology
Dear KL. Kreig,
BECOMING A LEGEND
How have I not read anything by this author before? What is wrong with me? Why am I starting this series with book 3? Well, at least I know the answer to the third question there, and that’s because I like to do things back-asswards more often than not. As for the other two? I have no clue and I’m kicking myself for the mistake thoroughly because I seriously enjoyed this book.
THE PAWN
Avery has grown up with everything she could ever ask for. After a terrible scandal with her father’s company, she and her father are left with close to nothing. In order to do anything she can to save her house and care for her father, Avery goes to the one man who might give her a loan. Little does she know that she will meet the man who ruined her father and give her a proposal that she cannot refuse in order to save her house and her father’s life.
GABRIEL. That’s it. Just his name sends shivers down my body. Gabriel is mine. Seriously. Back up, ladies! I know Lana wants to claim him, but NOPE! I refuse. He is ALL MINE, whore! He is a Grade A – Ass….Hole. My kinda man. He treats Avery with nothing less than disdain. She is the daughter of the man that cheated him, and he is willing to put her through hell and humiliation to get his pleasure. I loved the glimpses of compassion in his character, but he inevitably shows his true colors and is true to his inner asshole.
NICO
So I have a confession…mafia romance happens to be my catnip. Well, I guess it’s not much of a confession when it’s not exactly a secret, huh? If you follow my reviews, you also then happen to know that I’m picky when it comes to them. Like super picky. Good mafia romance are hard to find. Either they lack the research, the development, the engaging characters or the believable romance at the center of it all. But this book? This happened to have all of it. In delicious spades.
SOMEONE LIKE YOU
If you’re anything like me, then you’ve been both eagerly anticipating and dreading Lincoln’s book. Anticipating it because you love those irreverent playboys, and dreading because you’re afraid that you’ve been building up your expectations in anticipation. Lincoln’s story was the one I’ve been waiting for since 
Daisy is Emma’s (from 
What you see is not at all what you get with him and soon the pieces begin to click together towards the heartrending secret that he keeps. My heart went through a ringer with him. It’s impossible not to fall for him, not to feel his pain, not to want to soothe and heal him. In between the easy friendship that Lincoln and Daisy instantly develop, there was such a deep emotion interspersed with a hidden craving. God. GOD but I loved these two together.
Someone Like You was an incredibly powerful, poignant and emotional romance. It was a story of second chances and healing. It was a stunning story of finding your strength again and moving on. It’s a story of courage and love. It was absolute perfection and reminded me all over again why I first fell in love with Lauren Layne’s writing. The woman can make you feel, laugh, and love all in 228 wonderful pages. If you’ve enjoyed the rest of the Stiletto and Oxford series and you’ve been anticipating Lincoln’s story as much as I have, this is a must read. But have a box of tissues ready, because you won’t come out of it unscathed. Be ready to shed some tears and swoon over the perfect imperfection that is Lincoln Mathis.
THE PAWN
This was easily my favorite by this author to date. Gripping. Captivating. Magnetic. Dark. Erotic. It was EVERYTHING I love about a dark romance. It’s not gratuitous violence and scenes thrown in for pure shock value. It’s a mind fuck. An incredibly written, twisty, and delicious mind fuck that I couldn’t put down from beginning to finish; with a heroine you’ll want to root for, and an anti-hero that you’ll want to hate only slightly more than you love him.
Growing up in privilege and money, Avery had an enchanted life. She idolized her father, she looked forward to her future and starting college, she had a doting boyfriend that she suspected only wanted her for his status, she had little worries aside from questioning her relationship…until it all crashed down on her…
If you’re a fan of this author, and you love a well written dark romance, this is one book that you do NOT want to miss. I may go crazy in my wait for the conclusion, but I don’t regret a moment of it because I have the best book high after finishing this. All of the stars!
DOWNED
Well spank my butt and call me Larry, I did NOT expect to like this as much as I did. Now, now, don’t go getting all hissy on me, let me ‘splain. See, the thing is, for as much as I loved Ace in 
So confession time; I don’t usually like the sugary sweet heroines. But something about Bryant just grabbed me. Perhaps it was because there was always that little crack to the shiny foundation that everyone sees on the outside that humanized her. She was almost too perfect at times, but it also worked for her. She was the perfect balm that Ace’s ragged edges needed.
Did Ace redeem himself in this book? More than. THIS is the man that I was hoping was under all that false ego and bluster. You really got to see the heart of him here, and suddenly all of his past actions begin to make sense.
