Title: Kept
Author: Maya Banks
Publisher/Year: Penguin Publishing 10/25/16
Length: 320 Pages
Series: The Enforcers #3
Overview
He can’t change who he is.
A horrific childhood has made Silas the man he is today: dangerous, distrustful and demanding. He’s lived in self-imposed solitude, convinced that no woman could ever accept his need for absolute control—in business and pleasure. That is, until a young violinist walks into one of his buildings and into his life.
She can’t change what she wants.
Hayley has been struggling to fulfill her father’s dying wish: for her to attend a prestigious music school in New York City. But even working multiple jobs, she can’t afford the tiniest of apartments. Seeing her hopeless and near tears, Silas vows to help and protect her, no matter the cost to himself. But when Hayley meets his every demand with unwavering acceptance and love, he is overwhelmed by her goodness and gentle spirit. He knows that the dark stain on his soul can never be erased—and rather than risk destroying the most beautiful person he’s ever experienced, he’ll have to do the hardest thing he’s ever had to do. Let her go. But he’s totally unprepared for the lengths to which Hayley will go to fight for his love and for a future brighter than the sun…
My Thoughts
I loved the first two books in this series when we got to know all about Evangeline and Drake and what made them work as a couple. There were so many highs and lows, all of then including the bigger group of enforcers or the brothers – and i think that’s what makes this third book so great.
From the first two, we met Silas, who is Drake’s #2 in the circle, and we saw how Evangeline was able to get under his skin a bit and show him that he is worthy of attention, affection and love – even if it’s not romantic love. Mind you it’s not something that Silas will even admit to himself since he considers himself to be a monster both for what he does for Drake now and what he did when he was a child. (mind you we have no idea what that was for most of the story).
He deserves to find happiness and love and i’m so happy to see it come in the form of Hayley. She’s our typical female lead, barely getting by in the world, no family and no real friends – working a million jobs just to pay bills and really that’s what her life is. She’s trying to fulfill her father’s dying wish that she follow her dreams to become a re known violinist and that’s what brought her to NYC and into Silas’s life.
His immediate need to protect her and care for her – even after only seeing her on a security camera in his building shows you that there’s so much more that he has to offer that he doesn’t even admit to himself. When he finds himself physically protecting her and then having to care for her, feelings develop even faster and they find themselves in an interesting predicament where he’s got his control and rules and his ‘dark dark life’ and she’s ‘innocent’ and deemed fragile.
The journey that we take with these two is typical of what we’ve seen in the first installment of this series. There’s a macho guy who’s got so much pride that he’s not willing necessarily to trust and put faith into a woman, and then there’s a woman who finds herself in the cross hairs of a mob war so to speak and therefore a target and something that these burly men need to get rid of.
The questions that you ponder throughout this book though are a few. How long is it going to take for Silas to open up to Hayley about who he is and will he be open enough to let her react and have an opinion. Do they even have a chance? Why is everyone so afraid to mention Evangeline to Hayley – even Silas which is to his own detriment. Who’s the next target from the mob feud and as a result, who’s going to likely get shot/killed etc? I feel like there’s so much that could happen in this book, and because of Ms Bank’s skill, we’re able to see it all unfold at a good pace and get to a resolution that actually makes sense. Not to mention that there’s so much chemistry leaping off the pages – if there’s one thing that i know i’m going to get when i read a book by Maya Banks it’s the need for a cold shower since we see that Silas is quite skilled and while Hayley is not, it’s so hot, and sexy, and intense that you can’t help but to get pulled in.
Honestly, i really really like this series and i hope that we get more since i feel like Maddox definitely needs something as do Thane, Jax, Zander, Hartley and maybe now Andre. Enjoy!